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Russianpatient
Empowering beautiful souls
Category: psychosis
Modern Holy Fool (Holy-Foolishness in Russian Culture: Part Three)
The image of a Holy Fool (read about who is Holy Fool here and here) found its new popularity following the collapse of the Soviet Union. One of the main reasons is, of course, the recognition of Russian Orthodox Christianity as the official religion, but also the collapse of the beliefs of the socialist regime, when the country as a whole found herself in a momentary chaos, becoming, one can argue, a prototype for holy foolishness as a search for meaning.
The holy fool found a renewed interest in Christian studies, but also in academia. However, it is in the popular forms of media, such as films and even music that the holy-fool found a new 'fame', he came back to be yet again a spiritual hero, but he also acquired a new angle, the one of controversy in terms of his 'madness'. What does lie behind his madness? And can we call someone mad, individually speaking, when the whole society can be considered as mad, especially if we look at what was happening in Russia since the late eighties of the last century? The old regime collapsed, reversing the ideology of communism to the ideology of capitalism in a matter of a couple of years. Old government structures were sold as vouchers to the Russian population, to be immediately bought back by those running these companies for a penny, because the population was suddenly starving, making them oligarchs. Shops got empty, there was shortage of food and clothes, and a total disarray in terms of a spiritual direction of the nation. While Russian Orthodox churches were emerging from their oblivion, Tarot readers and palm readers would sit in their proximity and promise the passers-by some hope for a better life. Hypnotist Kashpirovsky got a prime spot on the TV to hypnotize an entire nation, feeding tales from the national TV in 1989.
It was absolute and total madness, and it found its way into popular art, where painters, artists, and film-makers, would resort to the character of a holy fool to make sense of something which didn't make any sense.
Russia is often referred to by Russians themselves as a country of fools, and the changes that the country witnessed since the collapse of the Soviet Union, could be delegated firmly in the domain of total madness, where the only way to show the light at the end of the tunnel, was to resort to laughter and the grotesque, as a way to manage the deep spiritual malaise. As Heller and Volkova ask, in relation to the fascination of Russian culture with holy-foolishness: "A question arises: is there something deep inside the Russian mentality that correlates with the state of insanity?" (Heller & Volkova, 2003, p. 153) Some changes that Russia has seen since the collapse of the Soviet Union left many Russians at a loss, where they were asked to adjust to a new ideology, new beliefs and new rules, and the popular art showed us the difficulty of the transition, by resorting to holy-foolishness and the character of a holy-fool in order to negotiate the incomprehension and deep spiritual uncertainty that the country and her people experienced then.
During the years of Perestroika, the image of holy-fool became the one of a dissident, adopting the weird behaviour of holy-fool to show the plight of many individuals who struggled to adapt to the changes in Russia on an economic and political levels. We can see this theme clearly in Taxi-Blues by Pavel Lungin, a film which was released in 1990, and which portrays us the reality of Russia at that time.
The film focusses on the life of two protagonists, a taxi-driver, Shlykov, and Lyosha (played by Pyotr Mamonov), a saxophonist. They meet on a ride in a taxi, when Shlykov takes Lyosha and his friends as passengers, but Lyosha doesn't pay for the ride, after which Shlykov manages to track him down. Both characters then develop a truly bizarre friendship, which becomes a main story on the background of the madness of the country then.
The madness of that time starts from the beginning of the movie. The hypnotist Kashpirovsky greets us on the screen, by delivering his slogan promise: 'Everything will be calm'. It immediately shows us the absurdity of that times, when ordinary people couldn't find work, when hard-core communists quickly established their new capitalistic businesses, and when, in the ultimate feat of total absurdity, Mikhail Gorbatchev abolished alcohol, driving many Russians to either create a black market, or resort to the home production of alcohol. Kashpirovsky was put on the national TV in order to try to calm the nation down.
The lives of the two main characters show us how ordinary people managed life at that time. Thus, Shlykov, as it appears, adapted better to the new changes, by working hard as a taxi-driver. He has a room in an apartment, a girlfriend, can afford nice food, and from exterior it looks like a good life. Only by watching the narrative do we discover that he is not really happy in himself, that he doesn't have many friends, that he struggles to find the spiritual meaning in life. And the aim of the film is also to show that all those who just continued hard-work couldn't dream of acquiring the same richness that nouveu riches managed to accumulate. Hard-work and integrity were all the values that became suddenly obsolete, not cool and not needed.
On the other side of the spectrum, Lyosha, the saxophonist by profession, refused to adjust. He just goes with the flow. Despite the fact that saxophonists are nor longer needed and struggle to find any employment, Lyosha refuses to change anything, and gets by, by either singing on the streets, or by pure luck, such as meeting Shlykov in a difficult moment in his life and being helped by him. And while Shlykov helps Lyosha on a material level, Lyosha gives Shlykov a new spiritual meaning, found in laughter, unpredictability, and love of grotesque. Lyosha reminds Shlykov to sometimes let go, do something unexpected, believe in the fate.
The character of Lyosha, played by Pyotr Mamonov is often compared to that of a holy fool, but transformed into a modern version of it. We can disagree, however, with that meaning, because while during the whole narrative, Lyosha does exhibit all the characteristics of a holy fool, he fails in the end of the movie to fulfil the ultimate obligation of giving. Lyosha meets a famous American saxophonist at some point, and gets an opportunity to perform in the United States, which re-launches his musical career. Shlykov watches the newly found fame of his friend from a distance, and is desperate to see Lyosha again. He misses the playfulness and cheerfulness of his friend, and he doesn't understand why Lyosha fails to come and see him when he is back in Moscow. Eventually when Lyosha comes to see him, he brings with him a band of new friends and absurd presents, such as a big doll. We can see that he breaks the heart of Shlykov and lets his old friend down.
But while one can argue whether Lyosha can be compared to the character of a holy-fool, it is the narrative itself that is representative of holy-foolishness positioned at the fall of the Soviet Union. The film shows us how the modern world changed to the worst, where the goodness of character, kindness and empathy are replaced by greediness, strive for material goods, and desire to become famous. It is the story itself that leads us to ask the eternal spiritual questions: but what is the meaning of life if one is lost completely in the material side of it? Should we remain humble even if we get further in life, and still remember those who helped us at the most difficult part of our journey? Shouldn't we cherish friendship and simple things in life, such as sharing warm soup with friends, laugh even when life is difficult, appreciate people rather than goods?
It is in his next movie, The Island that Lungin returns to the question of deep spiritual meaning. The Island appeared in 2006, quite a few years later after Taxi-Blues. In it we see a story of a modern fictional Russian orthodox monk, played yet again by Pyotr Mamonov.
It starts during the second world war, when sailor Anatoly and his captain, Tikhon are ambushed by the Germans, somewhere at the shore of the white sea. As a grotesque joke, the Germans present Anatoly with a choice: either to shoot Tikhon and live, or die. Anatoly shoots Tikhon after which the Germans blow up the ship.
Anatoly survives and is rescued by the monks from a local monastery, where he stays. It is many years later that the new life of Anatoly is presented to us. He works as a stoker at the monastery and acts as a local 'wise' man. It is to him that ordinary people come for advice, prayer and also in order to heal.
The parallels with the holy-fool are much more striking in The Island. Anatoly is a deeply spiritual man, who constantly prays to God. He has a gift of a prophet and of a healer. He sees the future and can predict it. He gives wise advice. At the same time, his behaviour is extremely weird. He rarely washes his face, makes fun of the monks, is always late for the Church services, where he shows up in a truly bizarre attire, one day marching with one foot in a boot, another dressed in a sock.
But while watching the character, we can't help but fall in love with him and his way of thinking and doing. His faith in God is so beautiful and sincere, that the viewer hopes that he will be forgiven for his ultimate sin. And we are relieved indeed when right before his death (that Anatoly foresees himself several days in advance, by organising his own coffin), we learn that Tikhon had survived. He brings his daughter to see the remote monk due to rumours of his healing gift, and meets Anatoly. Anatoly reassures Tikhon that his daughter is not mad but is possessed by a demon, preforms exorcise, after which she is healed. After that Anatoly tells Tikhon who he is, but Tikhon tells him that he was only wounded in the arm, and that he had forgiven him.
The movie, while basing the character of Anatoly on holy-fool, presents us a different façade of holy-foolishness than the one we have seen in 'Taxi-Blues'. It reaches a deeper spiritual meaning where we are confronted with the true meaning of holy-foolishness: one has to have faith in God and Jesus, and then and only then, one can become a holy-fool, while renouncing also worldly conventions and material aspects of things. It also shows us Russia as it changed in the years after the turmoil of the uncertainty following the collapse of the Soviet Union. It became quieter in its own spiritual search, firmly embracing Christianity, and by going back to its roots preceding the revolution. The country might still experience turmoil at a political level, but spiritually, it found a new meaning.
Ekaterina	bipolar disorder, Christianity, Jesus, madness, Meaningful life, psychosis, Schizophrenia, Spiritual life, The Russian Patient	Leave a comment January 2, 2021 8 Minutes
Holy Fool in Russian literature and art (Holy-Foolishness in Russian culture: part two)
The Holy Fool, to remind you (please, refer to part one), was a person who became mad for the sake of Christ. It was a well-known, recognized phenomenon in the old Russia. It was a man or a woman who would often wander the streets of old Rus and remind people to live their lives based in Christian values. They would often appear as 'mad', as 'insane', but several of these Holy Fools were recognized by the Russian Orthodox Church as saints, with one of the most famous Holy Fool being Saint Vasilii the Blessed. It was after him that the most famous Russian Cathedral, the Cathedral of Saint Vasilii The Blessed (Saint Basil) was named.
From the beginning the character of the Holy Fool has fascinated Russian writers and we can find this personage in several writing and also paintings. Behind it, is the interest in the unexplainable, in the grotesque, in the spiritual domain, but where things always remain mysterious. It is the fascination with unpredictability, as long as good outweighs the evil, Russian people have been driven to explore the human soul, and the human misery, throughout the history, which can be seen in literature and art.
For example, Nikolai Leskov (1831-95), based his character in 'Deathless Golovan' on holy-fool, where the main protagonist is a simple man who takes care of those affected by a plague, despite danger for his own health. He also gives milk to a Jewish man, stupefying his neighbours. In his other writing, 'Singlethought' (1879), the main character, a police officer based in a provincial town, becomes slightly 'mad' after reading scriptures of the Bible. The reading has such a profound impact on him, that he starts to behave strangely, such as refusing bribes and gifts at his job, as was the custom then. The story highlighted the corruption of the power at that time, but also raised the more important spiritual questions. Who is really a fool here? A simple man who refuses to be corrupted, or the society as such, driven by corruption? And shouldn't we rather abide by Christian, moral values in our daily life? As in holy-foolishness, the story also contains many grotesque, 'hilarious' moments, such as then Ryzhov, the main character, forces the mean Governor of the town to bow in front of the icons in the Church.
Other Russian writers explored the theme of 'holy-foolishness' either basing their character directly on holy-fool, or by building a story around the theme of holy-foolishness, where madness always takes on an additional meaning. It is never an 'illness', but something deeper, a battle of one's soul, where the hero, while being 'mad', is more connected with God and spiritual aspects of life, than the laypeople, preoccupied with the material sides of things. Gorki explored the theme in 'A Confession', Chekov built his short story 'Ward No. 6' around holy-foolishness, where both protagonists, a long-time staying psychiatric inmate and his treating psychiatrist share remarkable traits with holy-fools, but also Bulgakov, it can be argued, based his 'Master and Margarita' on the motifs of holy-foolishness. The main character, the master, who ends up disillusioned by this world, is a modern 'holy fool', but unlike in the Moscovite Rus, he has problems to adjust and adapt to the requirements of the modern world, which in the Soviet Union, was characterised by omnipresent bureaucracy, corruption, ridiculous rules, and greediness, despite the fact that one of the slogans of the socialist regime was an equal society. The story of the Master runs in parallel with the story of Yeshua Ha-Notsri (Jesus of Nazareth), and some obvious conclusions can be drawn from the novel. There is a deep spiritual need nascent in all humanity, but it is often compromised by scepticism and inability to think outside the box, because of being under too much influence of materialistic world. Many ridiculous, hilarious scenes in the Soviet Moscow of Bulgakov draw a direct parallel with the weirdness and 'laughter' of holy-fools.
The image of Holy Fool can be also encountered in numerous paintings, where painters depicted the fascination and also certain reverence towards the character. He can be seen on numerous paintings of Nesterov, and also Syrikov, showing his firm place among laypeople, and not just being a character of Christian writings.
For a Russian culture, the holy fool has a deep meaning. It shows the possibilities of a spiritual domain, reinforces one's faith, and reassures one that good will always outweigh the evil. Thus, the character of Holy Fool is deeply embedded in Russian culture and tradition.
A God's Fool Sitting on the Snow, by Vasily Surikov, 1885)
Ekaterina	bipolar disorder, Christianity, Jesus, madness, psychosis, Schizophrenia, Spiritual life, The Russian Patient	1 Comment December 26, 2020 December 26, 2020 3 Minutes
The Mad Teacher
We all have the potential for madness, but the degree of its manifestation is what really matters, in order to be considered as mental, or just slightly eccentric. The amount of crazy people though is very likely to be on the increase, considering the society in which we are living, not helped by the Corona crisis.
Some time ago, on a visit to a local pub back in Sheffield, to get a cup of coffee I noticed a teacher working at a local school talking with herself. Well, at least it appeared so, because despite my predisposition for what is medically known as hallucinations, I couldn't spot anyone sitting next to her, and neither could the pub's staff judging from their whispers.
"Look, look, she is talking with herself!" The waiters were obviously having a blast, and in all honesty, it looked very funny. The teacher was vividly gesticulating into the void and taking part in an animated dialogue with someone who was either invisible or a total illusion on her part. The hilarious part of it was that she was turning slightly to her right, as if indeed there was someone sitting next to her, and the scene looked surreal, as if we were on the set of a new episode of Harry Potter.
I have to admit that I also produced a couple of chuckles, because, first, well, it was quite comical, and secondly, I locked the eyes with the waiters who knew me quite well, and it would be impolite and rude not to join into the camaraderie building, even if admittedly it isn't nice to laugh at the expense of another human being. But we all do it, despite the teachings of our parents and teachers (ironically so) to the contrary, and we all occasionally watch the funny bits on Facebook or YouTube where eager individuals upload the videos of people in funny distress. Did someone break their leg? Ha-ha-ha. Did he fall down the stairs? Ha-ha-ha. Was she just dumped? Ha-ha-ha.
Well, you know what I am talking about.
But once back at home I was quite sad that I had joined the laughing crowd, because the situation wasn't that straightforward. You see, I had heard about that teacher. She was diagnosed as "schizophrenic" when it appeared that the profession of a teacher wasn't as glamorous as the government had promised, when she found herself dealing with challenging teenagers and often, ungrateful parents, a mortgage which she had to pay even if she lost her job, and two own daughters to raise in the hope that they would become responsible individuals and do well in life. Which in our society has been reduced to getting a job, a house, a husband and some sort of retirement. We have all the reasons to get mad, with the demands that we face in terms of how to be more or less successful in life. We are all victims of what is presented to us as 'normality', where watching something like a Big Brother is sold to us as a nice show to watch, where we are driven to build our lives around constant consumption, and where we are reduced to find a partner via an app.
But it wasn't the knowledge of her personal circumstances which made me uncomfortable. It was the realisation that maybe it was us, the laughing public which had missed the obvious. What if, there was someone sitting next to her? I mean, how do we know? How come that we believe only what our eyes show us, and yet, buy in masses the most recent scam in the field of self-help? Why are we ready to spend a fortune on gurus telling us how to live our lives, and then laugh when we are confronted with a proof that there might be something else out there?
We should never laugh at the expense of others, because one day we can find ourselves on the other side, and then, it won't be funny.
Ekaterina	bipolar disorder, English, madness, psychosis, Schizophrenia	Leave a comment November 21, 2020 3 Minutes
Being Mad is Liberating
Being mad is liberating. Well, at least with practice and determination, because, let's face it, being mental (with a confirmed diagnosis) is not a high status on the scale of popularity in our society, defined as it is by the standards of normality.
My own sense of liberation came around two years ago when I was sitting on a bench in the park. A man literally materialised himself on the same bench a minute later, smoking a cigar in a leisured manner. I didn't see him approaching and his whole appearance was slightly bizarre: mismatched glasses, dirty trousers and an expensive red tie.
It didn't take me long to start thinking that it might be the Devil, a character I met in all of my psychoses. After an initial deliberation about whether I was experiencing a hallucination (unlikely since the man kept on sitting where he was even after I blinked several times in a row) or a delusion (an explanation more probable than the first), I dismissed these probabilities firmly from my head. I knew that I wasn't psychotic, helped by the fact that I was on a low dose of quetiapine, and that while I had no proof that the man might be the Devil, he also could be, even if according to the psychiatrists, seeing the character and all other bizarre occurrences belong to the domain of insanity.
I walked away from the bench as fast as I could, because to be honest, I try to avoid the Devil in all his manifestations, but this experience got me thinking. What if the things that mad people see and hear are real? What if there is this tiny possibility that the truth indeed lies in madness and not in what is projected to us by the society as being normal?
I have to admit that simultaneously writing a Ph.D. thesis on how Facebook collects its data helped me in the matter of thinking about my own madness and the madness of others. You see, Facebook and all other Internet companies as well as grocery shops (via their loyalty cards) store everything that comes on their radar. They know all about your daily habits, your friends, what you like having for your breakfast and whether you are single or not. This is in line with what the majority of mad people believe – that we are constantly being watched. Tell this to a psychiatrist? He will answer that you are mental, despite the evidence to the contrary. We are being watched, every single moment of our day and night.
The presence of the Devil is obviously harder to prove and it is not something that I am planning to discuss with psychiatrists in any point of my remaining life. But in an unlikely event that it might happen, I already know their answer. The Devil will be put into the basket of hallucinations or delusions, despite the fact that almost all religions of the world admit his existence.
Here's a question that has been bothering me for a while: Why is it that while there are considerably more people who are mental than there are psychiatrists, it is the mad who are called being stupid (but in a politically correct way)?
Don't get me wrong, I am not against psychiatrists as such. Most of them do try to help, and I met a couple among them who turned out to be brilliant and fun people. I do take their medication even if I learned from experience that unless I am ready to live like a zombie, I should administer my own dose and not the one they prescribe.
No, it is a lack of a dialogue with psychiatrists that annoys me the most. We know, of course, that psychiatry is an establishment, discussed in length and depth by those willing to sacrifice themselves to the cause. Michel Foucault was perhaps the most prominent scholar in the field and he pointed quite correctly to the fact that psychiatry simply fits into the trend of growing medicalization, where everything that falls outside normality should be treated immediately with some miraculous pills. And usually this is done with such an attitude of arrogance that even those who had no problem in the first place start believing that they are terminally ill.
I did have a problem when I was admitted to the hospital with an acute psychosis for the first time. I didn't sleep for ten days brought about by the stress of life. I was working for two years as a financial analyst of banks, and as financial crises demonstrate quite clearly, working in finances can drive anyone mad.
The thought pattern after a prolonged insomnia does perhaps belong to the realm of insanity, but among the chaos I was demonstrating to the medical staff who admitted me to the hospital near the city of Amsterdam, there were glimpses of what was really happening with me (besides boring explanations which can be found in their Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.)
"I am Buddha," I told to my doctor and this is exactly how I was feeling at that time. I was feeling light, happy, full of life. Banks under my analysis could go and fuck themselves and I, Ekaterina from Russia, was ready to enter into a higher vintage point.
The doctor didn't share my wishes towards happiness. He didn't even smile (or laugh, which would be even more appropriate) and instead of congratulating me on the fact that I finally started to see the truth, that I was on some road of enlightenment and should abandon my job in finances once and for all, he declared with a solemnly serious face,
"I think you are mad."
In retrospect, the only mad thing I did was share my thoughts with the doctors. Was I Buddha really? No, I wasn't, even if it is entirely possible that I was one in my past life. No, my state of Buddhahood was pointing towards the general dilemma experienced by our society. I wanted to be out of the system based on accumulation, statuses and endless consumption. I wanted to be free.
But this is the problem with most psychiatrists, in my opinion. They don't have a broad vision of life. Their focus is on details, on something that treats manifestations and not the underlying cause. They simply don't understand the madness, because in order to understand it, one has to be mad himself. How can you treat something when you don't see or hear the same thing?
As Nietzsche once said, "Why does man not see things? He is himself standing in the way. He conceals things." Funnily enough, he described in this way the state of psychiatry today. Psychiatry conceals things.
But because of the weight that the whole establishment carries on its shoulders, we are obliged to obey and if we don't, we are forced to. My path towards enlightenment was cut short after that doctor put me on a killing dose of risperidone and suggested that I might suffer from schizophrenia. The only thing I could think of after the treatment was how nice it would be to die.
More diagnoses followed later, more hospitalisations (it is normal that one stops a medication that can potentially kill) and more tears. It was only enormous determination on my part, as well as simple curiosity, that finally helped me to get away from those psychiatrists. I haven't seen them now for five years, I said goodbye to their claws even if the diagnosis of bipolar hangs firmly above my head.
But I don't mind, because this diagnosis gives me the opportunity to speak. It shows that I've been there, I've seen it. I've seen the sad faces of patients who are told day after day that they are mad.
But what is madness exactly? Psychiatry describes it as a loss of touch with reality, as foolish behaviour, as insanity. It is amazing that we take their definitions seriously, considering that those who do see things, outnumber the ones who don't.
Michel Foucault describes it as a discourse. Somewhere by someone it was decided that those who are more powerful should mistreat those who are weak, and while we see the rise of fight on behalf of other groups who have been discriminated against in the past, this rise towards freedom and equality from the mad is a slow process. This, I believe, is because of stigma, because they are afraid to speak, and because society is scared of anything that points to the fact that there might be another reality.
After that walk in the park, I admitted to myself for the first time that what I see is real. I see angels and fairies, I believe in the afterlife, I talk with animals and I know all about my past lives. And yes, I did meet the Devil. His numerous appearances helped me to realise that madness can also be a battle for one's soul. I am a firm Christian as a result.
Am I being mad? Probably. But this is what I like in my life. If, on that day I was admitted to the hospital for the first time, someone asked me whether I would like to become normal again and forget about everything that happened to me, I would say a definite no. Because I remember how I was, sitting in a boring job day after day and believing that life was about my next salary, a useless trip to the gym and which diet to follow.
No, life is not about that, I've realized. Life is about discovery and madness, and seeing it this way is a sure way to get it right. I am finally free.
(This article was first published on Mad in America in 2015, but I asked to remove it, due to stigma.)
Here is the link to the original article.
Ekaterina	Amsterdam, bipolar disorder, Christianity, madness, Meaningful life, psychosis, Spiritual life, The Russian Patient	2 Comments November 10, 2020 7 Minutes
A Peek Inside the Modern Asylum
The psychiatric hospital of today might appear as a foreign, scary object to the mind who has never visited the institution. It represents the unknown, the territory that one is terrified of, but at the same time attracted to with natural human curiosity. Let's be frank here: we want to know what is inside and who is "hiding" there.
In the eighteenth century, in Europe, many mental institutions called "asylums" were open to the public. In exchange for some entrance money, interested visitors could have a peek: they could stroll in the corridors and observe the patients inside. It was a popular destination by all accounts. People found "madness"—or rather, what is assigned to the term—interesting and irresistible.
Michel Foucault wrote about it extensively, presenting a picture of a typical Sunday morning in Paris for a middle-age couple. They wake up, have breakfast, and then go for a visit to a local asylum for entertainment. Doors were open to the eager public, and the asylums never lacked in visitors. It is indeed interesting, and probably more attractive than going to a theatre or the modern cinema. People aren't acting there, and they are real.
William Hogarth's 1735 engraving depicts visitors gawking at patients at Bethlehem Hospital, also known as 'Bedlam' @The Trustees of the British Museum
Today, that same curiosity about manifestations of "madness" is satisfied via books or, more often, via movies. It isn't by accident that such movies as Girl, Interrupted and A Beautiful Mind were such a big success: "madness" has always been fascinating, and will always attract and terrify the human mind at the same time.
But let's look at the psychiatric institution of today. It isn't by accident that doors to it are closed to the curious mind, and only those who are unlucky end up being inside, on the wrong side of the equation—being a patient. The psychiatrists are the ones who walk really free there, looking, observing, analyzing, and then administering the cocktail of modern drugs. We read some stories, we get some news, but it is all presented to us as "mental illness," part of the bigger discourse on "mental health."
These stories hide the truth of the modern psychiatric narrative: that real, nice people end up there, and the psychiatric experience is likely to ruin one's life for good. The drugs they prescribe don't help with anything, and the stigma which gets attached after one receives a label or diagnosis is forever a scarlet letter on one's life CV.
I have been unfortunate enough to deal with the psychiatry from "inside" and thus, am an unfortunate witness to the horrors behind the machine. I am also an academic and thus, am interested in the narrative—how my own personal story becomes part of a bigger picture. My story is unique, as are many others, but we all become just statistics in the psychiatric tale. We are all "patients" and we are all "insane."
The mental health narrative of today is the continuation of the history of the psychiatry, beginning with the age they call "enlightenment," when the doors were closed to the curious, and only the patients and treating "doctors" were allowed inside. I am not sure it was done out of good will, because it banned the witnesses of the injustices happening there. It is really taking the truth out of the terrifying tale hidden in the modern mental health narrative. People are often held against their will inside these institutions, though their only "crime" is that they dared to have weird thoughts or hear voices.
The modern mental health narrative is the recycling of the psychiatric song to present it to us as something innocent, mundane and even good. Yes, we should think about the sanity of our minds, take care of our bodies, sleep, eat well, and exercise our bodies and minds. However, this tale that appears innocent hides the fact that it simply scares people into a pattern of normality. A pattern where everyone should be the same, behave the same way, and do the same things as everyone else: think about which car to purchase, where to spend the next holiday, and whether to swipe left or right on Tinder. Once you start questioning the so-called normality of student loans, paying mortgages, marriage, kids, gym membership and the like, you will exhibit "abnormal" behavior, I can guarantee you that. You will start questioning things and stop and wonder: Why are there so many homeless people on the streets? Why is Africa so poor? How can I think of the next holiday when there is so much poverty in my otherwise rich land?
Your weird thoughts will scare you, and you might become what they call "depressed." Depression is definitely not an illness, but it is a fact. It is nothing else but a natural reaction of a mind that wants more from life than the boring tale of "normality." If you dig deeper, you might even get onto the scale of what they call "bipolar," and if you embrace your weird thoughts with zeal, and voices finally reach you (the real spirit world hiding behind our "normality" narrative disguised as "the age of reason and enlightenment"), then you might get the label of "schizophrenic."
All these labels are just words invented by the twisted tale of psychiatry to deceive our minds and prevent us from thinking and behaving differently. There is no mental illness, and there never was. People simply get unwell, and bad things happen in life.
But the psychiatric institution of modern times, with its closed doors, lingers on top of our minds as the forbidden bad fruit that no one should touch, terrifying us and scaring us, because let's be frank and honest here: no one wants to end up there. And not because one is afraid to become "ill" (we are all prone to "madness," let me assure you), but because of the narrative of mental health.
Trump demonstrated the scariness of the narrative to perfection when he condemned all "mentally-ill" people. He showed how strong the stigma is and that the slogan "mental illness is like physical illness" is just words into the air. Trump demonstrated the real attitude toward people with "mental illness." He simply doesn't know who they are, and what is really taking place—behavior and thought control by the psychiatric institution.
And only a few of us know and see the truth.
The psychiatric institution is mostly an abstract body hanging over our head, sort of a bad headmaster telling us what to do and how to act—a behavioral control manager. It terrifies us with its promise of inflicting a label on the innocent mind, but at the same time, lures us for a peek inside.
Today we don't have the possibility for a peek inside, but we remain, nevertheless, very curious. We do wonder what is taking place inside, who is held inside, and what it looks like. Mental health patients are your biggest celebrity story, hidden behind the bars of the psychiatric system, which doesn't want to reveal its badly written script.
I was once inside and thus, am inviting you to have a look. I will take your hand, and encourage you to join me, on an exploration of the inside of the psychiatric institution.
Let's open the door.
Once we manage it (and it isn't easy as the doors are really locked), we proceed along a corridor. Psychiatric hospitals operate according to the principle of the panopticon, as Michel Foucault describes in his brilliant book, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. He tells us about the emergence of the modern prison system, operating according to the principle of surveillance. "He is seen, but he does not see; he is an object of information, never a subject in communication," Foucault tells us, referring to the fact that in our current behavior surveillance system, we act like everyone else due to fear of being observed and punished if we do something wrong. The panopticon has a structure: you have a central vintage point through which you can see everything, scaring the subjects into compliance. The subject is always observed.
Modern psychiatry operates according to the same principle, and so do its facilities, such as mental health institutions. In each long corridor of its facilities you have a central point, where psychiatric nurses hold their watch. It is indeed a watch, and if you think that they provide care and show love, then you are wrong. Most of the time they write notes and if we glance inside the notes we will see the following: "Today M dressed more appropriately and was nice to the staff," or "This morning G stopped his uncontrollable laughing and showed some insight into his behavior."
Trust me, school is a piece of cake to pass in comparison to what is happening in the notes and observation techniques of the staff in psychiatric hospital, and none of them ever shows any insight or comprehension into their own idiocratic stance. They simply don't know what they are doing and why, because of the system of the psychiatric establishment. Those who show any weird thought pattern or exhibit strange behavior should be put inside the mental health institution and be re-trained as to how to behave normally.
The nurses sit at their central point, visibly bored and annoyed. They don't like the patients who come with constant demands, which are always the same and don't change. "Can I go out, please?" "Can I have a bath?" "Can someone, please, take me on a walk?" "Can I call my friend R?" "When can I see the doctor?" "When will I be discharged?" These are the irritating demands of the patients, taking the attention of nurses away from their notes—and notes take most of their time and attention, because of someone out of their mind who invented psychiatry: it isn't the patient that matters, but what is written about him/her in the notes. The notes are shown to the treating psychiatrist and stored on shelves, although no one will ever glance a second time into the books and volumes describing us, describing the behavior of those unfortunate enough to step outside the scales of normality.
But let's move away from the central post and look at the room next to it. It is a room with a phone, where patients queue (when they are allowed) to make a call, and where the treating psychiatric consultant deals with the patients, if other rooms are occupied. It is a small, stinky room, with a closed window, where both the consultant and his patients feel suffocated and mal-at-ease. The doctor doesn't want to be there, it is the patient who asks to see him again and again, with the same annoying demand as always: "When can I go home?" she asks.
You might think it is funny, but it isn't funny at all for the patient on the wrong side of the equation. The power machine is firmly in the hands of the consultant psychiatrist and only he can decide on your fate. And it is indeed a fate: one day longer and the patient can be driven to such a despair that he will try to take his life. And if this happens, the cycle becomes much longer, because in that case, the patient is proclaimed as a risk to himself, and is kept behind the doors for much longer. Then it is just survival instinct that might save the patient and give her the strength to endure it all longer.
Let's walk away from the room and have some fresh air—in the garden that is usually present (thank god) in the facilities. The garden is used for the patients to have a cigarette and to pray. It is here that most interesting conversations take place, away from the observational post of the nurses. It is here that they dare to quickly exchange their own thoughts, such as sharing the voices they hear and the visions they see. It is here that they also get advice from someone who is more advanced in their knowledge of the panopticon, such as, "Don't say all this to the doctor." One needs to comply, behave as normal as possible, and not reveal one's mind to the psychiatrist. Following the rules also means being extra-nice to the nurses who are not nice back to you, wearing presentable clothes, and acting like you are at an office meeting, definitely not as if in the hospital, oh no. I feel much more relaxed in my working place than I ever was inside a psychiatric hospital.
The psychiatric hospital of today, to conclude my narrative, is a panopticon, a modern prison for the daring mind and for weird behavior. We had a small peek, but in reality, it is much more distressing for the one who is being observed. In some hospitals they have cameras in the rooms to supervise the "patient," and in some establishments, there are people who stay there for years, injected with drugs against their will, losing all hope and desire for living.
It isn't funny, it isn't entertaining, and it is bad.
But all who are lucky enough not to end up there march past this monstrosity, oblivious to the torture of the mind happening behind those walls.
(This article was first published by me on Mad in America website and can be found here.)
(Picture of me, taking a picture: I like to observe)
Ekaterina	bipolar disorder, Christianity, madness, psychiatry, psychosis, Schizophrenia, The Russian Patient	Leave a comment November 5, 2020 December 5, 2020 9 Minutes
The mystery of Psychosis: The Element
It starts always with visions, I have powerful very powerful visions. I land straightaway in the shamanic domain, where I see and hear things, denied to all those who prefer 'normality'.
What is normality?
It is believing, but believing with suspicion, asking oneself constant questions full of doubts: is Jesus really real? Will he come back again to this earth?
Or it isn't believing in anything, but just in the universe, and the universe, despite the misery we see around nowadays, is in fact a beautiful thing. But not believing in at least some magic, sounds boring to me.
I respect all belief systems, but I plunge further than others in terms of seeing that it is all for real. Angels appear to me, beautiful fairies, I am sometimes blessed with a dialogue with GOD. I saw and met the devil, an interesting character, that fascinates me rather than scares.
The element of psychosis happens when it is judged as going slightly too far in terms of what the society is ready to accept as 'normal'.
I have the recurring theme (sorry for the repetition) in the past three years. I feel Jesus, I sometimes declare I am the one. And let's imagine, just for a second, that it would be a beautiful upcoming if Jesus was me. A softer version of the guy, more refined, with modern style. A female.
Anyway if you arrive to the psychiatric hospital and declare that you are Jesus, prepare yourself for an unpleasant ride. It starts with the psychiatrist who asks you:
"Do you really think you are Jesus?"
"Yes, doctor, and on top of it, I feel fine!"
"Do you have special powers?''
'Yes, I do, power of compassion is one of the examples."
''Any more concrete powers? Like doing something practically?''
I close my eyes to come up with the precise example and here it comes:
"Yes, once the car was running right towards the cat, and the cat was going to be killed, but I shouted with all my might: NO! And the cat jumped from the wheel approaching it, had a fright but survived."
The doctor, obviously, doesn't know what to do with me. It is written in their psychiatric treatises that I suffer from a spectacular 'delusion of grandeur'. I went for the best title of them all, although, quite modestly I add to the stupefied face of the 'doctor':
''I was also Princess Anastassia and Anne Frank in my previous life, and also an Egyptian queen. That's right when they started to meddle with my tomb, that I started to 'loose it'. Who is that idiot who messes with what we, the Egyptians, created in our beautiful kingdom? Who allowed to study pyramids?'
At least here, in the Netherlands, they don't write notes while they talk to you. Back in the UK, you sit through the interview of the scale of your craziness. If I ever arrived to the hospital back in Sheffield, it always led to the deepest regret, it's like a laboratory, where they experiment on humans in distress: today we try aripiprazole, tomorrow we will offer your lithium, next week, we will try cortisol. I really never understood their problem, as I actually feel fine with my belief in Jesus, and that it might be me, and I am proud about my past lives.
The dialogue continues, but of course, it is a dialogue with a psychiatrist, and while he seems like a really good person, he can never take me seriously, even if some doubt might pass (or not) in his head. What if indeed I was Jesus? What is indeed God prepared a nice surprise? What if Jesus could be reborn as a female, and not that bad-looking too? Mhh?
How do I suspect such a grandiose mission, you might ask?
Well, I heard the God, and I saw white doves. I was once denied entering the church, because it is overtaken by fake believers (my post on the Abbey and the Devil can be read here), I see angels, and I hear music of God when I sleep.
And this time, of my god, but really, the devil appeared to me in his most magnificent allure as yet. I was standing in my garden at night, and there he was, appearing as a beautiful panther, with hypnotising eyes, leaning over the fence, standing firmly in the air, scaring and also fascinating me as never before. The Lucifer is truly amazing, and if I am indeed Jesus, or was one in my past life, then I am not running. Why should I run from temptations when I enjoy nice things in my life, such as good food on the table, nice red wine, coffee, cafes and bars, travelling, nice music, beautiful cremes and perfumes, and nice clothes?
My biggest dilemma is what was written in the Bible about him, but there were also some things about God in there that scared me out of shit, but I recently learned from one Celtic Christian priest, that we are offered a version of the bible, that was decided to be offered to the ordinary people, while there are many, too many texts, that never saw it into THE BOOK, because it was decided by some humans, that some truth should be hidden, and I really would like to be in Vatican and sort out the ancient texts and redo the Bible, into a better, appealing, powerful, beautiful version, destined for a humanity that needs so much hope.
Ekaterina	bipolar disorder, Christianity, psychiatry, psychosis, Schizophrenia, Spiritual life, The Netherlands, The Russian Patient	1 Comment November 1, 2020 November 1, 2020 4 Minutes
Different ways of lives, different languages and cultures appeal to me from an early age.
I remember while being still small in Russia I was walking together with my mother towards the bus station. I can't recall what was the reason of taking the bus but I clearly remember my state of mind during the march to the bus station
I was out of this world, engrossed totally in my own inner imaginative sphere and I was asking questions in my own head: why is the sky blue? Why should we assume that only the physical manifestations is what the world is about? The road, the bus station visible at a distance, people walking towards it from our Soviet style building where with my family we lived on the 16th floor.
Why are we rushing always towards perfection, my seven years old mind was asking God knows whom. Why do people get angry sometimes and why is the moon moving in cycles?
This sort of questions invaded my head from an early age and I applied a mode of 'check out of reality' to deal with all that. Life, according to me as a child, was supposed to be a constant stream of big celebrations: friends around to play and to talk, presents not reserved to just an event such as a birthday or New Year Eve. Cakes everyday, even if in small quantities, people singing on the streets. Children laughing, everywhere and always.
But instead I was confronted with a gruesome picture. Unhappy people queuing for the bus, sleep deprived children going to school, and everyone around playing some kind of normality. You behave, you follow the rules, you obey the existing structure.
My 'check out' technique helped me to process the grim reality by presenting me with a more colourful vision. In it lived a magician high in the sky, angels sung, and people danced. I had names for them, burrowed from numerous books I was always busy reading. Christian was a king of the birds, Olanda was a fire queen, while Patrick was a light keeper.
It was while living in the Netherlands that I found a better, much stronger version of a language to address my dilemma as to 'why'. The Russian version 'почему' was too soft, more like a whisper rather than a question asking for an immediate answer. The French 'pourquoi' left the possibility of a reply with another question rather than an answer one seeks. To the French 'Pourquoi' there is always an option to answer 'pourquoi pas'. It's like talking in riddles while your questions still hang in your head.
But the Dutch language gifted me with a perfect word for what I am trying to describe in this post. It is Waarom- strict, precise and powerful sound pronunciation that in English can be spelled as 'vaaroum'. A single word but holding in itself massive power. I even noticed that when someone asks me 'Waarom', I try to still provide some sort of answer even when I have absolutely no clue.
And so now, while I march in my daily reality I start my questions in my head with this powerful Dutch world:
Waarom have we so much poverty still?
Waarom did we have September 11?
Waarom there is still so much misery in our beautiful world?
Waarom there is so much sadness where I can hear so much crying?
And most importantly, waarom asking too many questions about humanity and the world we are living in, is considered as being too weird.
Waarom do we accept the 'normality' of this world where people mostly march with neglect and indifference to what's happening in our beautiful planet, such as hunger in some countries, poverty in almost all countries, so much anger, so much disappointment, tears and sadness?
Ekaterina	bipolar disorder, Christianity, Meaningful life, psychosis, The Russian Patient	1 Comment October 27, 2020 October 30, 2020 3 Minutes
The Russian Patient
According to the Chinese, everything in this universe evolves within yin and yang energy. Yin represents the feminine, water and passive. Yang is the male, fire and active. Both have to be in harmony, which exists to maintain balance in our universe and within each of us.
My body had to undergo a major shock at the age of twenty-seven to recognize that my yin and yang balance was severely distorted. True, at my birth I received the perfect fire and water combination. I was born in a female body in July in Moscow in the Chinese year of dragon. My zodiac sign is cancer and my year of birth is the dragon. The cancer is water and the dragon is fire. However, as one Russian politician once put it: 'we tried our best, but you know the rest'. The hospital where I was born did not have any hot water on that lucky day, and my small body was washed with cold water. This first event in my life is reflected in the picture taken immediately after the cold water procedure. Everyone looks happy and cheerful, except me. The creature in the photo has a blue face and looks like it is going to die. Which almost happened, as according to my mum, I developed a terrible flu and was lucky to live. What's lucky is a big question, since I am not that sure that my life has been particularly lucky.
In any case, after the cold water and the flu, the yang element took over, and I developed the strange idea that life is about survival. One has to put in enormous efforts in order to be alive, feel happy, and receive love.
By the age of twenty-seven I was convinced that I had everything one was supposed to achieve with this kind of thinking. I had a nice job by society's standards, was exercising my body like mad in a very good gym and was dating all kinds of weirdoes, which as far as I could see, was the case of almost all of my friends. And I strongly believed that I had put in enormous efforts in order to have the life that I had.
Then, what was wrong with me, you might ask?
One sure thing was that I had terrible problems with my mind. It was unable to shut it up. Although I seriously doubt that my power animal was a little mouse, I have the impression that my mind was constantly busy with analysing and scrutinising. Once I tried a trick, I made an attempt to get rid of my thoughts. I was even able to watch them at some point, like dark heavy clouds around my head.
'Ekaterina, you are not worthy!'
'Ekaterina, you are stupid.'
'Ekaterina, you are a failure.'
'Ekaterina, you are a total failure.'
'Ekaterina, you are bad.'
'Please, god, take away my mind.'
'There is no god!'
'I need a cigarette.'
'You are mad!'
'Please, god, help me.'
'According to Nietzsche, god is dead.'
'Nietzsche was mad.'
'So, are you.'
'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.'
You see, I did have a problem.
Another black spot in my biography is my name. My name, Netchitailova, is the size of a skyscraper in New York city and caused me only trouble while subscribing to libraries or opening a bank account. Netchitailova is unpronounceable in other languages other than Russian and means unreadable. This in itself is quite a pity, since my biggest passion in life is reading. Though it is not as bad as some other names in the Russian language. Imagine if you have the name Netchactlivaya, which means unhappy, and try to convince strangers or your friends that you might be in a cheerful mood.
The third thing, which is for sure, is that officially I am indeed mad. A certificate from psychiatrists that I've been psychotic (and more than once) is definite proof of my madness.
What is psychosis, you might ask? The usual scientific definition explains this phenomenon as a state of mind which is characterised by a loss of contact with reality, accompanied by delusions and hallucinations (including hearing voices). Well, it probably does not say much to you as, according to this definition, the majority of the world population is in constant psychosis. Someone is suffering from a delusion of being on a mission from god to liberate the world from terrorists, another believes in extra-terrestrials and I know a woman who makes millions of dollars by claiming that she can communicate with dead people.
A real psychosis is when your madness is confirmed by a certified psychiatrist.
I have, for instance, a friend who believed all his life that in his previous incarnation he was Napoleon. Nothing is wrong with this belief (which might be true as a matter of fact), but be careful to whom you reveal your deepest secret. My friend started to talk about his Napoleonic ambitions at his work. Well, he ended up in the hospital.
As for me, I freaked out on a rather ordinary day in November while sitting behind my desk at my job in Amsterdam. It was pouring with rain – but that's a usual thing in that city. Starting from October till April in general, almost everyone in the Netherlands is battling with the feelings of depression due to strong wind, constant rain, and grey sky.
I wasn't battling with depression though, but rather with euphoria. I had this feeling that something magical was awaiting me in the near future. That the life I knew now would be transformed into something much more interesting and fulfilling. I suppose that practically everyone reaches this point in life nowadays, at least in Western society. The point when life appears to be worthless and one starts asking oneself serious questions about fate, the purpose of life, and one's own role in society. I wouldn't assume that so many people reach this moment in life, if the amount of self-help books in the stores didn't testify otherwise. Nowadays it's the biggest selling market in the book world.
I reached this point rather early in life, at the age of twenty-seven. Maybe because I was Russian – and Russians are well known for exporting crazy and suicidal elements to the rest of the world, or maybe because I worked in finances. Bankers are the first to react despairingly in crises – as the amount of suicides demonstrates at each and every financial crisis.
I wasn't a banker, but I was a financial analyst of banks. In between lunches at banks, where I could at least indulge in my love of food (when I was allowing myself the pleasure of eating), I was battling with overwhelming boredom. Analysing figures and reading annual reports of banks for five days a week for two years straight can drive anyone mad.
But since quite a lot of financial analysts of banks don't go crazy, I guess that in my case there was something else besides simple boredom. Now, looking back with some perspective, I suppose that it wasn't just the job – it was the whole routine of organizing your life when you have to sit the whole day in an office.
Just think, for a second, about what exactly I mean. If you happen to work in an office as well – you might quite easily visualize the picture.
Your day starts with the terrible beep of an alarm. Not only are they really unpleasant, they also intervene, in a nasty way, into the natural functioning of your body. You would love to continue seeing that last dream (something like enjoying a holiday in the Bahamas) for five minutes more, but eventually you end up dragging yourself out of your warm and cosy bed to attend to your responsibilities.
Then you grab, from the fridge, whatever is available for your breakfast (assuming you are well organized and do have something in your fridge), take a quick shower and run towards the underground station as you realise that you might be late. As usual.
In the underground station (or… on a bus), once having managed to battle through a crowd to get onto the train, you have to endure standing close to irritated and sleep-deprived fellow passengers, who are more than happy to invade your personal space as you do theirs. And in case you go by car to work, I bet you spend some quality time in a traffic jam.
By the time you rush into the office, it's rare that you are in a cheerful mood.
And it's just the beginning of your day. You still have to face eight long hours (at least) in the office.
From these eight hours, as a general rule, you need to pretend that you are working for a minimum four hours (to keep up appearances and stay in good graces with your boss). You do have to act as if you are doing something useful, in between coffee breaks, chatting with colleagues, checking private mails or your Facebook account (if it's not yet banned at your workplace).
You survive till lunch (the best part of the working day by all standards), but then the worst part of the day lasts for eternity. Our bodies are programmed in such a way that the most natural thing to do after your lunch is to have a good nap.
But no, in your case you have to drag yourself back behind your desk and struggle with a terrible desire to sleep for the best part of the afternoon. You try to focus on your job (with difficulty), while at the same time constantly checking the clock to see how much time is left till you are free to go home.
Still… at this point, you try to think of doing something positive about your life once out of the office. Instead of watching the next episode of Eastenders or sabotaging your brain with something like Big Brother, you envision yourself doing something more productive and useful, like joining a course in creative writing, starting to study a language or simply reading an intellectual book.
Unfortunately, this positive thinking usually stays in the realm of a fantasy vision, since as soon as you are out of the office, you can't wait to end up on your cosy sofa watching endless TV until it's time for bed.
And the next day it starts all over again, and the day after, and the day after, until it's weekend – the only time we seem to really enjoy ourselves nowadays.
On that particular November morning, when I was trying to do some estimates for banks, I got, for the first time, a glimpse that life could be something else entirely.
Doctors blame it on the chemical imbalance in the brain, David Icke says that we are invaded by reptiles, and some call it enlightenment.
Whatever the name of the phenomenon, on that day I took my first ride into a magical world, which is hidden from us behind job responsibilities, money worries and the burden of everyday routine tasks.
Who knew that this adventure would land me right in the nearest psychiatric hospital?
Ekaterina	Amsterdam, bipolar disorder, Christianity, English, madness, Meaningful life, psychiatry, psychosis, Schizophrenia, The Russian Patient	Leave a comment October 20, 2020 January 16, 2021 10 Minutes
When I was Jesus
I was Jesus once, when I was in a psychiatric hospital. I knew that psychosis was coming and called emergency services because there was no one else to call. Mental health services are struggling, there is no coordinated effort, there is no place to go, if you need a safe place.
So, the hospital it was. But in order to reach the hospital, I had to spend twenty-four hours in the emergency department. By the time the psychiatric services came to assess me, I was in full-blown revelation phase. I was in the middle of human misery. I was Jesus.
I didn't have to do anything apart from saying that I was Jesus to the psychiatrist, I was immediately put under a section of Mental Health Act, deriving me effectively of my freedom. It was astonishing because I was the one asking for help. Instead of help, I was sent to 'prison'.
Arguing with psychiatrists that I was Jesus once in the hospital wasn't that good, they tried to change medication three times, by adjusting the dose of each new medication. It lasted two months. It stopped only when I finally realised that saying that I am Jesus to a psychiatrist was a suicide on my part. I shut up. I still thought I was Jesus.
But what is exactly happening when someone says that he or she is Jesus? I am not the first patient and definitely not the last to say so, and I read many articles which describe more or less the same experience. Someone believes he is a Messiah, another believes she is Buddha.
All these experiences are nothing else than a search for spiritual truth, it is a spiritual awakening, which is always accompanied by some sort of distress when one actually sees God or other manifestations of other reality. When someone says that she or he is Jesus, one has to sit down with this person and explain that he or she is going through a stage of discovering faith, that it is a natural process of coming in contact with the knowledge that God is there, that there is something out there, and that Jesus is in everyone. Thus, saying that 'I am Jesus', shouldn't lead to labeling it as 'delusion' but to delegating it to spiritual and religious domain.
But the psychiatry actively negates any existence of God, because it labels psychosis as severe mental illness. Psychosis is an experience of meeting directly with the other reality, but the psychiatry doesn't believe in the other reality. It diagnoses it, and denies that spiritual awakening is possible. All those who hear voices or 'see' things are reassured that these are hallucinations. But voices and seeing things are real for the patient. These are manifestations of deep religious truth. The patient is much more advanced than the psychiatrist on a spiritual level, but the psychiatrist has the power, and uses it to smash 'out-of-there' experiences. He also stops the individual spiritual journey of the person concerned, unless this individual is strong enough not to believe the psychiatrist and the whole power of the institution of the psychiatry behind. It becomes a fight for survival from that moment on.
Ekaterina	bipolar disorder, Christianity, Meaningful life, psychiatry, psychosis, The Russian Patient, Uncategorized	Leave a comment October 20, 2020 November 22, 2020 2 Minutes
What happened to my country? What happened to Russia? What happened to this beautiful world?
I was born in a beautiful world, in a beautiful country, in Russia. The country that saved the world at some point in human history. It is sad that it isn't mentioned enough in history books, while it should be the case, of course, all the time. If you don't know about it, I will tell you. It was during the Second World War, during the fight with the fascists.
My grand-parents fought in that war, and so many people suffered, too many. An incomprehensible number for a true human mind. 56 MILLION. The Jewish, the different, the Slavic race, and other beautiful souls. How could it have ever happened, is a question that I do ask myself each day, because history does matter, and it does matter to KNOW.
My family was absolutely amazing. I had a loving, very curious mum, a wonderful farther, and beautiful set of grand-parents on each side of my charming parents. I spent my summers in a Cossack village, because I have beautiful Cossack genes from my farther, and I travelled to St-Petersburg, called Leningrad at that time, with my mother, who came from aristocracy ancestors (a real catastrophe, that most of them they killed, but some of them survived, thanks GOD). She showed me beautiful museums and powerful paintings, and taught me history and maths. Maths wasn't my favourite subject, but thanks to my mother I kind of survived the test nightmare of algebra and the like they impose on children in our modern schools.
The idyllic picture of my childhood was broken when something bad happened in my land. We can blame the capitalism (and easy prey), or we can skip all that critical thinking analysis and simply aim at the truth: bad people got greedy, and sold their souls to deprive my Russia from its true meaning: an amazing land, guided by goodness and God. Jesus watches this land, and so do I.
Gorbachev, the kind, beautiful man, tried to create something even more beautiful. He announced some important changes: freedom of speech (extremely important), Perestroika (I still struggle to translate this dilemma), etc, etc, etc. He wanted more good, he had a vision of communism, a term that we started to believe to fear, but in simple language, it just means: everyone is equal, everyone has the same rights, everyone should receive free medical care, have food on the table and receive education for free, and isn't it wonderful?
Gorbachev wanted even more: he wanted to wake up people and show them that everyone can enjoy theirs jobs: be you a cleaner, a clerk, or a president. It doesn't matter WHAT you do, what matters is that you enjoy what you are doing. With my extra superiors efforts in this life to survive, I think I deserve more money than a bad-mouthing former 'neighbour' who learned to envy success, but it means that I have even a better vision than Gorbachev,more in the lines of Tolstoy, our beautiful Russian writer. Leo Tolstoy, was a true aristocrat, a philanthropist, who wanted to see beautiful Russia, where kindness would rule, and everyone would have food on the table, and lead meaningful lives. If you haven't yet read his books, I strongly advise you to correct this mistake rather urgently, and start with his diaries, and only after proceed to Anna Karenina, and leave 'War and Peace' till the end, once your master your French. It's a read I successfully skipped at my literature lessons at school, because I didn't speak French yet properly, and the rest what was left in Russian ('War and Peace" is written in both Russian and French), told us about long war narratives, that I found boring. But the love story was amazing, and I read all parts related to that, and passed my literature exam with outmost distinction. At nights I was absorbing his diaries though,- beautiful notes, that I discovered by accident as it seemed, but of course, it wasn't an accident, because good books always find their reader.
The dilemma of Perestroika resulted in a brain-damage. That's the only term in English I can find to describe what happened next to my beautiful, unique country. But I will try to explain it in more accessible words.
There were kiosks at first, ugly corner shops selling Coca-Cola (the only nice thing), snickers, and cigarettes. My best friend and I, bought our first cigarettes there when we were just thirteen. No one was checking for age, and no one cared, as long as you had money and you could pay.
Then, even bigger things happened. Vouchers came out from the state companies for ordinary people to get their chance to own some assets in their own country. But the country was starving, because Boris Yeltsin was in power, having chased Gorbachev out of the regime, and out of Russia. I want to know how it could happen, and I tried, because I was watching what was happening to my country with a disbelief of a twelve, and then fourteen, and then fifteen, sixteen years-old mind, and I was watching how Kashpirovsky was allowed to go on the state TV and hypnotise the entire nation via a live transmission. I tried to warn my grand-mother, who, as many others, was watching that nonsense, an act of black magic, coming directly from those in power then. Kashpirovsky was telling: 'everyone will be fine, and everyone won't be fine', confusing the entire beautiful land, and how this was allowed is beyond my beautiful mind, but I want to know how it was even possible. I want to KNOW the truth. Because history DOES matter, and we can never forget, in order not to repeat the mistakes of the humanity.
My grand-mother got gangrene after watching it, and died in pain and suffering some years later. That was the moment, outside the church when we said goodbye to her, that I run out and shouted to the sky, to God: ''what the fuck? How is it possible? Where are YOU?''
But of course, God was watching, as he always does, because at the end of the day, goodness always prevails, otherwise, it isn't possible to continue living, and the universe is doomed. And this simply can't happen.
The vouchers were immediately bought back by what you know now as OLIGARCHS. Everyone was starving, no one had enough food. There was some promise of American food aid, that they send sometimes to deprived troops in the army, and we got it at school. I tried the sausages and dry milk, and it was disgusting. But it helped to live. I brought all my 'American' packages to my grand-mum, because she was starving, and she had sold her voucher back to the oligarchs because she didn't have any money, as the rest of the nice, not that ordinary Russian population, for a penny.
Oligarchs were made, together with parlours of bad witches. It was all around Moscow, you have to believe me. Everywhere you looked, there was some advertisement: 'a curse to ban your enemies'', 'I will help you to make even more money', 'I will bring you your lover back'. That was the moment when I vomited from my first cigarette, because it was the only thing that could help me to cope, with what was happening to Russia. People were shouting and people were crying. And I was shouted at and I was crying. My beautiful mother was in Italy then, because of some strange set of circumstances. I rejoined her when I went to study in Brussels, in French, at the age of nineteen.
Christian churches were opened though, including my favourite church, and it should be amazing and it should be unique, but money was being made on them too, and I almost stopped to believe, but I am not allowed, because God doesn't let me. And I want to believe, because the idea to the contrary can't be processed by my inquisitive mind. People were dying then in Russia, and everyone was miserable and upset, and it seemed like a fog, had embraced my beautiful land. Everyone was after apartments, where to get what one wanted, they were ready to put their relatives inside the psychiatric hospital. It was a legal procedure: you pay the 'doctor", he signs the letter, and then the poor distressed individual (usually an older relative) is driven inside a psychiatric hospital to disappear. Other schemes were created, and it was all about money, it was all about how to get even more rich.
I want to know how did it happen, and I want to know who was behind all that, and what was said, and understand the incomprehensible dilemma of oligarchs now ruling the world, from their perspectives of offshore brands, stealing money from innocent people, stealing properties from other countries, stealing all the goodness what is still left in this world.
They call it Psychosis. That's how my quest, my incomprehension about what happened to Russia, and as a result, to the rest of the world, is defined in medical, psychiatric terms. It struck me shortly after September 11, right when I landed working as a financial analyst of banks in a beautiful company in Amsterdam. I saw the image of crushing planes when I was at my gym. I even tried to go to my step class like some other members. But I couldn't stay there. Instead I run outside and I vomited, and then I watched how stock markets made billions on the sake of the human distress, because I worked in finances, and it was in front of my eyes. And I remember thinking: 'but that's exactly what happened back in Russia', and it was hard to process, and I couldn't understand how people could laugh, and continue living, and not just cry, like I was doing after that day. I, obviously, couldn't return to the gym after that day either. I hate all the gyms now.
You know what happened next: Saddam Hussein was publicly executed on a stage. Apparently you could even 'enjoy' a place on a stage to watch that awful act. Apparently, it was even filmed, like some sort of Big Brother, that is presented to us as something that we should enjoy and be entertained with, as if it is normal. Amelie Nothomb, my favourite Belgian writer wrote about a similar story in 'Sulphuric Acid'. I read it in French, but you can get it in English. All her books are more than amazing, they are unique. If you haven't read her yet, I urgently advise you to do so. Start with 'Stupeur et Tremblements' – a beautiful, enjoyable read, a comedy, and then move to her other books, in the order that she wrote them, like I do.
One day, when I came back to Brussels, after my spell in the Amsterdam city for good seven years, I woke up in one of my lucid dreaming, crying. I was standing in front of Saint Basil Cathedral in Moscow, one of the most beautiful churches, the real, and I was crying and I was in terrible pain.
And now I know, I was crying for Russia, and I was crying for my beautiful land, and I was crying for what happened to Jesus, and I was crying to what had happened on our planet earth.
But they call it psychosis, because some people tell you that you should just be happy and enjoy your life.
And of course, one should be happy and enjoy one's life. But I don't know how to be happy when such terrible things happen on this earth.
How is it even possible, can someone explain??? How can one dare to feel happy when so many other beautiful people are in so much pain?
Ekaterina	bipolar disorder, madness, Meaningful life, psychosis, Russia, Spiritual life, The Russian Patient	Leave a comment October 20, 2020 December 26, 2020 8 Minutes
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My name is Ekaterina Netchitailova. The last name might sound unpronounceable and it does mean 'unreadable' in the Russian language, but bare with me: I love writing and I definitely can read. Writing and reading are among my biggest passions in life, together with the French language, following my faith (Christianity), drinking coffee and good quality red wine (not every day, mind you), eating super delicious food, languages, music, and being in touch with the Goddess and angels.
They call it: insanity, lol.
I was born in Moscow but since then lived in 3 other countries (in two of them – twice) and speak 4 languages fluently. I still want to learn German and Italian and I love the sound of the Arabic language: to my ear it seems like a fire with precise lightening destination, it sounds like a deep, very passionate, soul profound language.
I did my studies in Brussels as an interpreter, and then in Amsterdam where I also worked as a financial analyst of banks and portfolio manager. I got mad there. One day I woke up from a dream of normality and saw a crowd of white doves flying around me. Whether it was a sign of the upcoming Jesus, is something I chose to believe in.
After Amsterdam (where I got my first PhD offer in the field of the geography of finances), I moved later to Brussels again, where I worked as a recruiter, before moving to the UK where I obtained a PhD bursary a second time, and fortune decided that I would complete a PhD at the faculty of sociology in the amazing town of Sheffield, studying Facebook from both the micro and macro perspectives.
I love books, real books that I can touch, nature, rivers, oceans and water, interesting cafes, cats, dogs and horses, and looking at manifestations of weirdness around me, as I believe that without it, the world would be a more boring place.
Meaningful life
How to have fun if stuck in a psychiatric hospital
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zttkr4bzACk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBbpGuJaeC0
Porcupine's wisdom blog
This is my other blog https://porcupineswisdom.blogspot.com/


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WEEDSPORT, N.Y. - May 16, 2015 - After a 22 year absence the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series returned to Weedsport Speedway for the Empire State Challenge Sunday night and it was a dominant Donny Schatz who added his name to the list of winners at the track. Kerry Madsen and Chad Kemenah battled through the late stage of the race for second. Madsen came out on top.
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text:
Q: What does gensym do in Lisp? contextualization: I've been doing a university project in which I have to write a parser for regular expressions and build the corresponding epsilon-NFA. I have to do this in Prolog and Lisp.
I don't know if questions like this are allowed, if not I apologize.
I heard some of my classmates talking about how they used the function gensym for that, I asked them what it did and even checked up online but I literally can't understand what this function does neither why or when is best to use it.
In particular, I'm more intrested in what it does in Lisp.
Thank you all.

A: a little clarification of the existing answers (as the op is not yet aware of the typical common lisp macros workflow):
consider the macro double-it, proposed by mr. Joswig. Why would we bother creating this whole bunch of let? when it can be simply:
(defmacro double-it (it)
  `(+ ,it ,it))

and ok, it seems to be working:
CL-USER> (double-it 1)
;;=> 2

but look at this, we want to increment x and double it
CL-USER> (let ((x 1))
           (double-it (incf x)))
;;=> 5
;; WHAT? it should be 4!

the reason can be seen in macro expansion:
(let ((x 1))
  (+ (setq x (+ 1 x)) (setq x (+ 1 x))))

you see, as the macro doesn't evaluate form, just splices it into generated code, it leads to incf being executed twice.
the simple solution is to bind it somewhere, and then double the result:
(defmacro double-it (it)
  `(let ((x ,it))
     (+ x x)))

CL-USER> (let ((x 1))
           (double-it (incf x)))
;;=> 4
;; NICE!

it seems to be ok now. really it expands like this:
(let ((x 1))
  (let ((x (setq x (+ 1 x))))
    (+ x x)))

ok, so what about the gensym thing?
let's say, you want to print some message, before doubling your value:
(defmacro double-it (it)
  `(let* ((v "DOUBLING IT")
          (val ,it))
     (princ v)
     (+ val val)))

CL-USER> (let ((x 1))
           (double-it (incf x)))
;;=> DOUBLING IT
;;=> 4
;; still ok!

but what if you accidentally name value v instead of x:
CL-USER> (let ((v 1))
           (double-it (incf v)))

;;Value of V in (+ 1 V) is "DOUBLING IT", not a NUMBER.
;; [Condition of type SIMPLE-TYPE-ERROR]

It throws this weird error! Look at the expansion:
(let ((v 1))
  (let* ((v "DOUBLING IT") (val (setq v (+ 1 v))))
    (princ v)
    (+ val val)))

it shadows the v from the outer scope with string, and when you are trying to add 1, well it obviously can't. Too bad.
another example, say you want to call the function twice, and return 2 results as a list:
(defmacro two-funcalls (f v)
  `(let ((x ,f))
     (list (funcall x ,v) (funcall x ,v))))

CL-USER> (let ((y 10))
           (two-funcalls (lambda (z) z) y))
;;=> (10 10)
;; OK

CL-USER> (let ((x 10))
           (two-funcalls (lambda (z) z) x))

;; (#<FUNCTION (LAMBDA (Z)) {52D2D4AB}> #<FUNCTION (LAMBDA (Z)) {52D2D4AB}>)
;; NOT OK!

this class of bugs is very nasty, since you can't easily say what's happened.
What is the solution? Obviously not to name the value v inside macro. You need to generate some sophisticated name that no one would reproduce in their code, like my-super-unique-value-identifier-2019-12-27. This would probably save you, but still you can't really be sure. That's why gensym is there:
(defmacro two-funcalls (f v)
  (let ((fname (gensym)))
    `(let ((,fname ,f))
       (list (funcall ,fname ,v) (funcall ,fname ,v)))))

expanding to:
(let ((y 10))
  (let ((#:g654 (lambda (z) z)))
    (list (funcall #:g654 y) (funcall #:g654 y))))

you just generate the var name for the generated code, it is guaranteed to be unique (meaning no two gensym calls would generate the same name for the runtime session),
(loop repeat 3 collect (gensym))
;;=> (#:G645 #:G646 #:G647)

it still can potentially be clashed with user var somehow, but everybody knows about the naming and doesn't call the var #:GXXXX, so you can consider it to be impossible. You can further secure it, adding prefix
(loop repeat 3 collect (gensym "MY_GUID"))
;;=> (#:MY_GUID651 #:MY_GUID652 #:MY_GUID653)

A: GENSYM will generate a new symbol at each call. It will be garanteed, that the symbol did not exist before it will be generated and that it will never be generated again. You may specify a symbols prefix, if you like:
CL-USER> (gensym)
#:G736
CL-USER> (gensym "SOMETHING")
#:SOMETHING737

The most common use of GENSYM is generating names for items to avoid name clashes in macro expansion.
Another common purpose is the generaton of symbols for the construction of graphs, if the only thing demand you have is to attach a property list to them, while the name of the node is not of interest.
I think, the task of NFA-generation could make good use of the second purpose.

A: GENSYM creates unique symbols. Each call creates a new symbol. The symbol usually has a name which  includes a number, which is counted up. The name is also unique (the symbol itself is already unique) with a number, so that a human reader can identify different uninterned symbols in the source code.
CL-USER 39 > (gensym)
#:G1083

CL-USER 40 > (gensym)
#:G1084

CL-USER 41 > (gensym)
#:G1085

CL-USER 42 > (gensym)
#:G1086

gensym is often used in Lisp macros for code generation, when the macro needs to create new identifiers, which then don't clash with existing identifiers.
Example: we are going to double the result of a Lisp form and we are making sure that the Lisp form itself will be computed only once. We do that by saving the value in a local variable. The identifier for the local variable will be computed by gensym.
CL-USER 43 > (defmacro double-it (it)
               (let ((new-identifier (gensym)))
                 `(let ((,new-identifier ,it))
                    (+ ,new-identifier ,new-identifier))))
DOUBLE-IT

CL-USER 44 > (macroexpand-1 '(double-it (cos 1.4)))
(LET ((#:G1091 (COS 1.4)))
  (+ #:G1091 #:G1091))
T

CL-USER 45 > (double-it (cos 1.4))
0.33993432

A: This is a note to some of the other answers, which I think are fine.  While gensym is the traditional way of making new symbols, in fact there is another way which works perfectly well and is often better I find: make-symbol:

make-symbol creates and returns a fresh, uninterned symbol whose name is the given name. The new-symbol is neither bound nor fbound and has a null property list.

So, the nice thing about make-symbol is it makes a symbol with the name you asked for, exactly, without any weird numerical suffix.  This can be helpful when writing macros because it makes the macroexpansion more readable.  Consider this simple list-collection macro:
(defmacro collecting (&body forms)
  (let ((resultsn (make-symbol "RESULTS"))
        (rtailn (make-symbol "RTAIL")))
    `(let ((,resultsn '())
           (,rtailn nil))
       (flet ((collect (it)
                (let ((new (list it)))
                  (if (null ,rtailn)
                      (setf ,resultsn new
                            ,rtailn new)
                    (setf (cdr ,rtailn) new
                          ,rtailn new)))
                it))
         ,@forms
         ,resultsn))))

This needs two bindings which the body can't refer to, for the results, and the last cons of the results.  It also introduces a function in a way which is intentionally 'unhygienic': inside collecting, collect means 'collect something'.
So now
> (collecting (collect 1) (collect 2) 3)
(1 2)

as we want, and we can look at the macroexpansion to see that the introduced bindings have names which make some kind of sense:
> (macroexpand '(collecting (collect 1)))
(let ((#:results 'nil) (#:rtail nil))
  (flet ((collect (it)
           (let ((new (list it)))
             (if (null #:rtail)
                 (setf #:results new #:rtail new)
               (setf (cdr #:rtail) new #:rtail new)))
           it))
    (collect 1)
    #:results))
t

And we can persuade the Lisp printer to tell us that in fact all these uninterned symbols are the same:
> (let ((*print-circle* t))
    (pprint (macroexpand '(collecting (collect 1)))))

(let ((#2=#:results 'nil) (#1=#:rtail nil))
  (flet ((collect (it)
           (let ((new (list it)))
             (if (null #1#)
                 (setf #2# new #1# new)
               (setf (cdr #1#) new #1# new)))
           it))
    (collect 1)
    #2#))

So, for writing macros I generally find make-symbol more useful than gensym.  For writing things where I just need a symbol as an object, such as naming a node in some structure, then gensym is probably more useful.  Finally note that gensym can be implemented in terms of make-symbol:
(defun my-gensym (&optional (thing "G"))
  ;; I think this is GENSYM
  (check-type thing (or string (integer 0)))
  (let ((prefix (typecase thing
                  (string thing)
                  (t "G")))
        (count (typecase thing
                 ((integer 0) thing)
                 (t (prog1 *gensym-counter*
                      (incf *gensym-counter*))))))
        (make-symbol (format nil "~A~D" prefix count))))

(This may be buggy.)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Did you forget your contact lens solution? Use normal saline. It's also great as an emergency eye drop when your eyes are tired or irritated.
2. Got a code brown?
Ah, the old poop exposure. We all want to avoid getting poop on our hands, and the way to do this is to triple glove. Once you've cleaned up the poopy mess, you can peel off the first layer of gloves. The next layer can be used to apply diapers or do general clean up. Remove these and change the bed sheets and apply a new chux.
G.I bleeds smell pretty darn bad, as does emesis, urine...and the list goes on. Grab a couple of coffee filters and fill them with coffee grinds. They will absorb the smell and get rid of those nasty odors. Place the coffee grind under the patient's bed. This hack is one all seasoned nurses usually know.
Inserting a nasogastric tube is no fun for your patient. Try soaking it in ice. Not only will this be more comfortable and tolerable for you patient, but it will also ease insertion. So this one's a win-win.
This can be remedied by leaving the first one in and using the second one to aim higher. Using this trick helps you not make the same mistake twice. Once the second one is in place, then you can pull out the first one.
When you use this trick, it will help to dilate the blood vessels for easier selection and insertion.
Using hydrogen peroxide for blood stains works wonders. It works instantly and is very effective.
Feces can be rather stubborn at times, especially when a patient has C-diff. A great trick is to apply lotion to your wipes to aid you in removal. Shaving cream also works like a charm.
Always clamp the tubing first, so the drip chamber fills first. This way air won't form in the tubing as you're priming it. Gotta love any tip that helps with these annoying air bubbles.
Nurses don't always realize how filthy your stethoscope can get and wearing it around your neck with all those germs on it makes my skin crawl. To keep your stethoscope clean cover it with a glove before use. This will keep it clean, but will also allow you to still hear all the sounds through the diaphragm.
The tourniquets are always more painful for these patients because of the friction between the hair and the tourniquet. You can fix this by applying a piece of gauze under the tourniquet to reduce the amount of friction. A nice little tip.
There are some odors that seem to stalk you even when you've gotten rid of the source. I've had some that seemed to crawl up my nose and hide for several days. No matter how many showers I took, they refused to leave my sense of smell. For these types of odors try using wintergreen oil, Vicks or toothpaste. Just dab a little on the inside, top portion of your mask and voila you've masked the odor!
13. Put your sock on!
When doing a procedure on a foot when the patient is wearing socks, use the sock-on-sock method. When you take their sock off, put it on the patient's other socked foot. This saves you from spending ten minutes looking for the sock that got away.
When you're checking respirations on a patient, don't tell them what you're really doing. Instead, act like you're checking their pulse and count their respirations. The rationale behind this one is that if you tell them you're counting their respirations they will immediately begin to breath more or even hold their breath, which will give you an inaccurate reading.
If you need to clamp a Foley, but you've run out of Kelly clamps, you can use the barrel of a syringe. Remove the plunger and insert the tubing into the barrel to clamp it.
Can be removed using K.Y Jelly. Coat the area with K.Y first. This will help you remove it easier with a wet wipe.
Got a life hack you want to share with us? Comment below.