My TV Family

My immediate TV Family is, of course, those of the Criminal Minds variety. But, now that I've seen mostly all of the episodes aired on Ion Television (positively entertaining), I've been watching a lot of Law and Order SVU.

Last night they had a "ripped from the headlines" marathon. And the one I catched was about psyhiatric drugs.

1) the dialogue was SOOOO stilted. In one conversation the characters touched on all the sound bites of the argument. Still....

2) the actual episode DID seem to outline the major conflict.

There are people who still believe that mental illness isn't valid or is over-diagnosed or over-treated. And in the last two cases, they're probably bordering on the truth. Not my call.

But in the first case my thought is: Fuck You.

I've made it no secret that I've been in therapy for years. And a lot of it is just figuring out the reasons behind the thoughts I think, the judgements I make, and the actions I do. BUT, the other reason is to let me recognize that a lot of what goes on in my brain is unhealthy.

Medical science has mappec the human genome but not the human brain. It is that complex. And chemical treatment is not appropriate for everyone.

But for someone who has wound up in the emergency room - and consequently a psych ward - I can tell you that appropriate treatment is a SAVIOR.

I forget to take my meds for ONE day and I can tell the difference. I go from thinking every problem is a reason for suicide to thinking problems are a wicked pain in the ass.

So, yeah, this episode of SVU had it right. Sometimes meds are too much and not right. And sometimes meds are literally the differnce between life and death.

And before you judge, walk in my shoes for two days. One with, one without. Then get back to me.