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Mental illness … and the Nature of Evil
The past fifty years have seen a huge change in society’s understanding and attitude toward mental illness, but stigma still remains. Just this past week, the news that caught my ear (since most of my news comes to me via NPR) was that lawmakers are attempting to make it easier to force people with mental illness…
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The Anarchist Soccer Mom: Thinking the Unthinkable
The Anarchist Soccer Mom: Thinking the Unthinkable. I am sharing this story because I am Adam Lanza’s mother. I am Dylan Klebold’s and Eric Harris’s mother. I am Jason Holmes’s mother. I am Jared Loughner’s mother. I am Seung-Hui Cho’s mother. And these boys—and their mothers—need help. In the wake of another horrific national tragedy,…
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“I’m going to kill myself”
No, I’m not suicidal. But my mother is. It’s sort of socially acceptable to have your elderly parent call you and complain about chest pain, or back pain, or even severe dementia. But, having a severe mental illness and wanting to end your own life? Not so socially acceptable. My sister and I have been…
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An intense read
January First I ended up staying up until past 3am on a weeknight to finish reading this. It hit too close to home on too many levels. My sister and I grew up with a mother who continues to suffer from severe bipolar disorder, which has robbed her of so much in life. Like Janni,…