Surviving Depression :: Grassroots Strategies

Watched "Wristcutters: a Love Story" over the weekend. An interesting take on suicide and on love. Glad to see it 'out of the closet'. Every little bit helps. I recommend it, unless you're feeling fragile. Rated R. [source] Tags: Self-Help Suicide DepressionGrassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

.:. Survivor .:. Be My Friend - http://www.myspace.com/psychtruth On Depression, Hope, Recovery, Psychology & Antidepressants Dr. John Breeding, Ph.D. Psychologist discusses how to help people with mental health problems and psychological issues w/out buying into the biological psychiatry approach that a person has an incurable mental illness or mental disorder. Coalition for the Abolition of Electroshock in Texas http://www.endofshock.com/ This video was edited by Psychetruth. http://www.youtube.com/psychetruth http://www.myspace.com/psychtruth PsycheTruth is empowered by TubeMogul http://www.tubemogul.com Copyright 2008 CAEST. All Rights Reserved. This video may be displayed in public, copied and redistributed for any strictly non-commercial use in its entire unedited form. Alteration or commercial use is strictly prohibited.   Formats available: Microsoft Video (.avi), Flash Video (.flv)Tags: depression, hope, recovery, psychology, antidepressants, mental, health, psychiatry, illness, disorder, help, electroshockGrassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

.:. Survivor .:. In preparation for the Faux Parade. With Cosmic Ray.Formats available: MPEG1 Video (.mpg), Flash Video (.flv)Tags: faux_press, human birds, cosmic ray, wloll, worlds longest open love letter Grassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

.:. Survivor .:. Paintings, wall sculpture, drawings.This was a gift to my colleague Katie.Because I can.Because it s something she needs and will use.Sweet. Because part of healing is giving back. Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v) Grassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

New Seesmic pal Karen responded to THIS video posted to Seesmic via YouTube. I respond to Karen as above. I continue to learn how to listen. In researching "The World's Longest Open Love Letter" documentary I've occasion to search YouTube for folks who speak to mental health issues. Watching these profound stories brought me way down. In the parlance of survivor circles, it's known as 'triggering'. Rather than fight it, I allowed the spiral to unfold in its way, but with an attempt at keeping my extreme artists eyes, ears and heart open so as to be able to later relate the experience. It inevitably takes longer to process this information than I expect. Input being SEEN, the new. My biggest fear is that friendships and career will be ruined as a result of going public. My online research indicates others go public about craploads of mental health issues in droves. What I see is gutsy stuff. Full of courage, hope and technique. It's my theory that healing and forgiveness require 'witness', one thing the Catholic Church got right. Posting videos about one's healing experiences admirably - if somewhat dangerously - fills that need. The NY Times recently published an interesting tech article about a new social networking site - PatientsLikeMe - that crowdsources data, statistics, charts, medical metrics. For sure, the site bucks the MSM-promoted privacy-before-all-else-for-fear-of-identity-theft or death-by-pervert-stalker trend. Here's what deputy editor of Wired magazine Thomas Goetz had to say on the subject of the social networking of mental health research: As diseases go, A.L.S. or M.S. or Parkinson’s or even H.I.V. are relatively rare afflictions, at least in the United States. Mental illness, on the other hand, afflicts a vast swath of the country. Nearly 60 million Americans have a diagnosable mental disorder, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, a population that includes everything from depression to bipolar syndrome to anxiety. For PatientsLikeMe, that population represents a huge market, not to mention the potentially lucrative bounty of data related to antidepressants and other mood-disorder drugs. But it also presents a challenge. Creating a PatientsLikeMe mental-health community — or as they call it, a “mood community” — requires a new strategy for measuring mental health. The challenge is in part semantic. Where the argot around A.L.S. or M.S. is largely clinical, the vernacular around mental health is more subjective. The official diagnostic criteria for major depression, for example, include “feelings of worthlessness” and “indecisiveness.” So PatientsLikeMe faces an input problem: how to convert the ambiguities of mental illness into metrics?Whatever its ultimate worth, the site’s answer is elegantly straightforward. Members can update their mood status every hour on a scale of 1 to 4, from very bad to very good. How they feel may be subjective, but the resulting data can be mapped across time. The site treats sessions of therapy as if they were a dose of Prozac; the type of therapy (say, group or individual) stands as the treatment, and the length of a session (say, 50 minutes a week) as the dosage.We live in interesting times. Music is "Mother's Blues" from Jeff Kelley's Classic Acoustic Blues album - about whom I've written in this space before. [NY Times article] Tags: Self-Help Art DepressionGrassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

.:. Survivor .:. Show.Life = Work. The old iPod has returned in working order with a 30GB hard drive, new screen and battery. Less than $200. I love this tool. It helps me hear. Great to have it back in the arsenal. An audio portrait of two birds. A meditation on courtship and authority. Formats available: MP3 Audio (.mp3)Tags: mindfullness, storytelling, faux_press, jan, mclaughlin, life, work, morning, dove, birdsong, conversation, wloll, process, metaphrasty, courtship, portrait, spring, birds, sound, effects, fx, lo-fi, ipod, italk, griffin Grassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

.:. Survivor .:. A gift for you.Formats available: MP3 Audio (.mp3)Tags: tibetan, meditation, bell, sound, effect, fx, public, domain, wloll Grassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

.:. Survivor .:. As titled.It s a dinner party.It s a parade.An adventure.It s the debut of the Faux Press.It s a celebration of success.It s a meditation on journalism, commerce, and celebrity.It s honoring our gifts. It s ritual.It s dance.It s a love action - see Blow! Blow! Blow! for the definition of a love action . It s news. Metaphrasty. What in tarnation does this have to do with surviving depression?Everything. Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v), Flash Video (.flv)Tags: depression, surviving, healing, strategy, four-minute, ballet;, behind, the, scenes;, jan, mclaughlin;, kevin, mccutcheon;, plaza, hotel;, richard, kostelanetz;, judith, ross;, sharon, oconnell;, andrzej;, steve, bennett;, adam, merton, cooper;, eran;, lauren, moore;, rie, yamaguci;, co Grassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

Another of my favorite collaborative efforts. Elaine Jones and because when violence is associated with love weird things worthy of study happen. Don't have a still photograph of Elaine Replies. mp3Grassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

http://depressionstrategies.blogspot.com/ - publishing The World's Longest Open Love Letter - Vol. 1, No. 2 was pink - a short story about Vol. 1, No. 2 - early media ripples - ephemeral artifacts - publishing . Mobile post sent by Jan / The Faux Press using Utterz. Replies. mp3Grassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

.:. Survivor .:. World s Longest Open Love Letter publishing endeavors take unexpected turns.More adventures in advertising. Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v)Tags: wloll, worlds longest open love letter, jan mclaughlin, art therapy, performance, publishing, alternatives, posters, advertising Grassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

.:. Survivor .:. Sam Perry, artist.Spring Raulerson, artist.Jan McLaughlin, metaphrast.Bruce Weber, poet.We made the audio together for my meditation on the past.This is one of my all-time favorites of our collaborative works in Florida. You can see a wee bit of Arturo Rodriguez camera right and a bit of Demi, camera left. Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v)Tags: garage, closets, poetry, poem, sam, perry, spring, raulerson, arturo, rodriguez, jan, mclaughlin, stoop, painting, wloll Grassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

.:. Surviving .:. WARNING :: Not WORK SAFE. SUBJECT MATTER :: Finding the body. Returning to the body. Honoring the body. Whew. This was a rough one. Somewhere in the healing process came the re-discovery of affection. A comfort with it. At some point, even the slightest touch beyond a handshake made me very nervous; a gentle hand on my arm literally 'burned'. It was terrifying. PROCESS: I begin to collect the still images and art that seem relevant to this exercise of getting back to the body in order to better understand the historical context. To help my imperfect memories. These are the images you see 'under' the poem. "....The search continues for 98.6 and a union of tongues...." This is a subject of interest to folks whose bodies were hurt, regardless of whence the violence originated. It's my theory that 'physical' therapy is important in this step, but something not easily addressed or tackled. I think I'm ready to approach that healing now. How, where and with whom did you address this part of healing? Courage. Tags: Self-Help Art DepressionGrassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

Film making as anti-isolation device - weddings Replies. mp3Grassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

Robert made this for me. Why he made it is our secret, okay? People begin to respond in media. I weep with happiness. This is the kind of conversation I dream of having with survivors and those who support them on their journeys. [source page] [Quicktime download] Tags: Self-Help Art DepressionGrassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

.:. Survivor .:. You are what you consume.And that includes music and motion pictures as well as food.A simple plan: consume more of that which you wish to become.Take stock of what you ve been consuming to know what you ve unconsciously decided to become.Just a thought. Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v)Tags: surviving, violence, abuse, childhood, sexual, strategies, behavior, modification, art, performance, wloll Grassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

Delighted to introduce you to Doug. We've known of one anothers' work in video for a couple of years, and in that time have had more than a few deep conversations. Now the conversation gets deeper. The Harry Harlow clip that's mentioned may be found HERE. Doug's is a moving statement on the nature of lovelessness. Emotional abuse. Each time I name it, the thing has less power. I admire and aspire to his comfort level with the subject matter. Cruelty begets cruelty. From what plant comes its seeds? Rumor has it some of the social services folks have some ongoing cultural expeditions engaged. Look forward to getting the skinny on all of that. Very exciting and innovative thinking going on. Stay tuned. Do you suppose a layperson could attend conferences on the subject at hand in order to conduct interviews? My generation missed the benefits of such places and people. It does my heart good to know things change and grow; as have I. [Quicktime | .m4v | Flash] Tags: Self-Help Art DepressionGrassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

WARNING: There's some near-full and full-frontal nudity in the artworks. Revisiting some motion pictures that were at one point or another diverted and lost to VHS.What did it mean to my survival to give these films my entire attention for the better part of a year? It was only in returning to them after some time away that I realize the repercussions:I'd looked closely at one of my p*rps (made him into a kind of clown) looked at the unacknowledged anger with my mother's unwitting betrayal I was easily able to forgive my mom and dad. It wasn't their fault. Demi, the painter responsible for the image @ right, had admonished me to be 'honest' when she gave it to me. Looked at that painting for years before the capacity for honesty sunk in. Demi's a survivor who's used art as healing tool, too. TECHNICAL NOTES: Thanks to Ms. Jen Simmons and an eyetv 250 Plus, I'm able to digitize and revisit that footage. The soundtrack's right channel offers a director's commentary. Below are links to two of the original, unadulterated poetry filmworks:"Yoing" - written by Mikki LeMoine"Mommie's Coming Back" - written by Jan McLaughlin"The Psychic Poets Show" - written by Jan McLaughlinThe first two were originally shot on 35mm black & white stock - the same stock that Spielberg's 1993 "Schindler's List" was shot on. Our production performed pre-Schindler Beta tests for Kodak.The other - "Psychic Poets" - was shot to a Beta deck.Have lost touch with a lot of these people, in large part because of the depression.No regrets. Formats available: Quicktime Flash, .m4v Tags: Faux Press Art Metaphrasty Tags: Self-Help Art DepressionGrassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

.:. Survivor .:. WARNING: a couple of cuss words in here, and potentially squicky mention of p*rps. I left the A.S.A.R. newsgroup because of s*x-related spam squicking me. it's ugly. Tom. Whatta guy. Appreciate Tom's insightful pointing out where I went a bit off message in an earlier invitation for survivors to participate. His point: the invitation says something provocative if not incendiary to the survivor. Yeah. Incendiary would be the correct word. In the video I ask whether or not it would be appropriate to include interviews with p*d*ph*l*s in The World's Longest Open Love Letter. For me, the answer is, "Yes." Convince me otherwise. Yes because loving evil kills it. My mis-step was in not warning survivors in advance of the content. In survivor circles, words like perpetrator are couched in typographical euphemism thus: p*rp s*x p**n Furthermore, textual forays into difficult subjects are respectfully announced in subject lines, often in caps and surrounded by exclamation points. Consciousness practice. To be ultra-conscious of others' feelings. A big first step in healing when you are yourself unable to feel. Behavior Modification through the moral imperative of Political Correctness changes minds. So, thank you, Tom, for your valuable reminders about survivor protocols.Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v)Tags: depression, strategies, childhood, sexual, abuse, survivor, documentary, grassroots, anger, rage, art, emotion, wlollGrassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

Sorry for laughing as I say the words. Humor can cover up a lot of discomfort, can't it? :) First responses to the invitation to participate in the documentary about strategies for surviving childhood sexual abuse begin to come in. Actually the responses came right away. Getting to actually speak with folks takes a little longer. Survivors often have big-time trust issues. It seems trust things stretch to both ends of the spectrum. Some, like me, trust too much at first blush. Others never seem to trust, not without a lot of time and work. Even then it's fragile. but always when it gets to the nitty gritty of adult human relationships, survivors require a great lot of patience as they grow to trust anybody enough to let them 'in'. It's the fragility that often makes me shake my head with frustration. Anyway, spoke at length by phone with Tom, creator of A Sanctuary website for survivors. He's given me permission to use his first name and link to the website, a safe place where folks may find a lot of basic information on what this phenomenon looks like whether you're a survivor, suspect abuse, or just love one. He offered valuable feedback to the WLOLL project which I've taken to heart. It's my hope that in due course he and I will come to a place where we feel comfortable enough to record an audio and/or video interview. I don't honestly know what this documentary will turn out to be. It depends on the people who step up to speak, and what is most important to them on the day we speak as they make their ways along their healing paths. Farther into the video, I speak to my qualifications for doing this thing if you wonder how / why / whether it might be done. Tags: Self-Help Art DepressionGrassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

.:. Survivor .:. A wee bit of a meditation on body image. Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v)Tags: faux_press, jan mclaughlin, sanitary napkins, unsanitary, art, cognition, intelligence, philosophy, poetryGrassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

Ms. Sanders speaks succinctly & softly to wounds and healing through art & consciousness. Difficult to visualize the body as sacred. Orgasm as sacred. Whew. Working on a video art piece that deals with body image and will post tomorrow. SPOILER: In the meantime, if you're squicked by gentle, soothing words on the subject of the body, you should not play this fine piece. Ancient wisdom. Tags: Self-Help Art DepressionGrassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

.:. Survivor .:. POST NOTE: WARNING - mention of p*rps in the video. Even to type the words 'Surviving Childhood Sexual Abuse' in the title makes my stomach and brain go all fuzzy.To make a documentary on the subject is the best way I can think of to confront the anxiety and fear. The best way to give back to the community of survivors.Ow. Ow. Ow. Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v), Flash Video (.flv)Tags: documentary, childhood, sexual, abuse, invitation, participateGrassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

.:. Survivor .:. A public service message from The Faux Press.What do humans in distress sound like? Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v)Tags: bird, distress, signs, birdsong, politics, metaphrasty, faux_press, activism Grassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

.:. Survivor .:. I always need reminders.How about you? Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v), Flash Video (.flv)Tags: commercial, vlogvertising, bumper, promo, jan, mclaughlinGrassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

Scientist Stephen Petranek speaks at TED saying (among other things) that clinical depression affects one in five world wide, and proposes that dealing with this issue is 10th most important in a list of 10 things that could end the world as we know it. A wee bit apocalyptic but...something to think about. What bothers me is that he characterizes depression as a treatable disease - treatable with talk therapy and drugs yet to be created. What do you think about current modalities of treatment? I don't think either - even together - do much good. Tags: Self-Help Art DepressionGrassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

Formerly available on Google in its entirety, this documentary follows survivors and speaks to the Catholic Church's cover up. Here's the trailer. Watching films like this exacerbates depression, but it puts me in touch with the sadness and anger in such a way that I can - with effort - feel and deal. Not such a bad thing. Tags: Self-Help Art DepressionGrassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

A great podcast on the subject of CBT with host Michael Krasny and his guests: Judith Beck, director of the Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research, clinical associate professor of psychology in psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania [website] Michael Tompkins, psychologist; member of the San Francisco Bay Area Center for Cognitive Therapy; founding fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy; and assistant clinical professor at UC-Berkeley [website] CBT was the first therapy I ever had. It's left lasting effects and impressions. That was back in 1985. One question the therapist asked that returns even today in crisis is this: "What's the worst that could happen?"The followup to the question is a realistic examination of the possibility of the worst possible outcome. Surprising to hear is that there aren't many therapists practicing CBT in America. Jeeze. Why not? Tags: Self-Help Art DepressionGrassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

One of the first things I did when I learned of the scandal in the Catholic Church was to write an open letter to the Pope. Can't wait to see this film. Feeling a bit left out of the healing loop, what with all the Catholics providing activism & help for their own. Just because my abusers weren't priests. The scandal actually brought my oldest friends and her Catholic community closer to the church. Good for them. I wanted to see the Pope and all Catholics who knew about the coverups to crawl around on all fours begging forgiveness and alms for the survivors they hurt. [Netflix] [IMDB] Tags: Self-Help Art DepressionGrassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary

CAUTION: about a minute in there's a kinda s*xual image. You might want to close your eyes if you're feeling raw.I can usually pump out videos pretty darned quick. This one took a long time. It's not perfect. It feels dangerous.Based on previous experience, seeing how whiney and pathetic I am when in the throes of depression will eventually help me understand its mechanics better.I have a long-term documentary video project that I'm hoping this web site and the community that grows around it will help me finish. It's called "The World's Longest Open Love Letter" and was in its earliest states, a series of meditations on anger, then love, and now, on action. Creating the "Anger" painting below opened me up to the possibility that art could help me heal. Subscribers and visitors to this site as witnesses to the process of healing. Witnesses healed and grown by virtue of the gift of granting forgiveness to the innocent.Lots of books, plays & films have been released in the last few years on the subject of the sexual exploitation of children by adults. I've already collected them and will share links to all of them here.My "World's Longest Open Love Letter" project will be a day late and ten cents short, but the point is to make it. The point is the process of making it.Wish me luck. Quicktime DownloadGrassroots Depression Strategies :: a Video Podcast / Documentary