OVER THE EDGE December 5, 2007-January 9, 2008 I just want to comment that while appreciat- ing the choice of subject matter, I was somewhat disappointed by the rather trivial and statistical representation of schizophrenia in the Nov 7-21 issue of Over the Edge. As a person who suf- ers from mental illness and has been hospital- ized for extensive periods due to psychosis, my perspective on this issue is based on personal experiences. I understand how unsettling it can be to have paranoid thoughts and ideas pop into your mind, this is something that I’m sure e can all relate to as having experienced at some point or another. When does this become ‘illness’? Perhaps when it gets to the point here you are avoiding public areas such as the afeteria and Wintergarden because you can’t drown out the persistent onslaught of murmurs land voices criticizing, ridiculing, and staring lat you from every table, day after day... lead- ing you to spend every lunch break limited to e handful of options available from the near- est vending-machine... as you sit alone in your office staring at the tracers streaking across the room and contemplating how you might find re- lief from this existence... as you stare into your desk drawer at the exacto-knife and at the cuts already visible on your wrist?... One can only hope that you still have the capacity and objec- ivity to see that perhaps you may have a prob- lem. : And maybe you don’t realize?... Maybe lyou are oblivious?... Maybe you have become iso absorbed in the marvellous ideas that are ra- ing through your mind, the heightened sense of self-worth, and the prophesies so clearly be- ng revealed to you that you don’t realize the fact that you haven’t slept, showered, or left the house for days... Or that you’re newfound belief hat you mustn’t eat... as not only the vegetables but everything in the cupboard (including the molasses) is writhing and alive... Could this be anything but a revelational experience? Now, hopefully you are one of the lucky ones, one of us who has a support network, and who is lable to find shelter during this vulnerable time, las so many do not. Perhaps that wild-eyed in- oherent person whom you noticed on the street orner last night was not... (or not only) drugged out or drunk but also trapped in an altered sense of reality, incompatible to the accepted norm of our society today. It’s true, a lot of our most brilliant artists have suffered from schizophre- nia and J can’t help but wonder if this affliction n’t in a way, a spatial or temporal experience, spiritually in-tune, that is no longer acceptable in today’s hurried society. Inevitably we move on to the treatment, which almost always involves a lengthy hospi- NUGSS hosted a charity : Schizophrenia A more personal portrayal of a mental health condition breakfast on Nov 29 where students could eat for free with a donation of cash, a non-plush toy, or two canned food items. tal stay of several weeks or months. This isn’t a light matter but a trapped existence. Yes, there} are drugs... antipsychotic drugs... drugs to make} you stop talking... stop the thought provok: ing conversations & observations... stop get ting the other patients excited... stop bugging! the nurses... stop pacing... just STOP!!! Drug! after drug, after drug is added to try and slo you down (it usually takes years to finally find a suitable combination with the least miserable side-effects). The most common antipsychotics are notorious for dulling you down, for causing significant weight gain, and for numerous othe side-effects. Customarily a patient who demonstrates op position to treatment (i.e. refusing medication) is informed that their rights having been revoked due to being out of touch with ‘reality’, and i held down by several nurses and injected with a high dose of antipsychotic drug, before being! placed into a ‘non-stimulating’ isolated environ: ment for several days broken and defeated. Hope fully, with time the person responds to treatment} but usually it comes to the point where the loved ones in charge of the individual are persuaded to agree to shock treatment. While effective fo: some, this archaic practice permanently erase: chunks of a person’s memory, and I have see the pain and sorrow of fellow patients who have had to undergo this treatment. : The individual eventually begins to show im: provement and is released and sent home to pick up the pieces of their fragmented life, it is a time to attempt to salvage relationships, reintegrate! into school or the workforce and continue to heal. With support they will strive to maintai a self-supporting, relatively balanced existence with the help of medication. As one last point, in regards to the naive sug: gestion that marijuana is a major contributor to schizophrenia I would just like to say that if you check out recent research this has not been scientifically proven. As it is difficult to find an research on marijuana that is not biased toda considering political motivations, I would beg . very reluctant to buy into any of that bullshit (but that is a totally different tangent). I will sa that as cannabis is attributed with diverse medi cinal values it is not surprising that many people with mental health issues choose to self-medi cate. I use marijuana for treatment of bipola and have used the herb as a mood stabilizer fo over 10 years. I am an advocate of its use and} am a recent member of the BC Compassion Club, a non-profit organization that provides or: ganic marijuana for medicinal purposes. Nicole indicate I wonder? Here’s why... By Rosie JAcosBs THe OTHER Press (Doucias CoLLece) NEW WESTMINSTER (CUP) -- While taking a quick washroom break in the third-floor girl’s wash- room of Douglas College’s New Westminster campus, I noticed a lively debate, writ- ten in pink Sharpie, across =) a stall door. An anonymous | girl had asked anyone look- | ing for a good time to give |» her acall. Someone answered to the 3 invitation with the follow- f ing ironic retort: “When you write on the bathroom stalls, the college has to pay to re-paint the washrooms, which takes money from | students and taxpayers. So think about that the next time you decide to write on the stalls.” While the argument was short-lived, as janitorial staff repainted the wall with a fresh coat of standard washroom stall brown, we could all benefit from some -PHoro.Courresy or Mitca Geanr In high school, I had an agreement with my English teacher: for showing up I would receive 50% no questions asked... and many people I have spoken to like the idea of “gimme marks”. However, I don’t believe the tradition of a post-secondary establish- ment is to award you for your ability to get up in the morning at 7:30 AM and transport yourself up to a silo on a hill. Am I expect- ed to be in debt for the first half of life for “gimme marks”? How about this: five ran- dom quizzes each worth 5%. That way you WILL go to class in fear of missing a total of 25%. Marks for academic merit. Who woulda’ thunk it? Here’s my pitch: If we’re going to undercut ourselves as academics, then let’s make university public and free. One, it would cease to be a social club for the elitist 20-something know-it-alls, who just so happen to understand how to fix the orld (so they claim), though they’re too busy buying Starbucks coffee and criticizing everyone else in the world for being poor. Two, people could actually afford to go Bathroom graffiti sends the right message Letierstothe Editor The 8-bit Beseech This is a sandwich compliment. Slice one. Okay ready? I love UNBC. I’m proud of telling people I go here. Good stuff. But seriously... the internet at UNBC is a shot in the dark at best. Who here has got up, got their coffee, packed a lunch, loyally trekked up to the school to work on whatever, only to have their web resources MORE accessible at home? I have better ac- cess to the UNBC website AT MY HOUSE than at my actual school... is there some- thing wrong here? In cther words, its cold outside, my email at my house works better, I have Baileys... hmmm. Nope, not going to class thanks. Some courses offer a mark for attendance. I haven’t ever seen that until I came to UNBC. Why do we have to be coerced to come to class? What might that for example.. Li to school, cause lets face it; if the middle- income people are in debt up to their ears, how can lower-income people go? Plus, it is more important for THEM to get an educa- tion, rather than 6th generation University families... upward mobility... more people who might learn how to vote informatively, . isn’t that good for democ- racy? Or is that not important anymore? And finally, if education were free, speech would finally be... free! Are you telling me I can say what I want, but you will CHARGE other people to hear it? Intellectual property rights? Is that democratic or elitist? Is that academic honesty? People want get paid for their work, fine. So what do the people who pay THEM want? Bad overpriced food, parking, hidden costs, locker fees... I guess I would like to pay for something worth what it costs. Which, okay, would be an education, no question. But I want the best education. Be- cause that’s what we deserve, nothing less than the best, and it sends a slippery mes- sage to us all when our services are “mick- ey-moused” together in haste. That was the meat, here’s the other slice: really this place is great. That’s why I’m here. I could hear so many people in my head saying “if you don’t like it, why don’t you go back to busking!?” Obviously I have an exam for a class I find unfocused, I haven’t had much sleep, and I can’t access my fuck- ing web resources for studying for that pa- rochial course. But I’m here, and I love it, because it’s all grit and grime. Feels good to learn how to learn and how to discern, to out. washroom reading material. The “ideal” state of our washrooms would con- sist of standardized, white tile sinks and walls, with a neat row of bathroom stalls. Washrooms would be very bland, stiff and colourless. Let me ask you: is that the way you want your college to be? I don’t. Our campus is already composed of bricks and cement, do we really need to further this cold, taste- less atmosphere by paint- ing our walls off-white and our washroom stalls brown? Certainly the classrooms that are the most intellec- tually stimulating are the ones with windows, or at least some sort of poster to contrast with the dreariness of the wall. Isn’t it better to enter a washroom alive with colour than one that reminds you of a broom closet? True, the notes scribbled along the walls aren’t al- ways the politest decor, but these messages create a more colourful and creative write word-papers, to be critical, to question everything while deceptively swallowing everything presented... I wouldn’t rather do anything I hadn’t thought I couldn’t have done without school without going. I’m atmosphere in our wash- rooms. They spread new ideas and arouse arguments. At least this particular de- bate got me to think. A washroom stall without graffiti is like a classroom where no one talks. The class passes awkwardly in a routine but lackadaisical fashion. With graffiti, a stall is a classroom where every- one is engaged in lively debate and discussion. The class passes with increased speed and is more interest- ing. If it gets at least one person to think, washroom graffiti isn’t all that bad. Many great masters such as Basquiat started off as mere graffiti artists. So. which is more important, saving a few dollars, or re- leasing creativity and dis- cussion in our college? I for one will not be missing my money.