Voices in a dream

First of all, I don't make fun of schizophrenia. I've seen too many wonderful, smart people taken out, some to return with good, but very constrained lives, others not all.
In that context, then, let me mention a dream that I had the other night. The details have faded, but the details weren't that significant.
The dream was about Facebook and the cacophony of voices, speaking, shouting, singing - all directing me to do jump here, go there, or stand in one place, starry-eyed and laughing.
The raw emotion has lingered for a couple of days, keeping me off-balance. I looked up some of the primary presenting symptoms of schizophrenia, but decided not to push the metaphor too far.
We all have exceptionally vivid dreams at one time or another. When I've changed medications (which I haven't for several months), I experienced episodes of vivid and often disorienting dreams.
Sometimes, too, vivid dreams and hypersensitivity run along together. (I can't say that one triggers the other.) That seems to be the case these days.
In such times, it's important to find ways to stay grounded - to know what's true even if emotions try to tell us otherwise, to stay active physically, and to identify tasks that are fairly simple and easy to complete. For me, stacking firewood is just such a remedy. At the end of an hour, there's order where there had been just a pile of thrown 18" logs.
Entropy says that things tend to move from order to disorder and that it takes work, energy to create and maintain order. Energy may sometimes be in short supply, so, in such times, it's good to be able to apply to places where the results of the effort are visible.

Alzheimer's is no laughing matter, so ...

we won't laugh when we read this article.
I think I told you about the time that I went to a group therapy meeting barefoot. In the warmer weather, I usually leave my shoes in the car and go around the house barefoot. Well, one time, I left my shoes at home, drove to the therapy meeting, and then had the choice of going in barefoot or going home, getting my shoes, and coming back halfway through the meeting. I decided that I needed the meeting more than my shoes.

A more appropriate word choice might be in order

Telegram.com - Principal is not rehired: "Now the legally blind principal, who last year filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination saying he had been harassed by the administration, is looking at his legal options."

Grass fed beef liver: Vitamins, Minerals, Omega 3s :: Rebuild from Depression Blog

I enjoy reading the Rebuild from Depression Blog, but I can assure you that I've never said these words: "Beef liver is my 'food of recovery,'"
From Grass fed beef liver: Vitamins, Minerals, Omega 3s

Black box warnings and reduced depression diagnoses

Over the past few years, the FDA has required stronger warnings regarding an increased risk of suicide as a result of taking some anti-depressants. The reasons for the increased risk aren't clear. It could be that the meds trigger increased suicidiality (thoughts of suicide) or that the improved energy levels in some patients gives them the strength to act on those thoughts. The risk seems greatest when antidepressants are given to teenagers (or younger).
An unintended side-effect of the strong warnings is that doctors, primary-care physicians, at least, are reporting fewer cases of depression and prescribing meds less frequently. See Impact of U.S. antidepressant warnings still felt. (Overall anti-depressant use hasn't fallen, just those prescribed by PCPs.)
Again, the reasons for this shift aren't understood very well, but appear to be related to concerns among doctors and patients (and/or patients' parents) that the increased risk isn't worth the potential benefit.
There are a lot of legitimate concerns regarding medications and, particularly, the over-prescribing of meds in the past decade. That said, this report also shows that physicians are not prescribing alternatives, such as older types of anti-depressants or counseling therapies. As a result, fewer people are being diagnosed with and treated for depression.
How bad is this? Not sure. Suicide rates during this period haven't changed significantly.