It's been a rough week. I stopped taking Zyprexa a few days ago due to its expense, and went through some sort of withdrawal yesterday which nearly caused me to faint on several occasions. I also was unable to carry things in my hands. Additionally, I was wide awake all last night, wired, no doubt at the beginning of a manic or hypomanic episode, or perhaps another one of my mixed states.
Since I couldn't sleep anyway, I watched all the Harry Potter films in sequence. I've always wanted to do this, although not under these circumstances.
Not that this is particularly interesting to anyone but me, but has anyone noticed how, in the third Harry Potter (HP3) film, Professor RJ Lupin could be a metaphor for a person suffering from bipolar disorder? For those of you who don't know what I am talking about, in the movie, Professor Lupin is a werewolf and has to take a special potion to prevent his "mood" from shifting into something very dangerous at the full moon .. which might be how mania appears to someone without it. Hell, that's how mania often appears to one who does have it. Anyway, that's my guess, especially since Rowling has said that the dementors are metaphorical for clinical depression ..
But even mania is better than despair or those horrible mixed states.
Um, I think.
Speaking of HP3 and beyond .. has anyone noticed how Michael Gambon, the actor who replaced Richard Harris (who died) as Dumbledore is really not very good in his role? Most noticeably, he has no rapport with Harry at all, and it shows in the films, at least in my eyes. He also plays Dumbledore as being undignified, again, at least in my eyes.
They also replaced the original fat lady, Elizabeth Spriggs, with Dawn French in HP3, not sure why. In this case, the replacement was a better choice.
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Fill out this form: http://www.needymeds.com/papforms/lilfou0096.pdf and bring it to your psychiatrist's office to sign. Then mail it with a Verification of Non-Filing (proof you didn't file a tax return) available from http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f4506t.pdf.
Eli Lilly will ship your doctor 4 mos at a time for you.
Most other drug companies offer similar programs, with more info available at www.needymeds.com.
It will take 2 weeks or so to get your verification of non-filing from the IRS, and another 2-3 weeks for the drugs to be shipped to your psychiatrist.
Good luck.
Dear GrrlScientist,
I also felt that Gambon's portrayal of Dumbledore is not as good as that of Harris.
Guru
Dan's advice sounds great. Perhaps the person you saw already can find a way to get drugs to tide you over for a week or so, until you can get into a program that provides them. Or perhaps working with the people from the hospital who found the right drug balance for you? Or--there must be some sort of social worker at the hospital who helps set up transition from inside to outside life can help with this?
I know that when you are low, it's tough to deal with bureaucracies and so best wishes as you do this survival work for yourself.
Ack...
The correct link for the IRS verification request is http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f4506t.pdf .
As for what to do for the next 4-6 weeks, if you can't get samples from your doctors, asking the hospital social worker is an excellent idea. Make sure you ask for the outpatient placement social worker -- not a clinical social worker (counselor). In my area the Salvation Army and some other local charities provide emergency medication, and that's the person who is most likely to know who offers what / where.
Finally, look for a CHC grantee here: http://ask.hrsa.gov/pc/ . Although they don't generally employ psychiatrists, they provide sliding fee care for general medical issues -- and can help you with obtaining prescription drugs of all types for free / on a sliding fee.
Good luck!
That's an interesting thought about Lupin. My sister (who's working on a PhD in children's lit) thinks that Lupin's character is a metaphor for homosexuality, particularly in the movie with all that "people like me" business at the end. I saw that too, about the dementors being a metaphor for depression. I was kind of wrestling with that myself when I read that book. After I heard that, I read that part where Harry successfully fought all those dementors over and over again, for weeks. It helped me.
I like the old Dumbledore better, but I like the last movie the best. I think it gets closest to the spirit of the books. When reviewing "Return of the King", the film critic in the New Yorker (Anthony Lane that week, I think) said that adapting movies for the screen wasn't simply about translating the words on the page to images, but was about finding what was cinematic in the book and drawing it out. I never thought an HP4 devoid of house-elves and with the secret hand of a shadowy figure evident to the audience throughout would've worked, but it did. I also thought they found a fantastic Moody -- I would say that guy's as good as Snape.
I can't wait for the final book. Some day, Hedwig, I'll have to email you the pics I took at the Harry Potter Night party I went to at the Book Loft in Great Barrington, MA. Good times. I plan to go back there for the sixth book if it's at all possible. It was the best event I've heard about.
Somebody help me out with the math. Choice A: gov't provides meds that help Hedwig to live independently. Choice B: gov't doesn't provide meds, which means Hedwig runs chance of hospitalization, in which case gov't ends up footing the bill for hospitalization PLUS gov't ends up paying for meds anyway. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't it make more financial sense in the long run if our gov't made sure that ALL people have timely access to necessary medication? As a taxpayer, I know what makes more sense to ME, but, hey, what do I know--I'm only a taxpayer.
I had considered Lupin a stand in for homosexuality in general, and perhaps he is in part, but revelations in the most recent book make me thing he is representative of a victim of pedophilia. Note that he was bitten by a werewolf as a young boy, and that affected the rest of his life. Also, the werewolf that bit him (Fenrir Grayback?) stated that he likes to go for young victims. Sounds like pedophilia to me.
Not that this is particularly interesting to anyone but me, but has anyone noticed how, in the third Harry Potter (HP3) film, Professor RJ Lupin could be a metaphor for a person suffering from bipolar disorder?
I believe that's actually one of the many 'scholarly' hypotheses on the origin of the werewolf legend. The werewolf transformation is associated with the lunar cycle. Folklore claims the same association for manic insanity. The word lunacy is even derived from Luna, the Latin name for the Moon. Some folklorists have speculated that manic-depressives whose violent cycles synchronized with the full moon were the original source of the werewolf legend.
I always saw Remus Lupin's disorder (which is described in much more depth and detail in the book) as simply a metaphor for any persecuted minority. If you look around the Potter books are full of such things. Wizards themselves are a persecuted minority in the Muggle world. Hagrid keeps his half-Giant ancestry a secret. Many dark wizards are bigoted against wizards with Muggle ancestry. Filch feels inferior because he's a "Squib" -- his parents were wizards, but he isn't. And so on. I see Lupin as just another variant on that theme. Deeper than that I decline to go, unless the author herself says something about it.
Hedwig, sorry you are having so much trouble affording your meds. It breaks my heart to read this. I hope you have success with one of the ideas posted above.
When I saw Lupin I too thought of the gay angle. But I'm a lesbian myself so it makes sense that I would pick up on that. Interestingly both mental illness and homosexuality have a shared history of stigma.