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intertribalI think I just watched the best episode of Law & Order: SVU ever. I know, I didn't think it would happen either. Yes, it still had a few classic SVU faults, particularly revolving the stupidly-intensifying Olivia-Stabler-Kathy triangle, and of course they smashed complicated things into one primetime hour, but overall it was insanely sophisticated for an SVU episode. It was called "Swing", and it had nothing to do with sex. It turns out Stabler's daughter has bipolar disorder and she got it from Stabler's mother - but it's strongly implied that Stabler actually has it too, even though the episode never says so explicitly. As far as crime plot goes, there was pretty much none - she had broken into a house while on a drug-fueled mania and stolen jewelry - but it was a lot more engaging than any of their crime episodes. Seriously, it's hard to believe (and somewhat disappointing) they went from this to "Lunacy", that ridiculous astronaut episode.
This is rather an odd link, but the women who marry into my mother's family, I've found, tend to have emotional/mental problems of some kind, some more severe (suicide - my uncle's second wife) than others, and my uncle's third wife has bipolar disorder. I don't have it myself. My mother's developing anxiety (which I have/had) but she's spent most of her life fairly steady; her mother, who married into the family, was one of those reasonably educated women who compromised and became a '50s housewife (a Laura Bush, basically) - although I wonder if there wasn't some tension in her head that my mother hasn't told me about. I don't know very much about my maternal grandmother, even though I'm named after her. Either that, or I take The Hours too seriously. The natural-born Hostetlers have problems too, but with the men it's usually limited to mild to moderate depression that they can self-medicate through sleep, video games, vacations, and new wives to replace defective ones. Sometimes I think my mother self-medicated by uprooting herself, and that she's getting this constant need now to go on walks to calm herself down worries me a little.
Anyway, I felt that "Swing" was a very accurate depiction of both the disorder and the reaction other people have to it. Ellen Burstyn, playing Stabler's mother, was very, very good.
Apparently Stabler's bipolar daughter has the same middle name as mine.
This is rather an odd link, but the women who marry into my mother's family, I've found, tend to have emotional/mental problems of some kind, some more severe (suicide - my uncle's second wife) than others, and my uncle's third wife has bipolar disorder. I don't have it myself. My mother's developing anxiety (which I have/had) but she's spent most of her life fairly steady; her mother, who married into the family, was one of those reasonably educated women who compromised and became a '50s housewife (a Laura Bush, basically) - although I wonder if there wasn't some tension in her head that my mother hasn't told me about. I don't know very much about my maternal grandmother, even though I'm named after her. Either that, or I take The Hours too seriously. The natural-born Hostetlers have problems too, but with the men it's usually limited to mild to moderate depression that they can self-medicate through sleep, video games, vacations, and new wives to replace defective ones. Sometimes I think my mother self-medicated by uprooting herself, and that she's getting this constant need now to go on walks to calm herself down worries me a little.
Anyway, I felt that "Swing" was a very accurate depiction of both the disorder and the reaction other people have to it. Ellen Burstyn, playing Stabler's mother, was very, very good.
Apparently Stabler's bipolar daughter has the same middle name as mine.
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Date: 2008-11-02 09:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-02 04:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-02 08:57 pm (UTC)"Overall rates of psychiatric disorder are almost identical for men and women but striking gender differences are found in the patterns of mental illness.
Why Gender?
Gender is a critical determinant of mental health and mental illness. The morbidity associated with mental illness has received substantially more attention than the gender specific determinants and mechanisms that promote and protect mental health and foster resilience to stress and adversity.
Gender determines the differential power and control men and women have over the socioeconomic determinants of their mental health and lives, their social position, status and treatment in society and their susceptibility and exposure to specific mental health risks.
Gender differences occur particularly in the rates of common mental disorders - depression, anxiety and somatic complaints. These disorders, in which women predominate, affect approximately 1 in 3 people in the community and constitute a serious public health problem."
And it happens with other dominated groups, though the patterns are different. I saw a play once that had as part of the premise a fact (true fact? i dunno) that blacks in the UK had a much higher incidence of schizophrenia than other groups. The US surgeon general's report:
"4. Ethnic and racial minorities in the United States face a social and economic environment of inequality that includes greater exposure to racism and discrimination, violence, and poverty, all of which take a toll on mental health. Living in poverty has the most measurable impact on rates of mental illness. People in the lowest stratum of income, education, and occupation are about two to three times more likely than those in the highest stratum to have a mental disorder.
5. Racism and discrimination are stressful events that adversely affect health and mental health. They place minorities at risk for mental disorders such as depression and anxiety. Whether racism and discrimination can by themselves cause these disorders is less clear, yet deserves research attention."