Who Are the Worried Well ?

Having worked in the mental health field for almost ten years, I’ve often heard the term “the worried well.” I’ve begun to take umbrage at this term because I feel it minimizes the individual who has been classified as such. I also feel that there is a class bias to the term. To my mind, “the worried well” symbolizes a middle-class misfit who is upset because he or she can’t fit into the middle class.

Who uses the term “the worried well” to classify someone? I’ve heard it used by mental health professionals only. Don’t the “worried well” patronize the very professionals who offer this feeble description of their condition? Granted, maybe the “worried well” wear nice clothing and drive nice cars and visit banks. But does this make their life manageable? Or, since they are “worried well,” doesn’t this indicate that nothing is really wrong with them? Or can they just afford the treatment, so therefore are taken less seriously?

I for one would like to see a demographic study of who the “worried well” are. I would also like to see what DSM diagnosis mostly matches the person(s) with this condition. Should the “worried well” of this world stand up and say they are not “worried well” but mad as hell?

Posted by Bob Turri

Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd Founding Member, Dies at Age 60

I don’t normally blog but there was a call in the Clearinghouse to write a blog about Syd Barrett and, being a music fan, I thought I would take a shot. Without sounding too much like a sermon on the dangers of drug use and how it could eventually lead to mental illness, I thought I would try and show that the problem that Syd Barrett and others in our world have encountered is that chemically enhancing the creative urge can sometimes take one over the edge to the point of no return.

For those of you too young to even know who Syd Barrett was, he was a founder of Pink Floyd in the mid- to late sixties. He came from a middle-class background in England; encouraged by his parents to take up music at an early age, he eventually gravitated to the guitar. Upon discovering LSD, Barrett found a new source of inspiration that would lead to his downfall, according to an obituary posted on the Telegraph Web site.

The first Pink Floyd album was composed almost entirely by Barrett. Two hit singles were culled from the first album and big things were in store for the band’s leader and group. However, by the summer of 1967, friends and associates of Barrett’s started to notice a change in him. The New York Times has reported that other members of Pink Floyd noted Barrett’s eccentric behavior even before he started to use drugs extensively; fueled by copious amounts of LSD, his behavior became even more erratic. His live performance could be marked by playing a single note the entire time or not showing up at all. By spring 1968, Barrett was no longer with Pink Floyd.

It is not known what type of mental illness Barrett had. What is known is that he experienced psychosis and retreated to his childhood home in Cambridgeshire, England, for the rest of his days. He refused almost all contact with the outside world.

Barrett is not the only rock casualty ever to develop a mental illness. Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys was lost for years in a fog of drugs. He has since made a comeback.

I guess the tough thing about this is to realize that recreational drugs can interfere in the mind’s functioning and that their use has the potential to lead to psychosis or some other form of mental illness.

It was never determined whether Barrett had schizophrenia or Asperger’s Syndrome, or some other form of mental illness brought on by drug use. What can be determined is that he never recovered.

According to Xan Brooks of the Guardian, Barrett’s self-imposed exile was not a result of his desire to create a myth or some complex comeback scheme. It was more likely because he was unable to function in any way that closely resembled the person he once was.

Sources: Guardian Unlimited
Mercury News Interactive
Telegraph UK
The New York Times

Posted by BobTurri

Judds in the Club

Actress Ashley Judd apparently told Glamour magazine that she spent 47 days in Shades of Hope Treatment Center (read: inpatient psychiatric treatment facility) for depression and various coping behaviors. According to the Associated Press, she said counselors staged an intervention while she was visiting her sister, singer Wynonna Judd, who was battling food addiction.

Kudos to the sisters for speaking openly about their illnesses, and especially about their hospitalizations. Many people would be reluctant to tell even close friends about going inpatient, and these two have now told the world.

You can read the full AP story at http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/ap/20060705/115214028000.html.

Posted by Daniele Sadres