Post by hi224 on Aug 21, 2019 1:55:08 GMT
Patient no. 18 video: YouTube link
Worldcat link
WorkLizard Link
I stumbled across this video the other day while scrolling through Facebook. It’s 10 minutes of an interview with a young man in a mental facility. The interview focuses on why he is in the hospital in the first place. Patient 18 says he’s supposed to be mentally unwell, but no one has told him how or why he has been placed there. He says he feels it’s because he is “not like other people”, and because people dislike the way he sits differently at the piano and stands differently when away from the piano.
The only “information” available online comes from the few sites that share the video, and they all say the same thing. There are 2 narratives that have been given, which are completely different from each other (pasted below). I’ll save my opinion until the end.
Story #1:
“His name is ‘Stephen E.’. He is 79 now and lives with his wife of 43 years in a peaceful setting. Here is what Stephen said:
I had multiple arrests (2 felonies) and hospitalizations on my road from crisis to regaining my independence and dignity.
If I hadn’t had a social worker;if I hadn’t had a doctor;if I hadn’t had medications, …
I would be homeless;I’d be in jail;or I’d be dead.But I’m well!
This is what happens when you:have the services;have a solution (and medication does help me.);have someone to lead you to the place you need to be in order to move forward with your life; for me it was my dad.
Around 1969 or ’70 (don’t remember), I had a psychotic ‘break’ and my dad got tired of fighting with me;I ended up walking down the street naked at night.A police officer who was ‘Crisis-Intervention trained’ picked me up.He treated me with respect.I said, ‘Don’t handcuff me; I haven’t broken the law.’He says ‘Okay.’He says ‘What kind of music do you like?’,and I said, ‘Rock and Roll!’, and he turns the radio dial until he picks up the Beatles’ ‘Let It Be’. I’ll never forget that.I remember saying ‘This is better than a taxi ride!’
…
And then I got a social worker, who led me to a good psychiatrist, who prescribed meds.
…
Then I became well;
…
I have a lovely wife, kids, and grandkids, and 1 great-grandkid!I pay taxes!;I have friends;I graduated with a Masters in Social Working;I served as a member of the ‘Intergovernmental Serious Mentally Ill and Serious Emotional Disorder Committee (ISMICC) which consists of 14 non-federal employees who are tasked with reporting annually to Congress about the state of mental health care in the nation.
I’m well!”
Story #2:
“This man was my uncle. I’m not going to give any names, but for those of you who are concerned with how things turned out for him, not well. There’s so much to address here.
First let me say that he was being treated in this video with meds. Without the medication his mood ranged from complete delusion to catatonic.
As for being gay, I don’t think he had much of a sex drive at all. With or without meds.
As for the idea that he was put here because he was gay by some unloving family, that’s ridiculous. I don’t have time to say all the things my family tried just to make his existence somewhat peaceful just for his own sake.
My family had a couple of openly homosexual and lesbians in it even back in the sixties and with the exception of my mother’s father no one gave a shit. My uncle suffered with meds and even more without.
After forty some odd years, most of which he spent in institutions, he took his own life by way of drug overdose.
By the way, the comment about the plot twist, he never had a piano was funny because he didn’t. His seeming obsession with piano came and went as did obsessions with religion, especially the Catholic Church and government.
As far as I know he couldn’t play a lick. He was very ill at his best and a living shell at his worst. I hope that answers some questions because that’s all I have to say on the matter.
He’s been gone since the late eighties and I really hope that other members of my family don’t see this video, mostly because of the comments from people that somehow think they understand him better than the people who suffered with him.
One last thing, I think people thought that he was talking about sitting or standing effeminately or something. No, he was talking about sitting or standing motionless for hours.
Usually not even his facial expression would change but when it did it was usually related to something in his mind only.
I really can’t begin to tell you all how heartbreaking the whole thing was. He did seem intelligent and with meds he did remind me of a high functioning guy with autism I once “
Commenters on the YouTube video have given theories including:
that he was committed due to being homosexual and is highly sedated in the video
that he’s autistic
that he really is schizophrenic and his delayed responses/eye movements are signs that he is listening to the voices in his head to find the best response to the questions he’s being asked
My opinion:
Unfortunately, I tend to feel that the latter story is more likely. The first story almost feels like it was written by someone who is using this video to support the need for better or more available mental health resources. I completely agree that mental health resources should be accessible to anyone that needs it, but it just doesn’t sound like the person in the video.
That being said, a 10-minute interview is hardly enough to diagnose someone, especially since we don’t know what medications he is on or how he acts normally.
One more thing that I hadn’t seen mentioned anywhere is that the video starts with a copyright frame that says “Produced for the Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, by the Motion Picture Division, Theatre Arts Department, University of California, Los Angeles”. I think most people watching the video dismiss this as this department using their equipment to film these interviews, but is it possible that this is an actor from the Theatre Arts Department and the video is being made for School of Medicine students to use in learning how to diagnose cases?
Worldcat link
WorkLizard Link
I stumbled across this video the other day while scrolling through Facebook. It’s 10 minutes of an interview with a young man in a mental facility. The interview focuses on why he is in the hospital in the first place. Patient 18 says he’s supposed to be mentally unwell, but no one has told him how or why he has been placed there. He says he feels it’s because he is “not like other people”, and because people dislike the way he sits differently at the piano and stands differently when away from the piano.
The only “information” available online comes from the few sites that share the video, and they all say the same thing. There are 2 narratives that have been given, which are completely different from each other (pasted below). I’ll save my opinion until the end.
Story #1:
“His name is ‘Stephen E.’. He is 79 now and lives with his wife of 43 years in a peaceful setting. Here is what Stephen said:
I had multiple arrests (2 felonies) and hospitalizations on my road from crisis to regaining my independence and dignity.
If I hadn’t had a social worker;if I hadn’t had a doctor;if I hadn’t had medications, …
I would be homeless;I’d be in jail;or I’d be dead.But I’m well!
This is what happens when you:have the services;have a solution (and medication does help me.);have someone to lead you to the place you need to be in order to move forward with your life; for me it was my dad.
Around 1969 or ’70 (don’t remember), I had a psychotic ‘break’ and my dad got tired of fighting with me;I ended up walking down the street naked at night.A police officer who was ‘Crisis-Intervention trained’ picked me up.He treated me with respect.I said, ‘Don’t handcuff me; I haven’t broken the law.’He says ‘Okay.’He says ‘What kind of music do you like?’,and I said, ‘Rock and Roll!’, and he turns the radio dial until he picks up the Beatles’ ‘Let It Be’. I’ll never forget that.I remember saying ‘This is better than a taxi ride!’
…
And then I got a social worker, who led me to a good psychiatrist, who prescribed meds.
…
Then I became well;
…
I have a lovely wife, kids, and grandkids, and 1 great-grandkid!I pay taxes!;I have friends;I graduated with a Masters in Social Working;I served as a member of the ‘Intergovernmental Serious Mentally Ill and Serious Emotional Disorder Committee (ISMICC) which consists of 14 non-federal employees who are tasked with reporting annually to Congress about the state of mental health care in the nation.
I’m well!”
Story #2:
“This man was my uncle. I’m not going to give any names, but for those of you who are concerned with how things turned out for him, not well. There’s so much to address here.
First let me say that he was being treated in this video with meds. Without the medication his mood ranged from complete delusion to catatonic.
As for being gay, I don’t think he had much of a sex drive at all. With or without meds.
As for the idea that he was put here because he was gay by some unloving family, that’s ridiculous. I don’t have time to say all the things my family tried just to make his existence somewhat peaceful just for his own sake.
My family had a couple of openly homosexual and lesbians in it even back in the sixties and with the exception of my mother’s father no one gave a shit. My uncle suffered with meds and even more without.
After forty some odd years, most of which he spent in institutions, he took his own life by way of drug overdose.
By the way, the comment about the plot twist, he never had a piano was funny because he didn’t. His seeming obsession with piano came and went as did obsessions with religion, especially the Catholic Church and government.
As far as I know he couldn’t play a lick. He was very ill at his best and a living shell at his worst. I hope that answers some questions because that’s all I have to say on the matter.
He’s been gone since the late eighties and I really hope that other members of my family don’t see this video, mostly because of the comments from people that somehow think they understand him better than the people who suffered with him.
One last thing, I think people thought that he was talking about sitting or standing effeminately or something. No, he was talking about sitting or standing motionless for hours.
Usually not even his facial expression would change but when it did it was usually related to something in his mind only.
I really can’t begin to tell you all how heartbreaking the whole thing was. He did seem intelligent and with meds he did remind me of a high functioning guy with autism I once “
Commenters on the YouTube video have given theories including:
that he was committed due to being homosexual and is highly sedated in the video
that he’s autistic
that he really is schizophrenic and his delayed responses/eye movements are signs that he is listening to the voices in his head to find the best response to the questions he’s being asked
My opinion:
Unfortunately, I tend to feel that the latter story is more likely. The first story almost feels like it was written by someone who is using this video to support the need for better or more available mental health resources. I completely agree that mental health resources should be accessible to anyone that needs it, but it just doesn’t sound like the person in the video.
That being said, a 10-minute interview is hardly enough to diagnose someone, especially since we don’t know what medications he is on or how he acts normally.
One more thing that I hadn’t seen mentioned anywhere is that the video starts with a copyright frame that says “Produced for the Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, by the Motion Picture Division, Theatre Arts Department, University of California, Los Angeles”. I think most people watching the video dismiss this as this department using their equipment to film these interviews, but is it possible that this is an actor from the Theatre Arts Department and the video is being made for School of Medicine students to use in learning how to diagnose cases?