

Haunted. - nate
http://natekontny.com/post/16929442131/haunted

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breathesalt
I can't say why everyone who's homeless is so, but I can say why many mentally
ill people are. In order to qualify for government assistance if you do suffer
from mental illness, you must realize you actually are mentally ill. This is
the biggest barrier for many of the mentally ill. If you don't think you're
mentally ill and actually are, everyone who says you are becomes yet another
antagonist in your grand conspiracy theory--so that rules out going to see a
doctor to get a diagnosis, that the government requires in order to prove
incompetence (the catch-22 of SSI and friends). A very common delusion of the
mentally ill is that the government is stalking/torturing/raping/spying/etc on
them and so the mentally ill will do everything in their power to stay away
from government workers or officials (sadly, these delusions can become self-
fulfilling prophecies after a while). At least in California, the law requires
that a mentally ill person voluntarily seek medical help, so friends and
family are left helpless to do anything for a mentally ill family member
except to support them with money out of their own pockets--bringing the
entire family into poverty. People who suffer from mental illnesses like
schizophrenia will incur irreparable damage to their brain if left untreated
for years or decades; this is a common fate.

Sadly, the only hope for many mentally ill people is that their families won't
give up supporting them before they develop some sort of other physical
disease from neglect of proper medical care, and can then qualify for
government assistance under that disability instead of their mental illness.

This is the sad state of mental illness in America, the moral: if you show
early signs of mental illness such as paranoia, anxiety, depression,
compulsive or "antisocial" behavior, please do yourself a favor and go see a
psychiatrist before it's too late. There is no safety net, just prevention--
and FSM forbid you have a mental breakdown.

~~~
nate
Thanks a ton for this info. It helps add to my knowledge of what's going on
there. What's also sad, is that seeing a psychiatrist has it's own dilemmas
attached to it. "If I see a psychiatrist, what will my friends think of me?",
"If I see a psychiatrist, can I still get a government job?", etc.

