Blog Archives

"I'M TOO SENSITIVE A PERSON"

11/25/2016

  For those of us who came "hard-wired" extra sensitive or became so through trauma or other means, sensitivity is a constant companion in this world, in this life.
   More than a few poets and sages have noted that it is pretty hard being so sensitive in this world.
   Further, we may not be surprised that some of these very sensitive people wind up in the Mental Institute.
   But the truth is some of these very sensitive people -- especially is they're black, brown and male -- wind up in jails and prisons.
You can just imagine what that experience is for someone who is extremely sensitive.
   As always we have to have safety. But the reality we are facing is different than we think it is.
   AND much more complicated than a bunch of anti-social personality disorders.

Charlie Kaufman is an American screenwriter, producer, director, and lyricist. He wrote the films Being John Malkovich (1999), Adaptation (2002), and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). He made his directorial debut with Synecdoche, New York (2008), which was also well-received; film critic Roger Ebert named it "the best movie of the decade" in 2009

AS PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN BLOWN OFF BY THE POWER STRUCTURE IN THIS STATE FOR 2 YEARS: YOU BLOW PEOPLE OFF AT YOUR PERIL - & WE'RE STILL UNSURE ABOUT THIS STATE ADMINISTRATION

11/23/2016

Val's Take

  Yeah, the election is a wake-up call --- some people are pretty angry -- pretty furious at having their needs being ignored, having to deal with "elites" who think they always know better, and those same "elites" who have their own problems with real lack of integrity.
   Guess what-- the Colorado Mental Health Community can relate.
Democracy is hard -- everybody's needs need to be taken into account and they have to have a seat at the table. AND when you don't provide that, from my prospective the results are not going to be pretty.

AS WE BEGIN TO CRAWL OUT OF THE US' MI NIGHTMARE -- IT'S IMPORTANT TO REALIZE WE'VE GOT A LONG WAY TO GO

11/23/2016

Mental Health Advocates made a bargain with the Devil or at least the Economists & Budget Forecasters when it comes to De-institutionalization & the Costs of Community Mental Health Care.

Well, most of those ill-conceived bargains were made in good faith. People really did think the psychiatric medications were going to solve everybody's problems. It just turned out to be a lot more complicated than that.

And if people aren't living @ the Institute or the Hospital -- they still need some place to live.

And some people need a fair amount in intensive treatment such as Assertive Community Treatment(ACT) and to be in compliance with Parity laws, the Americans with Disabilities Act, & Olmstead --we need to recognize that certain people are legally entitled to ACT as "reasonably medically necessary."

This has been a long, slow painful process involving well- intentioned people on all sides. A lot of good things are being done. Let's do some more.

LET'S TRY TO END OUR MI HELL ASAP!

--------Dr. Allen Frances American psychiatrist, Professor Emeritus at Duke University, chaired the task force that produced the fourth revision of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) and became critical of the current version, DSM-5.

COINCIDENCE & REMEMBRANCE ON THIS VETERAN'S DAY

11/22/2016

[Originally posted on Veteran's Day, Nov. 11, 2016]

Val's Take
[Some of what I am about to relate seems almost unbelievable in "coincidence" AND yet this IS what has been related to me during the course of my life.]

While growing up in Oklahoma, my mother{Loretta} Joan Corzine, maiden name Eller, related to me from a pretty young age probably early teens an upsetting incident that one of her male relatives had witnessed during World War II. I believe I am not sure that was her cousin -- Mark Ray.

The incident involved American soldiers in Germany. One of the young soldiers was so battle shocked or traumatized that upon breaking into a German home in which a young woman had just given birth -- he killed both the young woman and the baby.

In Denver, many years later in conversation with my 90-something Father-in-Law Richard [Dick] Bayles, Sr. who had participated in the liberation of Dachau and was a passionate opponent of "Holocaust Deniers" --- spontaneously related a horrible incident of war, involving a young soldier who killed a young German woman and her baby.

Somewhere in Colorado, I met with a nursing home resident and he spontaneously told me that during World War II he had killed a German woman and her baby and, of course, he felt great guilt about it.

Note added 11-10-2022

What To Make of This?

it's NOT CLEAR
did I imagine this
hallucinate it -- parts of it
fabricate it
Were War Crimes by US Soldiers during WWII -- not as uncommon as we might think?
It was a "coincidence" over my lifetime that got "MY ATTENTION."
More religious people might call it a "GOD-Incidence"
But we reason by making associations --- we don't have an UNLIMITED CAPACITY to MAKE ASSOCIATIONS --- which are INFINITE.
What I'm trying say is I think you can reconcile a PRACTICAL EXPLANATION (even if someone isn't sure what it is) with a larger view that we don't get it all figured out in our lifetimes and much remains frustratingly out of our grasp.

VOTE: BECAUSE ON SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN LIFE -- YOUR BIOLOGICAL MAKE-UP,THE ENVIRONMENT YOU WERE BORN INTO,WHETHER YOU HAVE SUFFERED TRAUMA --YOU DIDN'T GET A VOTE

11/11/2016

Life is Hard. It's hard for human beings, animals, and plants.

Human beings have come to exercise an incredible amount of mastery over ourselves & environment, and compared to other animals -- great awareness.

But the very, very scary fact of the matter is -- We Don't Have Control Over Some of the Most Important Things In Our Lives. A lot of the coping mechanisms we have developed are designed to cope with that fact.

We're Getting It -- That Control. AND the optimist in me says we ARE going to get there, we are on the right track:

We understand more about ourselves than we ever have, and through medical research and neuroscience we are gaining major new insights daily plus the insights we all try to glean from observing the lives we are living as well as those who came before us ;
Major institutions such as the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control, and even Colorado's own Department of Public Health & Environment recognize the importance of "Social Determinants of Health."
Great Spiritual Leaders of the World's Religions and Disciplines are lighting a path for us; and
People from around the world are doing amazing work in the fields of Government and Social Entrepreneurship, coming up with innovative mechanisms to provide sustainability for the "Social Determinants of Health" we all need.

Sometimes, we say --"Act as if . . . " or "Fake it, Till You Make It" -- because "Confidence" and a "Good Attitude" can help in many situations.

The problems is -- It Can Be Really Dangerous In Other Situations.

To a certain extent, that is what I think has happened in our society, and quite frankly most societies -- when it comes to people with cognitive and mental disabilities.

It is pretty hard to acknowledge the scary realities we are confronted with.

Further, at least in some cases -- its not an abusive parent that's causing the Trauma -- it's the Society itself, and that includes the US.

Pericles ruled during the height or Golden Age of 5th Century BCE Athenian Democracy, his relevance continues to this day.

WISE BALD GUYS, CONFLICT, & THE KEY TO LONG TERM CHANGE

11/11/2016

WHAT WERE WE THINKING WHEN WRITING THE ARTICLE BELOW? -- SWEET THOUGHTS ABOUT DAD & STATE WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO RESPOND TO US ABOUT A WAIT LIST FOR ASSERTIVE COMMUNITY TREATMENT, ETC.

Val's Take

In one of Stephen Covey's books, he relates his wife's devotion to the "Frigidaire" brand and how "illogical" he thought that was early on in their marriage.
As Covey was to learn, "Frigidaire" was closely associated with his wife's beloved father.
No doubt one of the reasons I am such a fan of Stephen Covey, Carl Reiner and Colorado's own Guardianship Guru Carl Glatstein -- in various ways they remind me of my bald, wise, funny and beloved father.
From the very beginning, Dad was always of the opinion that we could talk through and ultimately resolve any issue. That doesn't mean we didn't have disagreements -- we had plenty -- all the time -- and we "loved" debating the issues of the day -- or at least I did, I think Dad had his limits.
   Early on, Dad let me know that no matter what he would never disown me. This wasn't really percipated by anything that was going on in my life -- I was actually pretty little --- it had to do with a female cousin he was close to.
My Dad was different too -- in that he had strengths and weaknesses I don't have. A History Major and Great Lover of History, he never took notes in his college history classes -- he just closed his eyes and let the Professor's Lecture "wash over" him.
   He was the most "organized" person most people ever met in their lives, AND he loved reading but he was a slow reader.
   He invested his entire life in providing for his family, being one incredible Super-Caretaker Male -- taking grandmothers shopping and to doctors appointments, kids to dance classes and school activities.
Further, in later years, -- even co-workers [especially, those that had never had a father, regardless of race] saw him as a Father Figure. He was such a Dad Guy -- in mind, spirit -- and yes physique.
   Near the end, before he got really sick, he was helping his caretakers do their taxes. Of course during that time our mother was the Hero of the Family, but that's another story.
   One of the reasons I was drawn to the Law was that it promised a structured resolution of conflicts. The more I've seen of our system, the less it seems to be able to resolve conflicts -- AND at this time it is absolutely necessary.
Dad believed that the Key to any long term change was Education. I'm thinking the Key to Long Term Change is the Long Term Love & Devotion & yes willingness to address conflict Dad brought to his relationships.

Ray Dalio is an American businessman and founder of the investment firm Bridgewater Associates, one of the world's largest hedge funds.

In 2012, Dalio appeared on the annual Time 100 list of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2011 and 2012 he was listed by Bloomberg Markets as one of the 50 Most Influential people. -- Wikipedia

[Stephen Covey -- Leadership Guru & Our Guy -- During His Lifetime He Compassionately Elucidated Principles to Live By -- We Often Fall Short AND We Continue To Be Inspired by His Legacy.]

Val's Blog

"I'M TOO SENSITIVE A PERSON"

AS PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN BLOWN OFF BY THE POWER STRUCTURE IN THIS STATE FOR 2 YEARS: YOU BLOW PEOPLE OFF AT YOUR PERIL - & WE'RE STILL UNSURE ABOUT THIS STATE ADMINISTRATION

AS WE BEGIN TO CRAWL OUT OF THE US' MI NIGHTMARE -- IT'S IMPORTANT TO REALIZE WE'VE GOT A LONG WAY TO GO

LET'S TRY TO END OUR MI HELL ASAP!

COINCIDENCE & REMEMBRANCE ON THIS VETERAN'S DAY

VOTE: BECAUSE ON SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN LIFE -- YOUR BIOLOGICAL MAKE-UP,THE ENVIRONMENT YOU WERE BORN INTO,WHETHER YOU HAVE SUFFERED TRAUMA --YOU DIDN'T GET A VOTE

WISE BALD GUYS, CONFLICT, & THE KEY TO LONG TERM CHANGE

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Val's Blog

"I'M TOO SENSITIVE A PERSON"

AS PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN BLOWN OFF BY THE POWER STRUCTURE IN THIS STATE FOR 2 YEARS: YOU BLOW PEOPLE OFF AT YOUR PERIL ​- & WE'RE STILL UNSURE ABOUT THIS STATE ADMINISTRATION

AS WE BEGIN TO CRAWL OUT OF THE US' MI NIGHTMARE -- IT'S IMPORTANT TO REALIZE WE'VE GOT A LONG WAY TO GO

LET'S TRY TO END OUR MI HELL ASAP!

COINCIDENCE & REMEMBRANCE ON THIS VETERAN'S DAY

VOTE: BECAUSE ON SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN LIFE -- YOUR BIOLOGICAL MAKE-UP,THE ENVIRONMENT YOU WERE BORN INTO,​WHETHER YOU HAVE SUFFERED TRAUMA --​YOU DIDN'T GET A VOTE

WISE BALD GUYS, CONFLICT, & THE KEY TO LONG TERM CHANGE

Author

Archives

Categories

AS PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN BLOWN OFF BY THE POWER STRUCTURE IN THIS STATE FOR 2 YEARS: YOU BLOW PEOPLE OFF AT YOUR PERIL - & WE'RE STILL UNSURE ABOUT THIS STATE ADMINISTRATION

VOTE: BECAUSE ON SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN LIFE -- YOUR BIOLOGICAL MAKE-UP,THE ENVIRONMENT YOU WERE BORN INTO,WHETHER YOU HAVE SUFFERED TRAUMA --YOU DIDN'T GET A VOTE