Changing our attitudes towards mental illness

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0><center> <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript" src="//ad.broadcaststation.net/ads/show_ad.php?width=728&height=90"></script> </center>  <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-4KX380T5BD"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-4KX380T5BD'); </script>  <geoads></geoads> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="08afd5a3.jpg"> <div> <B>Changing our attitudes towards mental illness</B></div> <bR> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="08bd2b03.jpg"> <div> <A HREF="id18.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="My Story My Opinion"><U><B>Click to Begin</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I><B>Welcome to the Changing Our Attitudes Towards Mental Illness Website.</B></I></div> <bR> <div> T<FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Old English Text MT" >here is a principle which is a bar against all information,  which is proof against all argument, and which cannot fail to keep man in everlasting ignorance.</FONT></div> <bR> <div> T<FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Old English Text MT" >hat principle is condemnation without investigation.</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Mental health problems are treated as if our thoughts and feelings are separate from our physical bodies. This artificial distinction is reflected in our thinking and language as well as in the provision of health services.</div> <bR> <div> This separation of mind and body contributes to the stigma of mental illness. The description of mental health problems as being "all in the mind" is often followed by the instruction to the patient to "pull yourself together."</div> <bR> <div> The process of thought is a process that involves electrical impulses that are created by chemical actions that originate in part in organs of our bodies other than the brain, and those electrical impulses are only the beginning of a long and extremely complicated chemical process required in order to produce thought.</div> <bR> <div> Those chemicals; hormones, neurotransmitters, enzymes, and a host of others, require many specific ingredients or nutrients that we obtain from food, water, and the air that we breath.</div> <bR> <div> Obviously then, nutrition must be a major consideration when dealing with a matter of mental health. It is not a matter that should be taken lightly.</div> <bR> <div> Nutrition is of course not the only influence involved in mental illness. Our ability, or rather our inability so far to unlock the secrets of the human brain however will only be enhanced by a better understanding of, and acceptance of, the principles of the biochemistry involved in the process of thought.   </div> <bR> <div> Hello, my name is Paul. I was diagnosed in the summer of 2003, at the age of 51, with having a personality disorder. This diagnosis has proven to be both a blessing in disguise, and as well, has been a bit of a nightmare in one respect. Why would I consider a personality disorder to be a blessing, you might ask? </div> <bR> <div> First, because after learning the fundamental theory and dynamics involved in this disorder, I have begun to understand some of the reasons why I have acted, and reacted, in certain ways towards other people in my life. Why I subconsciously have behaved sometimes, in negative and ultimately destructive ways.</div> <bR> <div> We have all said and done things that we have immediately regretted, things that we really didn't mean to say or do.</div> <bR> <div> Both the good and the bad things that we experience during our lives serve to help shape our personalities, and as a result, we tend to develop set methods of reacting to given situations. These methods, or patterns of behavior, because they can become so fixed, and because they usually reside in the backgrounds of our minds, or subconscious, can all too often give rise to inflexible styles of personality, which are called personality disorders, and the process can happen so slowly, and over such a long period of time, decades even, that we are not aware of the changes that have taken place. In essence, we have become mentally ill. We have developed patterns of thinking that are unhealthy, that are detrimental to both our physical and mental well-being, and to the relationships we have with our friends, family, co-workers, and employers, and most importantly, these patterns of thinking are detrimental to the relationship that we carry on within ourselves, the relationship that exists within our own mind, perhaps even with our soul or spirit, and unfortunately we are not aware that a problem exists.</div> <bR> <div> As part of my healing process, I have explored other areas, or factors, that may have served to be a negative influence on my emotional and mental health. I shall endeavour to share with you some of that learning experience on this website.</div> <bR> <div> These pages are all about learning about mental illness, understanding different points of view, and exploring different and sometimes unusual and controversial ideas.</div> <bR> <div> The really down side of all this, has been the destruction of a valued friendship. This website is dedicated in part to that friendship, to a lady by the name of Jean.</div> <bR> <div> I would also like to dedicate this website to the memory of a very fine lady who lived a long time ago, a lady who spent the majority of her life advancing a better understanding of mental illness, Dorothea Dix. I also honour here a man of vision, a man who may have made a discovery that I believe will ultimately prove to be of more benefit to mankind than any other revelation or invention made thus far. I am talking about Seale Harris. Thank you Dr. Harris, for your incredible dedication and insight.</div> <bR> <div> Last, and very definitely not least, I mention a young man who was only 24 years old when he died. Anthony Pappa, who was murdered by the State of New York on the first day of July, in the year 1949. You are not forgotten, Tony.</div> <bR> <div> I hope that you enjoy these pages. Click on the " Click to Begin " link on the left side of this page to continue your journey into understanding.</div> <bR> <div> I sincerely apologize to early visitors to this website for its temporary incompleteness. Please return from time to time, as I strive to devote at least an hour or two daily to its development</div> <bR> <div> This is a rather large website containing nearly three hundred individual pages. I have eliberately and I hope considerately omitted graphics in order to lessen the time necessary to load pages.</div> <bR> <div> Live long and prosper,</div> <bR> <div> Paul</div> <bR> <div>             </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>