Musings From the Edge: The Eternal Night
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There are times when things happen, when people do things we can’t explain, and some people look at each other and ask why? Given the amount of time and money that the insurance industry along with a number of conservative naysayers spend discounting the extent of the problems of mental health it is no small wonder that no one can answer the question. It is no big secret that a minimum of 70 – 90% of the people we put in correctional institutions have mild to serious mental health problems and the government spends comparatively little to help them. Instead they are locked up, some in the so called Super Max prisons, where their illnesses simply fester and get worse. Then they are turned loose. The insurance industry, in most cases, reimburses people who seek help for mental illness at a much lower rate than if they had a medical illness. There are many more who do not seek help because of the societal stigma attached to any type of mental illness. As a society we do not wish to deal with or address the problem of mental illness because we fear it. We fear it because we do not understand it. Even if we, individually, suffer from some form of it we still fear it, shun it, hide from it and pretend it isn’t there. Well folks, I am here to tell you, it is here, it is real, and it is time for it to be brought out of the closet so that those who need assistance with it can receive help without fear of being shunned and ostracized like lepers in days in the far distant past.
Ironically, some idiots talk about “normal” as if there is an actual working definition for it. There is not one. Each of us is different from each other in some way so there is no real definition of absolute normality. There are only things that can be said that may be to the farthermost side, to the left or the right, of a center point of normal. But, we don’t have a definition of what is dead on point normal.
Thus, in one way or another, we are “off” a little bit. Join me on a perception journey through the mind of being really “off”.
The Eternal Night
There is darkness where there was light
There is light where there was night
There are voices where there is no sound
There is control but confusion aboundsFaces of fear mouth empty words
Lungs bursting with air nothing is heard
Lights of such brilliance eyes cannot see
Minds wanting to escape but cannot fleeHearing cries wanting for respite
Turmoil thunders it rattles in the night
Shouting everywhere it penetrates the head
Words to lead and those to be ledSounds and lights piercing the brain
Knife like sharpness and needles of pain
Wanting, begging and reaching for relief
To be released and free from this griefSuddenly it is there face right in front
A monster’s giant head here to confront
It is kill or be killed to make this go away
One must die for the other to stayCognition explodes now just to realize
Monster a front mirrors in thyne own eyes
Blood then gushes pulsing to the ground
Lights now dim the monster slinks downCollapsing slowly back a single light shines brightly
No longer with heaviness the body rest so lightly
The sounds fade the restfulness is so quiet
Gentle arms carry the soul so light
Softly and gently into the eternal night
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Some idiots talk about “normal” as if there is an actual working definition for it. There is not one. How true, Bill. And I somewhat agree with Holte that 25% of people need some sort of psychiatric and/or psychological analysis during their lives. Perhaps that figure is a little low. I can’t imagine anyone on the face of the earth who could not benefit from such help.
And there is no answer to your question. For that reason, it is a touchy subject as Holte so rightly pointed out. What if those incarcerated got help sooner? Would they have accomplished a crime? What would they have accomplished? So shutting away people with mild to serious mental health problems, might mask many inmates with potential genius that might have created some good in the world. What brilliance do we lock away? And ignore?
A caveat: Manson is a classic example of a sociopath. Few remember he was in and out of the system many times before the horrific Tate-LaBianca murders? Would he have changed with psychiatric help? There is no way we can know. Sociopathology is one of the hardest illnesses to treat. So could sociopaths even be helped?
More disturbing is disparity. President Obama stated, In the United States minorities make up 33% (Hispanics 15%, Black 13.5% and Asian 5%) of the population where in 67% of the population is Non-Hispanic White.. One look at the incarceration percentages by ethnicity on the accompanying graph on this site coupled with the educational attainment and annual salary creates an even more disturbing scenario.
http://www.project.org/info.php?recordID=115
What’s so disturbing about this issue is that neither incarceration rates nor educational achievement are consistent with population percentages: Blacks were much more likely to be sent to prison than placed on probation. As a result, black men were locked up at a rate of nine times that of whites. Blacks comprised over 40 percent of the prison population, almost 44 percent in 2003, on any given day. In addition, almost as many blacks were on death row (1,514) in 1999 as whites (1,948).
http://law.jrank.org/pages/12131/Race-Ethnicity-Incarceration-minorities.html
So what happens to non-white inmates with mental illness? That question disturbs me deeply. And, Bill, with yet another amazing poem, you demonstrate these unanswerable questions brilliantly.
Certainly, ignoring those incarcerated in Supermax prisons with mental illness is barbaric. Of course, we should not turn our backs on the “eternal night.” The ancient Greeks, Romans, Sumerians, Babylonians, etc., believed madness was a divine gift.
I wonder… what divine gifts from those incarcerated have we lost?
I completely agree Stella and I will say no more because I you have nailed it all to the wall. But, I will say I wish I put my poem out by itself.
Well, certainly your poetry is one divine gift we haven’t lost. The post, however, was thought provoking and served as an excellent companion to the scenario about which you wrote. I was particularly touched by the post because one of the careers that particularly interests me is teaching in a women’s prison. So, on this, we’ll have to agree to disagree in the nicest possible way.
Thank You Stella. This topic does seem to strike a chord.
It’s a touchy subject Bill, an old friend of mine, who is a Psychologist, told me that 1 in 4 of us, at some time in our lives need some help and the vast majority struggle through their illness when professional help would ease the way.
I agree Holte. I really like the poem. I wish I had get my pie hole shut. Talking to my friend has given me some insight I had never imagined. But, it is an area that, we as a society, need to bring into the light so it is less stigmatized and people would be less fearful about dealing with on a day to day basis. We wonder why people like Loughner, Mark David Chapman, John Hinkley, Jr. and others fly under the radar and this is the exact reason. People turn their heads, don’t want to engage, pretend they don’t exist until something happens. Then they look around in wonderment and say, WHY?
I probably should have left the rant on mental illness off Oso and just posted the poem. It is ironic that I had been working on the poem before last weeks events in Arizona because of a friend who is schizophrenic. I remember his progression and how people, including his family and friends, began to shy away from him when he needed them most. As with the shooter last week most wanted to pretend he or his problem did not exist. I try to meet with for a bit as often as possible so he doesn’t feel abandoned. As long as he takes his meds he is a cool guy to be around. A little weird at times, but still a cool guy.
Words to bring empathy to one not understanding mental and emotional illness, possibly even a victim ? But certainly an observer.