16th May 2012 is Mental Health Blog Party Day. Bloggers worldwide will be bringing awareness to mental health issues. Today, I'll be writing about how mental illnesses shouldn't be a stigma.

Just because someone has a mental illness - be it depression, bi-polar, ADD, schizophrenia, OCD, anorexia nervosa, bulimia, anxiety... - does not mean that that person is crazy. It is a mental illness, just like the common cold or a flu, except that, unlike colds and flus, mental illnesses affect the person mentally and sometimes even physically as well, whereas colds and flus only affect the person physically (e.g. self harm, starvation). 

There is nothing wrong with having mental illnesses, even if the illness never goes away. Mental illnesses are more often than not life-threatening, especially if the person never recovers. Yes, like cancer or diabetes, sometimes the person has to live with the illness for the rest of his life, and sometimes the illness may return, just like that. 

The people who have these mental illnesses are usually on medication, and there isn't anything wrong with that either. It is like someone with a fever taking paracetamol (also known as acetaminophen, panadol, aspirin). Having to take medication isn't something to be ashamed of, and it does not mean that the person is weak. 

I have Major Depressive Disorder, minor anxiety, dissociation and Bi-Polar II. That does not mean that I am crazy - I am just a little different from the rest of you. 

This brings me to another topic I would like to address - stereotypes. 

I am sick of people stereotyping those with mental illnesses. Society stereotypes those with depression as 'emo', cutters as 'attention seeking', suicidal people as 'weak', people with schizophrenia as 'crazy'... 

People with depression do not sit in a corner all day, updating their facebook with 'emo' statuses. Cutters do not shove their scarred wrists into people's faces. Suicidal people do not go around yellling "I'm going to kill myself!". All these people desperately want to recover, but how can they when they are being ostracized by those around them? 

Another misconception about those with mental illnesses if that you can just 'snap out of it'. If it were that easy, nobody would have mental illnesses. Who in the world would want to have an illness that will affect them adversely for the rest of their lives? Employers don't want to hire the mentally ill and people judge you when they find out that you've a mental illness.  

The reason why people with mental illnesses do not seek help is because of the childish and close-minded society's judgmental mentality. Rid yourself of that mentality so that the people who desperately need aid will not be afraid to seek it and they will be treated early. The chances of recovering are much higher if the patient is treated early, and the patient will not have to be in so much emotional and psychological pain for long.

---other reads--- 
Schizophrenia Myths 
Self Harm: Beyond The Myths 
Five Myths About Depression
Coping with the stigma of depression

For three and a half years, I have been trapped in the hell hole that is Admiralty Secondary School. I am finally being released, and I am now an official student of St. Francis Methodist School. 

As I am no longer at the mercy of Admiralty Secondary, I can now air my honest opinion about the school. 

Although I have had some good memories at the school, and several good things have happened to me in the school, such as meeting good friends, the negatives of Admiralty Secondary outnumber the positives by a great deal. 

Teachers 

Majority of the teachers of this school are not reliable - some are unable to control a class of 40, while those who are able to are good disciplinarians, but horrible teachers. There are many reasons why they are horrible teachers - they might not teach well, or they do not prepare lessons ahead of time... 

A good example of a good disciplinarian but a horrible teacher is the mathematics *teacher of 4E4 (2012). He fails to prepare lessons ahead of time and misses lessons with us, sometimes because he is late for class or sometimes even because he has forgotten that he has lesson with us altogether. Ironically, he heavily punishes the students who are even a minute late for his lesson by making them stay back late, do extra work, or even run rounds. 

He never returns us our marked tests or homework, claiming that he was 'busy'. How can we learn from our mistakes if he does not return us our work? What has he done to our papers - eaten them? 

The two worst things about this teacher? 
(1) He ignores his students. Many times, I have had this teacher blatantly ignore me, even though I am right behind him, calling his name. When I asked him, right in the face, why he was ignoring me, he had the nerve to grin and claim that he had a hearing problem. It is impossible for him to be able to hear students mumuring amongst themselves at the back of class, but not hear me.
(2) He skips what he doesn't know. When he reaches a question in the textbook that he cannot solve, he will skip the question or move on to the next question, saying that we will not be tested for such questions during our 'O' Levels. 

Of course, there are some good teachers in Admiralty Secondary: Mrs Ho, who willingly teaches students after school; Mrs Sam, who comes to school early, stays back late and even comes to school on Saturdays to teach her students; Mr. Tay, who genuinely cares about his students; Ms Guaring, who stays back late to train her debate team... 

Discipline

The discipline in Admiralty Secondary is terrible, and those living around Woodlands, Marsiling and Admiralty know that. Of course, every school will have its smokers, fighters and thugs, but at least those schools do something about it. Admiralty Secondary does very little about things like these, including theft and assault within the school. 

I was victimized in Secondary 2 (read about it here). The school did nothing other than worsen the bullying, even though they told my mother the girls who bullied me would be punished. 

A friend of mine who stays near the school once witnessed a boy from my school beating up a little boy. When he called the school, the school only had one thing to say - "call police". This friend of mine has also had students from Admiralty Secondary throw stones into his kitchen, one of which almost hit his baby brother. 

All in all, Admiralty Secondary is a horrible school (it is so horrible that even its initials spell ASS). 

Goodbye, Admiralty Secondary, and thank you for adding misery to my life in the past three and a half years. 

-----
*Mr RC, if you are reading this, I am already doing you a great favour for not writing down your full name here. Note that I tried to show you respect in 2011, but you never reciprocated. Therefore, you do not deserve my respect.  

If a girl you have ever called a name commits suicide, her blood is on your hands.

 by Claire.

She was a suicidal girl 
living in her made up world. 

Reality made no sense to the damsel:
the cruelty of the universe; the venom in their soul
the shallow men and their loud empty vessels, 
the way the tyrants devoured the poor whole. 

She retreated to her apcryphal terrene. 
She imagined to be happy there, 
she didn't need no prozav or paroxetine. 
She called it her Happy Lair. 

Then one day her fantasy world crashes.

She is forced to live in reality,
vulnerable to the world's bruality. 

by Claire

She sits are the familiar table of familiar faces, greets the people she calls ‘friends’ and puts her head down to rest. Looking up, faces passing by, laughter filling the morning sky. But for reasons unknown, comes the urge to cry. Feeling out of place, like she doesn’t belong here, everything simply feeling unreal. No one sees her – she’s invisible – true, although implausible. She just wants to be free, somewhere she can yell ‘this is me’ and somewhere judgment-free. 

“What fee would you pay to be that free? I know of eternal freedom; a judgment-free kingdom. Just come with me, you’ll be free as me. Daft girl, put aside the lies of love and laughter and salvation, come now, the price to be free is only your life.” 

(The sweet release of death is tempting, something she has been coveting.) 

Voice in her head that just won’t go away; fear, frustration, anguish and hopes thrown away. She has cried herself dry – no more tears to cry. She hits her head till she sees black spots but just won’t stop. Not until that sense of dread is gone. 

Harder, harder. 

She hits harder, hitting away the weaknesses and anger. One final blow, she falls to the floor, out of her head, carmine red flows. 

And that’s the end of it – there’s your happy ending. 

She’s paid the fee and is now free. 

But waitMaybe she's just crazy. 

When you look at a origami swan, what do you see?
Do you look at what it is, or at what it could be?

Everyone sees the beauty on the outside,
But what if the most important detail is inside?
That's where the deepest darkest secrets hide;
Safely folded away from the human's eye.

No one will bother to unfold the swan,
They only stare at it's beauty until next day's dawn.

The creator passes their pain to the bird,
And it sails bearing our offerings of tears.
It goes on looking beautiful despite the tatoos-
The internal imprints of our painful fears

Next time you see a swan, unfold it; set it's soul free!
And maybe discover markings of the painful degree?

1. God is against homosexuality 
   If he is so against homosexuality, then why does he make his children gay, only to condemn them? 
2. "Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable." -Leviticus 18:22
   "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them."
   Leviticus 20:13  
   "For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their woman did change the natural use into that which is against nature.And like wise the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another: men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet."
   Romans 1:26 - 27 
3. Having my own thoughts is considered a sin. 
   But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin. 
   Romans 14:23 
4. Everything I do for myself is a sin. 
   "Everything that doesn't come from faith is sin." 
   -Romans 14:23 
5. God's plan vs. freewill 
   How can there be freewill if everything goes according to a plan? It's like saying that students in school who follow the timetable are allowed to do anything they want at any time. And, doesn't that mean that God planned for Satan? He planned for sin, he planned for all the homicides and suicides and whatnot. 
   "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." 
   Romans 8:28  
   Secondly, if God planned everything, why does he get upset when his 'children' stray from him? Why did he get upset when he saw the damage his flood had done? He PLANNED it, afterall. He KNEW what was going to happen. 
6. We are born sinful
   It doesn't make sense that we are born into this world sinful, all because Adam and Eve who - if they aren't fictitious - are millions of generations before us, ate one freaking fruit.
   " Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me " 
   Psalm 51:5 
7. There are contradictions in the bible 
   Isn't the bible supposed to be contradiciton-free? If there can be contradictions in the bible, that means that there is false information in the bible.
   Find a whole list of contradictions here: http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/jim_meritt/bible-contradictions.html#references
8. New Testament God vs Old Testament God 
   The God is supposed to be never-changing. (Whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God above, who created all heaven's lights. Unlike them, He never changes or casts shifting shadows. -James 1:17)
   However, he is so different in the New Testament and Old Testament. 
9. The relationship between God and people is like slave and master 
   I will never be good enough for God. I will always be in debt to God. I have to do everything God wants. I can't even have doubts about him. 
10.  God gave up on us FIRST 
    God was giving up on us when he sent the flood.
11. God PMS-es  
    Shouldn't such a holy being not have such primal emotions such as jealousy? Like a PMS-ing woman, God has done a lot of things he has regretted in a fit, including sending the flood. This God does things he regrets. Isn't God supposed to be someone who does nothing wrong? If he has done nothing wrong, then why does he still regret? 

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I haven't been to school lately, thanks A LOT to depression, resulting in a whole lot of spare time. Thus, I learnt this song and made a cover. Enjoy. 

Hey guys, I'm selling a whole bunch of my books that I've read. They are in great condition and all cost, at most, $5/ea.

Here's the complete book list. Click on each header to be directed to the page where you can check the price and condition.
Email me at zythrog@gmail.com, or, if you know me personally, drop me a text or call me up if you want any of the books.

All proceeds will go to Mutts and Mittens (animal shelter) :D

-CHICKEN SOUP
Teens Talking Faith
Christian Teenage Soul
The Real Deal
Kid's Soul

-ROALD DAHL
The Vicar of Nibbleswicke
James and The Giant Peach
Roald Dahl Quiz Book
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Enormous Crocodile T
he Magic Finger
The Twits
Esio Trot
Fantastic Mr Fox

-GENRE: ROMANCE
Atonement by Ian Mcewan
Dedication by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

-GENRA: NON-FICTION, ABUSE
Silenced by Vicky Jaggers
The Little Prisoner by Jane Elliot

-KIDS/PRE-TEEN
Good Ghouls Do by Julie Kenner
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K Rowling
First Girl by Gloria Whelan
The Thief Lord by Cornelia Flunke
The Ice Dragon by George R. R, Martin
Can Cows Walk Down Stairs? by Paul Heiney

-OTHERS
A Puppy Called Aero by Liam Creed
FIX by Leslie Margolis
Dawn of The Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith
My Best Friend's Girl by Dorothy Komsoon
Save Me by Lisa Scottoline
Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult