Oooooh I just remembered about a 文章 I did for Chinese SIA and it’s about child abuse!! It’s called 铁匠的儿子 from 爱的教育. And it’s about this boy who gets beaten by his father which is the 铁匠, then his classmates all want to send his father to jail but the boy LOVES his father a lot （亲情亲情亲情!!）so keep denying that his father abused him but it’s pretty duh cos he 鼻青脸肿 all the time. And other evidences of his poverty and abuse include: he’s a scrawny sickly saddy scaredy-cat, his workbook was torn and burnt by his father, the author heard he getting kicked down the stairs by his father just because he asked for money to buy a grammar book, he has no food to eat and is always hungry T.T, he is terrified of his father like a mouse is of a cat and 战发震震 everytime he see him, he wears baggy and raggy clothes that are prevented from dropping by a raffia string tied around his waist等等. But 他仍然刻苦学习. And he always covers up his father’s wrongdoings!! So 感人肺腑!! D’: You can read it here: http://jnxcschool502.bokee.com/5687643.html
Yeap anyway I’m supposed to research about mental illnesses!!
Facts
1) POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER
Follows a traumatic event which causes intense fear and/or helplessness in an individual.
Symptoms include re-experiencing the trauma through nightmares, obsessive thoughts, and flashbacks, the individual avoids situations which remind him or her about the traumatic event, increased anxiety in general, possibly with a heightened startle response.
2) SCHIZOPHRENIA
A serious mental disorder which h symptoms include thought disturbances, hallucinations, anxiety, emotional withdrawal, delusions, disorganized behaviour and speech.
3) DEPRESSION
A type of mood disorder, characterised by persistent feelings of great sadness, hopelessness, worthlessness, guilt and a loss of interest in activities.
4) BI-POLAR
A mood disorder characterised by extremes of mania and depression (mood swings).
5) AUTISM
A developmental disorder, whereby children are unresponsive and avoid contact with others, and demonstrate a lack of language and communication skills.
6) PANIC DISORDER
Sufferers experience ‘attacks’ that are unpredictable, and involve intense feelings of apprehension, anxiety and fear, and physiological symptoms of chest pain, dizziness and heavy breathing.
7) OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER
An disorder characterised by obsessions (uncontrollable, persistent and irrational thoughts or wishes) and compulsions (repetitive ritualistic acts).
8) BODERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER
A serious disorder that is characterized by severe emotional pain and difficulties managing emotions. Symptoms include impulsivity, severe negative emotions, chaotic relationships, an extreme fear of abandonment, and accompanying difficulties maintaining a stable and accepting sense of self.
9) MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DISORDER
Existence in a person of two or more distinct, independent personalities, any of which may control behavior while being unaware of the other personalities and their memories and experiences.
Stories
1) “Keeshawn,” a 7 year-old boy, was referred to Washburn Child Guidance Center, a children’s mental health center in Minneapolis, during a shelter placement after he climbed a tree saying he was going to kill himself.
Keeshawn's parents' rights were terminated after chronic abuse and neglect. He then went to live with his aunt and cousins (and several pit bulls). Keeshawn was suspended from school regularly for nearly daily explosive and aggressive outbursts during academic tasks.
Therapy in an intensive day treatment program focused on teaching Keeshawn self-regulation skills to manage his frustration with academic work and to build his sense of competency and efficacy with learning. Keeshawn also got involved with sports and this proved beneficial to his treatment and education.
Keeshawn’s daily aggressive outbursts dissipated over the course of treatment and he successfully "graduated” after about 11 months. Six months after graduation, he had had only one outburst at school. Keeshawn made rapid academic progress, and went on to win a citywide wrestling tournament.
Source: http://www.thenationalcouncil.org/cs/suicide_children_and_teens
2) I was diagnosed with schizophrenia and depression when I was 16 years old. It hit me and my family hard. I would see and hear things that would make horror movies like "Saw" and "Friday the 13Th" look like Disney movies. I'd get scared so much that I wouldn't speak for weeks or leave the house alone because of what the voices said they'll do. Then there were voices of dead family members telling me stuff, or I would have a conversation with someone that was not their and have black outs in time were I been talk to someone or do something and have no recall but was told by others that it happened.
Source: http://www.experienceproject.com/stories/Schizophrenia/525811
Movies
1) I’m a cyborg but that’s okay
It’s a wonderful source of mental illnesses!! Summary: A young woman lives in a mental institution as she believes she is a cyborg. At the hospital, she befriends a young schizophrenic, anti-social young man as they team up in hopes to escape the hospital while she wants to take revenge on the people who hospitalized her mentally-ill grandmother. Warning: This movie contains disturbing and ridiculous scenes and makes you go nuts too.
2) Two faces of my girlfriend
Very cute movie about a girl with split personality!! The girl is soooooooooo pretty!! :D
Suggestion
I was thinking of having a mental hospital as our setting and there are mental patients there who recount their life stories which revolve around child abuse and peer pressure haha. Like got one person’s life story is the child abuse story Shichun suggested and another person’s life story is the peer pressure story Hilary and Klara suggested. This way all the topics are linked together!! But would that be very diluted, like there’s no focus of the play??
Man I haven’t started on any homework!!!!! T.T Die die die!!!!!
- Eleen
Labels: Mental Disorder
