I enjoy a good dose of mental health humor from time to time. As long as it doesn’t make fun of, abuse, or otherwise degrade people with mental illness and promote stigma, I think it’s healthy to laugh at ourselves sometimes.

I’m sure my feelings play a big role in why I heart Chato’s efforts at Mental Health Humor so much.

However, this borderline personality disorder cartoon at Toothpaste For Dinner doesn’t sit well with me.

The t-shirt in the cartoon reads:

Front:
ASK ME ABOUT BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER

Back:
OR I SWEAR TO GOD I’LL KILL MYSELF

I’m not an expert on borderline personality disorder (actually, I’m not an expert on any mental illness – I’m just your average consumer going through and researching the same experiences and resources as you). I have a working knowledge of the disorder, but I couldn’t understand the suicide reference in the cartoon.

So, I turned to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) as I’ve done so many times before, looked for their section on borderline personality disorder, and found:

There is a high rate of self-injury without suicide intent, as well as a significant rate of suicide attempts and completed suicide in severe cases.

Suicide threats and attempts may occur along with anger at perceived abandonment and disappointments.

So, the words on the t-shirt in the cartoon now make sense to me, but this new understanding didn’t launch a giggle fest.

There’s a fine line between offensive and humorous when it comes to mental health cartoons and jokes. Some people manage not to cross that line, and for that I’m truly grateful, because, hey, we all need a laugh sometimes.

However, there is nothing funny about any aspect of suicide – talking about it, thinking about it, threatening to do it, or completing it. Nothing. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Suicide is always a serious matter. If someone is contemplating or attempts suicide, he or she is going through some pretty heavy stuff. If someone actually completes a suicide, he or she will never come back.

The person will never get a chance to change his or her mind, and the family members, friends, and other loved ones are left to deal with that forever.

What the hell is funny about any of that?

So, to you, Toothpaste For Dinner cartoonist: I’ve viewed, and enjoyed, most of your cartoons for a couple of years now. I’ve been a semi-faithful visitor to your site, and even laughed at your anxiety cartoon. But your borderline personality disorder cartoon is tasteless, offensive, and inconsiderate.

Shame on you, and you get an A.S.S. Award.

For those who would like to learn more about borderline personality disorder, I recommend checking out:

• The NIMH’s Borderline Personality Disorder Fact Sheet
• NAMI’s page on Borderline Personality Disorder
• The Mayo Clinic’s section on Borderline Personality Disorder
• BPD Central
• BPD World
• Borderline Personality Disorder Resource Center

Image: Mine

Post from: Blisstree

And The A.S.S. Award Goes To…Toothpaste For Dinner

My bookmarks and email inbox have been bursting at the seams this week, just waiting to get into Saturday Sanity for all you fine people! Now that the day has arrived, it’s clear to me there is so much Saturday Sanity-worthy news, I’d best break it up so as not to take up 3/4 of the front page, ha!

So, read on for what’s been going on at Mental Health Notes, in the world of mental health news and advocacy, and throughout the b5media Health & Wellness Channel!

Here at Mental Health Notes, I shared military grief and support resources in honor of Memorial Day and highlighted online OCD support resources; invited you to take The Happiness Quiz, play The Recovery Cup board game, get your groove on at YouLicense.com, and laugh it up with Chato B. Stewart and his new mental health cartoon; pointed you in the direction of some life tips from Mark Twain; published the May edition of What Do You Really Want?; shared some thoughts on the recently declared haunted Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum; and passed along a Greenpeace report regarding video game consoles and learning, memory, and behavioral problems.

Oh, and the most exciting news of all: The spotlight is on a new rocker – Air!

In mental health advocacy news, Mental Health America is urging us to ask our representatives to vote for a delay on harmful and ill-advised Medicaid regulations. Mental Health America was also noted for its “Inaugural Promotion and Prevention Summit to Advance New Strategies.” The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) highlights Amber Main, a NAMI Virginia member who was featured on MTV’s “True Life: I Have Schizophrenia.” Dave at Dare To Dream wants to share thoughts and a video about neuroanatomist Jill Bolt Taylor’s self-discovery after suffering a stroke.

In regular ol’ mental health news and research, Kathleen Kingsbury tackles the debate of employees’ physical and mental health being considered equally important in TIME’s Tallying Mental Illness’ Costs. Norma Perez, a psychologist with a Texas medical facility for veterans post-traumatic stress disorder program, had the nerve to ask her staff members to stop diagnosing veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder due to “compensation seeking veterans.” Earthquake survivors in China are struggling with trauma, and according to Pauline Tam of The Ottawa Citizen Canada is lagging behind in mental health spending. Depression is in the spotlight for post-stroke patients and kidney transplant patients, and Canadian researchers now say people with dementia who take antipsychotic drugs have three times the risk of developing health problems or dying than people with dementia who don’t take antipsychotics.

And, in b5media’s Health & Wellness Channel news, Marijke Durning of Help My Hurt and Womb Within explains bone marrow transplants and becoming a donor, and Angelique at Breaking the Mirror – who is apparently a fellow Lolcats fan – shares a bit of comic relief and Cancer Commentary’s Gloria Gamat tells us about Stand Up To Cancer. Liz Lewis at Healthbolt shares some vintage drug ads, and, sadly, Jul leaves Veggie Chic and the b5media family.

Oh, I could end this week’s Saturday Sanity without letting you know about all the giveaways going on within the Health & Wellness Channel! Gabrielle Sedor is being an awfully generous soul and giving away copies of the “Learn to Create a Healthy Home!” CD at Daily Tomorrow and Fertility Blend for Women vitamins at Fertility Notes. Not to be outdone, Grace Ibay at Kids Health Notes is giving away oodles of health food treats and snacks.

Whoo! I didn’t think I’d ever get that all out. Remember, if you have any Saturday Sanity news, shoot me an email with “Saturday Sanity” in the subject line.

Image: Newscom

Air is currently rockin’ out in the This Is Why I ROCK! series here at Mental Health Notes. If you have a mental illness and are still living the life you love, head on over the the official announcement post and enter!

Post from: Blisstree

Saturday Sanity: Putting A Bee In Your Bonnet

Aaaaahahahahahaha!

My Internet buddy and fellow buster of stigma Chato B. Stewart is a seriously talented mental health cartoonist, and he’s cracked me up again. Check out Chato’s newest mental health cartoon in his blog post Support: Cartoon-A-Thon By: Chato B. Stewart For Mental Health Month.

While you’re there, make yourself comfortable. In addition to his Web site, Mental Health Humor, Chato’s just recently started blogging at mentalhealthumor.today.com.

Image: Newscom

Remember! You have until May 31, 2008 to enter the Mental Health Notes Birthday Giveaway, and forever to join the This Is Why I ROCK! series!

Post from: Blisstree

Mental Health Humor Update: Chato B. Stewart’s Take On Peer-To-Peer Support

What do cows and business plans have to do with mental health?

Remember Chato B. Stewart? The owner of Mental Health Humor and the first participant in the This Is Why I ROCK! series here at Mental Health Notes?

Well, Chato has added two new hilarious mental health cartoons to his already hilarious (and fortunately growing!) cartoon archive, and I don’t know which one is funnier!

Be sure to check them out to find out the answer to the question above, and let Chato know what you think!

Image: Newscom

Remember! You have until May 31, 2008 to enter the Mental Health Notes Birthday Giveaway, and forever to join the This Is Why I ROCK! series!

Post from: Blisstree

Mental Health Humor Update: Chato B. Stewart’s Two New Cartoons

Wow, May is going to be a busy month here at Mental Health Notes, huh? Not only is it Mental Health Awareness Month and my blirthday (as Angelique called it!), but it’s also the month for the This Is Why I ROCK! series, which is what we’re beginning right now!

Read on to find out why mental health cartoonist Chato B. Stewart ROCKS!

The smiling face you see to the right is 37-year-old Chato B. Stewart from Port Charlotte, Florida, and he definitely embodies the whole spirit of the This Is Why I ROCK! series. Not only is he an avid mental health advocate, but he is also a married father of four who, during some rocky times learning to not just survive – but to live with – bipolar disorder, discovered the joy of cartooning.

Chato is an inspiring man indeed, and I invite you all to read his story and check out his hilarious mental health humor!

A Massachusetts native, Chato B. Stewart and his family moved to Florida seven years ago, where he was finally diagnosed with bipolar disorder (”and a few other things, to boot” he says).

Chato went through a familiarly hellish process many of us go through, whether it’s before or after the diagnosis of mental illness, which included trying medications that initially worked then fell short of effective; experiencing psychotic breaks that led to trips to the local Crisis Stabilization Unit; trying new medications; losing health insurance; deciding to make a go of it without medication; and doing it all with family members who may or may not really understand what’s going on.

So, how did Chato go from struggling with mental illness to virtually kicking its ass with artistic abilities and sense of mental health humor? I’ll let him tell you.

While on vacation in Crisis Stabilization Unit (CSU) in March 2008, I started to journal, but it came out like a comic book… I just drew cartoons about my stay, and when my vacation was over I had a thought. Wow, humor can really help heal! Why don’t we see cartoons about mental health from our perspective? You know, how we, as consumers see events and things might be funny or humorous in a cartoon. I searched the web and only found a few but mostly they were about the therapist, or psychiatrist or joke with someone on a couch…

So, I thought, and I will quote the kids Animated film Robots, “See a need, fill a need.” I could help fill the need by drawing cartoons about a subject that many people would want to avoid talking about… Mental Health! Maybe with the cartoons, I can help a few consumers by putting a smile on their faces using humor to heal. So, after making sure this idea was not some grandiosity symptom of my Bipolar Disorder, I set about making and drawing the cartoons.

I’m happy to say we are off to a good start; www.MentalHealthHumor.com had almost 2,000 visitors this month alone and we have posted 10 cartoons and have more on the way. We also have been contacted by a few mental health websites interested in using the cartoons for their site and maybe in some publications. Hey, I know my humor and website might not be for every one, but from the many comments I have received I can see it doing some good… So after all, maybe I don’t ROCK, but I do know, I’m a productive pebble in this ocean we call life.

Well, I disagree. I certainly think Chato ROCKS!

Because his cartoons have been published locally and are gaining attention from other mental health Web sites, Chato knows he’s “a professional cartoonist in some sense of the word,” but still considers his cartooning a hobby that he hopes to one day take to the next level.

Professional endeavor or enjoyable past time, his mental health humor cartoons have helped bring Chato successes for which we should all strive.

Not to quote James Bond, but in Tomorrow Never Dies – there was a line I liked, it goes “The distance between genius and insanity is measured only by success”. Well so far, I’m not a successful millionaire, but I measure success in other ways. One, of course, is family success, and the next would be for me, successfully using tools and coping skills to prevent my disorder from causing distress to my family.

It helps me focus and some times I just get lost in the idea and it brings a peace to an otherwise distorted mind.

For more information about Chato and his mental health humor and cartoons, visit his Web site, Mental Health Humor. And above all else, be sure to let him know he ROCKS!

This post is part of the Mental Health Notes This Is Why I ROCK! series. If you have a mental illness and are still living the life you love, head on over the the official announcement post and enter!

Post from: Blisstree

Success Story: Using Mental Health Humor As A Coping Skill