As some of you probably know, I have e-coli right now. It's not super fun or anything, and I'm getting better gradually (strong antibiotics, baby), but I felt like vomiting for a solid three hours this morning. Good times.
I couldn't sleep anymore, so it was time to take a blanket and a pillow into the living room and see what the hell was on TV. "Sick day" pastime, I'm more than sure.
Since MinistryOfTruth has been here, we've ordered way too many movies on Pay-Per-View (shut up, JVolvo :P They were innocent!), so I checked out Those Comcast Motherfuckers™ "Free Movies", and I hit the jackpot in The Assassination of Richard Nixon.
Honestly, I had never heard of this movie before. In essence, it's the story of the personal and psychological unraveling of one Samuel J. Byck, who literally attempted to hijack a plane in 1974, in order to fly it into the White House to kill Richard Nixon.
It is a painful, painful movie to watch. It's also one of the best I've ever seen.
It's particularly painful because, of course, it could have been prevented. His downfall, his killing of others, most certainly could have been prevented. I don't know much about the real-life Sam Byck, but he was portrayed in the movie as an utterly good guy. Byck was certainly misdirected and insane and obsessive but, overall, truly, he was a good guy. Hollywood mumbo jumbo? I don't know.
In any case, Mr. Byck was clearly a sick, sick man:
Born to poor Jewish parents in South Philadelphia, Byck dropped out of high school in the ninth grade in order to support his impoverished family. He enlisted in the US Army in 1954, was honorably discharged in 1956, married shortly thereafter, and had four children. In 1972, Byck began to suffer from severe bouts of depression after his wife divorced him and after experiencing many business failures. Due to his depression, he admitted himself to a psychiatric ward where he stayed for two months.
Byck began to harbor the belief that the government was conspiring to oppress the poor.
Byck first came to the notice of the Secret Service in 1972, when he threatened Nixon, whom he had resented ever since the Small Business Administration had turned him down for a loan. Byck also had sent bizarre tape recordings to various other public figures including scientist Jonas Salk, U.S. Senator Abraham Ribicoff of Connecticut, and conductor Leonard Bernstein; and had tried to join the Black Panthers. However, the Secret Service considered Byck to be harmless, and no action was taken at this time.
To witness the completely devastating downfall of another human being is a terrible experience. Sincerely, it's even worse for the person who's experiencing it.
As a society, Americans are fast-paced, ruthless, careless, unflinching, cruel, obsessively shaming, and fame-seeking. Those who are the most sensitive among us are lost to the herd and, very possibly, propelled into psychotic action as a direct response of our wicked American society.
Just so we are clear here, I am not attempting to excuse, justify, or rationalize this behavior. Instead, I am merely trying to understand it.
Needless to say, we need better mental healthcare in this country pronto, so that persons like Sam Byck don't turn out to be like, well, Sam Byck.
Because it's a helluva lot more common than you may want to believe:
Mental disorders are common in the United States and internationally. An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older — about one in four adults — suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. When applied to the 2004 U.S. Census residential population estimate for ages 18 and older, this figure translates to 57.7 million people. Even though mental disorders are widespread in the population, the main burden of illness is concentrated in a much smaller proportion — about 6 percent, or 1 in 17 — who suffer from a serious mental illness. In addition, mental disorders are the leading cause of disability in the U.S. and Canada. Many people suffer from more than one mental disorder at a given time. Nearly half (45 percent) of those with any mental disorder meet criteria for 2 or more disorders, with severity strongly related to comorbidity.
As someone who suffers from a "serious mental illness", who will probably never fully recover (I'll be on medication for the rest of my natural-born life, and I'll flit with counseling occasionally, ultimately adding to my now 8+ years in therapy), I can earnestly say that I think the number of Americans experiencing major depression are severely down-played. Perhaps the Republican way of denial is remarkably effective, as you just know that Dr. George Rekers will be joining the ranks of other major depressives in no time at all.
Granted, the year the movie took place was 1974, and we've now progressed (heh) into 2010. Are there less stigmas in place, for achieving health and wellness mentally?
Absolutely, yes. But they will never be fully gone as long as people like Glenn Beck have a microphone.
A wonderful organization is trying to bring some change to "outing" the stigma associated with mental illness, and Glenn Close plays a good hand here.
Glenn's sister, Jessie, suffers from bipolar disorder. As an excellent reminder (especially if you're lucky enough not to have a mental illness, or know anyone with one):
The organization Bring Change 2 Mind could always use a few more dollars.
Much love to you and yours. Hopefully, all of you and yours are happy, healthy, and stable. If not, please feel free to vent.
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UPDATE 1: As per BF Skinner, here is a link for you to help those suffering from dementia.