Mental Health and Ad Campaigns or, The Case of the Blue Room

One of my most salient pet peeves is the portrayal of mental health in the media. More specifically, the absolutely absurd imagery that companies use to shill their anti-depressants and that some well meaning non-profits utilize in outreach campaigns.

You know what I'm talking about. The head shot of someone scrunching up their face in psychic pain (or is it a bad migraine?).  And, let's not forget that the image must be tinted with blue to symbolize the OCEAN of sad they are feeling.

Look, I understand.

We have made oases from what was ruined.

(In Cyprus, right off of the UN border in Nicosia.) 

"We have learned from disasters. We have made OASES from what was ruined. Only SOMEONE SICK would want to destroy something BEAUTIFUL. What is beautiful is us. For each plant cut, we will plant 10 more. Everyone you hit, that many more enemies you will have.

Until that-- utopia and beyond."

I don't know you, but I already love you.

This is a difficult entry for me to write. But, it's a hopeful one--- so bear with me.

Suicides are native to my family. Growing up I heard hushed stories about my mother's youngest brother and his unlikely death at the end of a shotgun. When I was in high school, my father swallowed a handful of pills in a failed attempt to cope with his gambling addiction. 

Yet, none of these experiences prepared me for the call I received my sophomore year of college. My baby brother, my dear heart!, the kid I helped raise, was on his way to a residential psychiatric facility. 

"He was writing good-bye letters in class today, Alex," my grandmother told me.

Urban Wayfinding

My favorite cities are intuitively navigated.  Washington DC is a prime example.With mostly parallel streets and avenues, one only need know the alphabet or how to count to 100 to navigate the city.  Cities like Atlanta?  Absolute nightmares!  I blame the hordes of urban planners who jumped on the back of Robert Moses' jalopy.

on the natural diseases of travel.

You can tell a great deal about someone in the way in which they cope with travel.  

Do they constantly compare your current journey to their study abroad experience in college?  When the bus fails to show up on time, do they huff at you, or worse yet, treat you with a stoney silence? 

Yes, you can divine someone's true character from the way in which they travel.  People who you thought you knew, heartbeat and bones and epidermis and all, become incredibly transparent when faced with the natural diseases of travel. 

I have foreseen the end of two significant romantic relationships while traveling with my then partners.

So, here is my recommendation--- if time and resources afford you this opportunity:

Travel with your loved one before you bind yourself to them for the rest of your natural life.  Preferably somewhere destitute and sour and trying. I can assure you that you will quickly either confirm or revise your feelings towards them.  And, your journey will almost certainly be thriftier than the divorce lawyer you may need to hire later on.