#that already has some of the worst stigma both in society and in the medical industry. most psychologists dont even believe

[swagging-back-to]

i cant wait until tiktok explodes and people stop faking having did so yhere can actually be resources for people with real dissociative disorders

[bittermedecine]

How does everyone in the group relate to this memoir?

By - Danielle Diores        

   I can relate very much to the memoir. As a person who struggles with depression and anxiety, I know very well how mental illness doesn’t have a simple cure. It is true that mental illness is a long-term mental battle no one tells you about nor can you explain to someone.

           The way Clem and Olivier explain the memoir, I wanted empathize more with them. Since I struggle with mental illness, my family or friends don’t know how I struggle with my mental battle. Mental illness is different for everyone and I admire how strong the Martini family was despite not knowing what to do to support Olivier. A family that sticks together like that  and continues to support each other is difficult to find. The struggles and the support everyone gives in the graphic memoir makes it even more inspirational on how they strong they came out of the mental battle even if the long term mental battle continue to today.

           In addition, with the informative information on schizophrenia, it made me change my opinion about it because no one talks about the truth on schizophrenia. I had no idea the struggles someone would go through and even found an interesting video of a stimulation having schizophrenia.  I understand it varies with each person but this video was enough to empathize with people who struggle with schizophrenia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr8IyNGAqlw

           Overall, I really enjoyed how personal and inspirational this graphic memoir was. It makes me glad and happy see the positive message they are spreading on mental illness to stop the stigma.

By -  Remy-Jai Barranger 

I felt that I related to Martini’s story on a deeply personal level. I’ve had my own experiences with neurological differences, and how most of the authoritative figures I’ve had throughout my life choose to perceive it in an indifferent light. Though I’ve never suffered from anything like schizophrenia, I have been diagnosed with autism, and society tends to approach it in a strikingly similar way. In this story, I am reminded of the complications I’ve had to face growing up with both the health and education systems, in that both those on the spectrum and those with mental illnesses have been massively misunderstood and ostracized by not only these systems, but also society in general. From a lot of the maltreatment from these figures, I’ve grown up with both anxiety and depression, and endless thoughts about something being wrong with me, primarily because that’s what I’ve been told for the majority of my life. Again, I can’t speak for those who are schizophrenic, or any psychiatric patient for that matter, because I haven’t experienced what it is to be mentally ill, however individuals with autism, ADD, aspergers are faced too often with very much the same sort of negligence, misunderstanding, and even abuse.

When Clem Martini referred to the concept of “Laissez-faire Health Care”, it made almost too much sense to me. “In Laissez-faire Health Care, there’s a striking difference between how psychiatric patients and patients with all other ailments are treated, … Psychiatric patients are certainly ‘let alone.’ In fact, I’d suggest that this present ‘letting alone’ by our health care system has conspired to beggar psychiatric patients…“ (Martini & Martini, 2010, p. 153) The health care system prioritizes and provides treatment to physical injuries and illnesses more than mental illnesses, and psychiatric patients, as well as many people of neurological differences. No one’s disposition should be ignored just because it can’t be physically seen or perceived, or because it’s difficult to understand.

So many people struggle to find jobs and maintain relationships with family and friends, and their needs are being neglected because they are largely marginalized by the health care system and misunderstood by the general public. What I hope will happen is that topics on mental diagnoses, conditions, and illnesses are normalized, and I hope that this memoir was able to educate people and have some kind of influence on raising awareness of the concept of neurodiversity in society.

In conclusion, this is a very informative, brilliantly constructed piece, especially in the way it highlights their personal account of mental illness and the flaws in the health care system, and I believe that perspectives like this are extremely essential to our understanding of mental health and neurology as a whole.

By - Alison Glasgow

I have mixed feelings about this graphic memoir. I found the images almost illegible, the handwritten text and the drawings themselves are very rough and it took quite an effort to decipher what they meant. As a student of illustration, it was hard to ignore this, as clear visual communication is the crux of illustration. At first this was a hurdle for me in terms of finding value in the book, but as I reflected more on the intent of the authors, it dawned on me that these shaky and unsure drawings offer insight into the schizophrenic mind of Olivier, which further enriches my understanding of his experience.

I found Clem’s prose to be blunt and at times jarring, but pleasurable to read nonetheless. I think the tone used fits perfectly with the subject matter and message of the memoir.

Clem and Olivier Martini’s graphic memoir shares a message of the importance of family understanding and support in times of crisis. They took a socially and emotionally difficult topic and transformed it into a work of art, appealing to a wider audience than, for example, an article written on the same subject.

Coincidentally, this story entered my life shortly after my best friend discovered that her sibling was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is among the most taboo mental illnesses out there because of it’s association with criminal activity. The absolute worst cases of schizophrenia are often what the media focuses on, as opposed to the many people who leave peacefully with this taxing mental condition.

Although I really enjoyed this memoir, I can’t say I would recommend it to my friend. Despite the ultimate message of hope in this story, it is overall quite grim and I wouldn’t choose to recommend this book to my friend and possibly give her the impression that this is the way life with schizophrenia goes. Clem and Olivier’s story, although I’m sure many other families have had similar experiences, is only one story about mental illness, and each family’s circumstances are unique.

So I’m left with a relatively positive impression of the book, and even though it has a valuable message to share, I wouldn’t feel comfortable sharing it with the people in my life it most closely relates to.

By - Anna Rehman

I found this memoir to be very relatable and informative, and it did a good job of describing mental illness which is a topic that’s already difficult to put into words. Olivier’s artwork also adds to the memoir and gives the story more character and a personal touch. The story hit me very personally as I have been diagnosed with mental illness myself.

The memoir puts the problems of mental illness into perspective. For example, it discusses society’s stigma of mental illness and the shortcomings in the Canadian healthcare system when it comes to mental illnesses. I have had situations where I needed medical attention for my mental illness myself, and the healthcare system doesn’t always do an adequate job of properly assessing and treating people with this type of illness as mental illness is sometimes still seen as being less important than physical illness in terms of treatment. Clem brings these issues to light to advocate for change in the healthcare system which needs to address the concerns of mental health in order to provide better treatment. This is very important because it also would help prevent suicide, which unfortunately happened in Ben’s case.

Olivier’s case also brings up the aspect of daily life for those living with mental illness and shows the difficulty in keeping a stable job and keeping positive relationships. With mental illness, every day becomes a struggle and Clem did a great job of describing what it feels like to deal with mental illness. Clem also describes how mental illness affects those around the person who has it, including family and friends, which is a topic that is often not discussed about.

Overall, Bitter Medicine effectively shows the reality of mental illness and the struggle for everyone impacted by it. I enjoyed this memoir and would recommend it to anyone dealing with mental illness, anyone who knows someone affected by it, or just anyone who would like to learn more about mental illness.

[billion-heartbeats]

I DON’T FEAR CORONA VIRUS . Dr. N. Prabhudev Former Director Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology, Bangalore Former Vice Chancellor, Bangalore University Former Chairman, Karnataka State Health Commission, Government of Karnataka The Pandemic does not rattle me: Corona will pass too! Don’t fear death from corona virus. There is more life than Death. Corona also will die. It will die its own death. Maybe it takes a few lives with it before it dies. Fast forward to now, plane trips from one city to another are less than Rs 5000/- Travel is available to the masses. This results in a sharing of germs AND a more diversely responsive, globally intelligent immune system within us. The likelihood of a sweeping Spanish Flu of 1918-1919 is not likely simply because we are being exposed to global organisms regularly due to ubiquitous travel. Corona Virus is as contagious as SARS, yet much less deadly, with a fatality rate of about 2.3 - 3.5 percent. The fatality rate of the seasonal influenza is 1-2%. symptoms are relatively mild in some people, especially those under 30 years of age, the virus is allowed to spread before being identified. It may be similarly fatal to a rate similar to the seasonal flu. We all have innate immunity to support our body and immune system and our community. I don’t mean to sound callous or promoting a false sense of invincibility. Who is affected the worst?  There are people unable to get outside to exercise or are physically compromised and unable to exercise. Those who are old who may have reduced innate immunity. Those who are malnourished may attract the virus easily. People on immunosuppressive medications for chronic inflammatory disease or post any tissue transplant, people on chemotherapy or with severe asthma are vulnerable. Those with a bad hygiene and in a filthy environment are vulnerable! 2019-nCoV had raised our awareness of personal hygiene No hand shaking! Just manage with a Namaste! virus can get directly into our nose and respiratory passages. Wash your hands with ANY kind of soap for 10-20 seconds and/or use a greater than 60% alcohol-based hand sanitizer. HAND WASHING WORKS BETTER. Cough or sneeze into a disposable tissue and discard. Then wash your hands. stay home and stay away from others if you are coughing. Take vitamin D – find your extra dose. I use 2000 iu extra daily for about 6-8 months a year. Get a flu shot. Get a BCG vaccine. It helps your innate immunity! Take vitamin C. it enhances your immunity! I realize there are advocates for even higher vitamin D levels. work to 35-45 ng/mL Vitamin D total. Take adequate vitamin A and Zinc and selenium. Take some cod liver oil. Your mucous membranes are your first line of defence against these viruses and cod liver oil helps nourish this defensive region of the lungs, sinuses and throat. Keep zinc lozenges on hand. These prevent viral replication in the mouth and throat. The metallic-tasing zinc creates an antimicrobial arena right where you want it. Each lozenge should be about 10 mg each of zinc – and you can use them 3-4 per day on day. Ensure adequate levels of iron and vitB12. As of now, don’t take the anti-malarial HCQ- Hydroxy quinolone Tabs as a prophylaxis against Corona. As yet there is no proved benefit or protection. Wait for the ICMR trial study on front line COVID19 workers and the seriously sick, to be ready sometime in June. The results will show you the way forward! Be aware that HCQ can precipitate cardiac emergencies which are often fatal. Yes, President Trump said he is taking HCQ tablets for prophylaxis. Let us leave it to his Wisdom! Fear of death Feelings are, by definition, hard to put into words. So, to accurately describe the anxiety now gripping the world is extremely challenging. “Scared” isn’t strong or nuanced enough to capture the kind of fear so many people seem to be feeling. Fear of death is universal! In the case of Coronavirus- a strange disease in a place in China none of us had ever heard of. And then, without much warning, suddenly in a few days the cloud has grown and darkened and fills the whole sky, blotting out the sun. The storm of fear is on us, ready to overwhelm us. Fear comes in many forms. It can be fear for ourselves or for our loved ones. Fear can be big or small, laughable or deadly. Fear of running out of toilet paper or fear of gasping for breath in a hospital corridor. Yes, there has never been anything in our lifetimes like the coronavirus. A global pandemic that we have no medicine is scaring the living daylights out of all of us. Being scared is normal. I’m afraid of illness and death. It’s part of being human. Fear is not wrong. It prepares you for any eventuality! But too much fear is worse and fear of death is a powerful emotion. Irrational and all-encompassing fear of the coronavirus pandemic is racking up its own body count, sometimes faster than the disease. It could fuel a toxic cycle of guilt and recrimination and tell tale suicides. Be cautious, there is a huge difference between caution and fear. Fear will weaken our resolve. It will undermine our health. Depression will sap our energy and make us partially give up. Fear can kill just as fast as any virus. Fear compromises our immunity, and depression renders us inanimate and incapable of fully responding to real threats. Live with Hope The governments of China, the United States, Iran, and Italy and India included, have all badly fumbled their responses. Some of them lying about the outbreak and punishing the whistle-blowers,  delay- in initiating screenings, isolations and lockdowns. We are guilty of waiting for president Trump to get back to USA. At times like these, people naturally want and expect a reasonable, fact-based, and fully transparent government to protect them. There are, indeed, very good reasons to be afraid. Even if the odds of each of us, dying from the coronavirus is low, everyone has friends and family in more vulnerable groups. Worrying about protecting others is one of our best and most natural instincts, and using that fear to take precautions is very important. we as a species have survived far worse calamities like the Black Plague, HIV/AIDS - which, for many years, had a 100 percent fatality rate, SARS, and H1N1 etc. Or consider traffic accidents, which kill about 1.25 million people every year yet seem to have little impact on people’s behaviour. Nine million die of other disease in India every year. We have learnt to take it as a matter of fact! Corona is feared because! No doubt, Coronavirus is a real danger. The Fear is because the coronavirus is new, invisible, sometimes deadly—and still largely unknown. Not only are we far from a vaccine, but we still don’t really know what we’re up against and how lethal the disease actually is! The coronavirus has proved particularly frightening because of the way it both embodies and exploits issues that were already provoking intense anxiety around the world: namely globalization, mass migration, and interdependence. The response should be comprehensive, leveraging the full resources of every nation it has affected. We should heed our health professionals, embrace social distancing. Take the necessary precautions, the virus will pass. What Next? The problem the government and its advisers face is that they cannot make decisions with the benefit of a hindsight - they have to react to emerging evidence. Currently, the lockdown is aimed at suppressing the spread of the virus. Once the peak has passed decisions will have to be made on bringing the society back on its heels! The virus will not simply go away, with a vaccine at least a year away the challenge will be how to manage it. A balance will need to be struck between keeping it at bay and trying to control its spread to avoid a second peak, while at the same time allowing the country to return to normal. Treatment will be found, a vaccine will be produced, markets will rebound, and life will flourish. Our medical professionals will find a vaccine. Our political leaders must ensure we have all the tests we need. And all responsible citizens must practice social distancing so as not to spread the virus, especially to the most vulnerable and elderly among us. But all of this should be done because we love life and protect souls rather than because we fear illness and are panicked by death. Actually, we are fighting two epidemics at once – an epidemic of a challenging new virus that caused illness and death, and an epidemic of fear. The first one constituted a global health crisis, which continues to this day. The second epidemic did significant damage on its own by stoking discrimination against the most affected communities. The stigma is overwhelming! It is another virus which will be conquered!

[savvyherb]

With pancreatic cancer, what Stephen needs is legalised cannabis

I was lying face down when I first heard about Stephen Schulman. I’d been feeling sorry for myself, complaining of an aching wrist and back – the vestiges of an age-inappropriate roller skating accident – while my massage therapist Elisa worked to soothe my pain.

Eventually, our conversation turned to her friend Stephen. At only 41, just months after marrying the love of his life, Stephen had gone to the doctor complaining of stomach pains and the inability to keep anything down. He reemerged with a diagnosis: stage-3 pancreatic cancer, inoperable due to a very large tumor wrapping itself around a major artery in his abdomen.

In essence, a death sentence.

Elisa had been buying Stephen sublingual CBD oil – $89 for one ounce – because it proved to be the only thing effectively alleviating the tingling and numbness that had recently consumed his fingers and toes. He and his husband Wade’s savings had been bled dry by their $2,400 per month insurance premium plus general expenses. Stephen is unable to work since his life has become a blur of excruciating pain, treatments, hope, fear, and heavy doses of opioids like fentanyl and oxycodone.

Stephen first heard about the reported pain relief benefits of medical marijuana and CBD oil for cancer patients a year into his treatment. When he asked his doctors about applying for a medical marijuana card, their reluctance confused him. Still, he persisted and when he started using both, he found they controlled his symptoms as well or, in some cases, better than opioids. He also found out that no insurance company covers their high costs.

As Elisa told me Stephen’s story, I considered how the small discomforts I’d come in with made it harder for me to get around in the day or to sleep well at night. How they made me feel irritable and fragile. And how I could pay a negligible amount of money to a lovely woman to help soothe them for me. My ailments were absolutely nothing by comparison to Stephen’s, yet what he needs is elusive at best, prohibited at worst.

Politicians have been embroiled in contentious debates for years about the morality and logistics of legalizing medical marijuana despite reputable studies, like the RAND study, which supports its efficacy. In the meantime, people like Stephen suffer.

I decided to document Stephen’s life because his story had something valuable to remind us all about the gap between the abstract moralizing of politicians and the needs of the people they represent.

These pictures were taken between January and August 2019.

.

Wade is a freelance hairstylist. Once in a while, he sits Stephen down in the chair in his home salon and treats him to a haircut, shave and facial mask.

.

Stephen remembers clearly what it felt like to be diagnosed: “It just hits you like a ton of bricks: ‘Everything is about to change.’ Your life is going to be about doing chemo, radiation, things you wouldn’t normally do and it’s going to be a hard, uphill battle.”

.

Wade adds Osmolite formula, a therapeutic nutrition for patients with increased calorie and protein needs, to a drip every other night to help Stephen maintain a healthy weight. The procedure takes eight hours and is very uncomfortable. Lack of appetite and nausea leading to unhealthy weight loss are common for pancreatic patients. The use of medical marijuana has helped Stephen greatly with these symptoms.

Artist Jason Naylor, whose self described mission is to “spread color and positivity across the globe,” heard about Stephen’s plight through social media and made him the “Love” painting, which he hand delivered to the couple, that hangs above Stephen and Wade’s bed.

Overwhelmed by medical expenses, Stephen and Wade accepted the offer of a friend to set up a GoFundMe page for them.

“We have to lean on each other, trust one another, and be up front about how we’re doing and feeling every single day,” Stephen says of his relationship. “There’s no way I would have been able to get through this diagnosis without Wade. I appreciate him more every day. I know that sounds corny, but it’s true.”

Clyde, one of the couple’s two cats, the other is Bonnie (both male), watches as Stephen tries on his kickboxing gloves. Kickboxing was something Stephen enjoyed with friends before his diagnoses when he was 40 pounds heavier. Now, there are some days he’s too weak to get out of bed.

Stephen describes the current state of his disease; “Stage 3-pancreatic cancer without the possibility of the Whipple procedure because of the placement of the tumor. They do a CT scan every three months and determine the next steps based on those results. A very risky surgery – I believe it’s only performed by one doctor in the US at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota – is my only option and we’re hoping to make that happen. But insurance has, so far, refused to pay for it or the chemotherapy I’ll need beforehand, and it is astronomically expensive.”

“It makes me smile a little to wear fun, colorful socks,” Stephen says in reference to the “cock socks” he wears to physical therapy.

“I think it’s funny,” Stephen remarks, “that in America you’re able to buy alcohol, which is known to cause all these problems, but CBD oil and medical marijuana are more regulated and looked down upon. It’s sad because they’ve definitely helped me immensely.”

In New York State, medication comes primarily in the form of pills, vapes, oils and lotions. Dispensaries can’t distribute edibles because it’s much harder to control the doses a patient receives in them. Every dose at Columbia Care New York is consistent and titrated, meaning it’s increased, if need be, slowly over time.

dr reed

Tricia Reed, PharmD, Columbia Care New York’s lead pharmacist, describes the purported benefits of some of their products.

“High THC products are good for nausea, vomiting, and severe pain, giving more of an opiate-type pain relief. THC is a good muscle relaxer and helps with sleep. CBD is a great anti- inflammatory, works well for nerve pain, and is an anti-convulsant so it’s good for seizures.

Every dose has to deliver the exact milligram per milliliter as prescribed. Each time you take an inhalation from the vapor, it gives you a specific mg.”

When a patient visits Columbia Care for the first time, they meet with a pharmacist who takes them through a full consultation to determine what products they may respond to best.

“In the higher THC products,” Reed explains, “there can be a euphoric feeling which might not be so bad for patients going through a hard time. It’s similar to the side effects you’d get from other meds like Valium. I encourage patients to think of it that way. It’s just a side effect similar to those of other medications they may have already taken. There is still that sense of taboo or stigma that goes along with marijuana. A lot of what we’ve been trying to do is to de-stigmatize it.

Rosemary Mazanet, an oncologist by original training, is chief scientific officer for Columbia Care. “When I think about the disconnect between the enormous promise that cannabis products bring and the fact that there’s such an air about it that makes it tawdry, it comes down to the fact that it’s federally illegal.”

She adds: “In the state of Massachusetts, where I live, the Massachusetts Medical Society sent a letter to doctors stating that they could recommend cannabis when it was made legal there, but that they were at risk for losing their license. ‘We don’t know what will happen, but the federal government may take action’, the letter essentially said. We do know that physicians at any hospital that’s federally funded will be terminated if they recommend medical marijuana to a patient. That’s made physicians understandably very reluctant. I do get angry because this should be easy and it’s not. We need to fix it!”

“Cancer is a mind fuck,” Wade says. “You’re hit with devastating and debilitating news that your loved one’s life has an expiration date and you realize your own powerlessness and that begins to take its toll on your spirit. All you can do is try to remember that love is the greatest gift you can give anyone.”

“Every day is a waiting game, praying for the best,” Stephen muses. “It’s very scary, but I try to remain positive and think that if the tumor does grow, I’ll just have to fight it and try to remain strong. I have no other choice.”

The post With pancreatic cancer, what Stephen needs is legalised cannabis appeared first on Savvy Herb Mobile Cannabis Platform.

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[digitallydysfunctional]

Social Media And Its Effect On Mental Health.

Digitally Dysfunctional Investigates.

disclaimer: this post is longer than the others and will touch on sensitive materials. If you chose to read, please proceed with caution and if you feel affected please stop reading and seek help.

thank you.

Mental Health is a serious topic in today’s society as mental illness have become more and more common. So common that 1 in 5 Australians between the ages of 16 to 85 (20%) experience a mental illness in any year. 

When it comes to social media, the role social media platforms play in relation to mental health/illnesses can be see as both negative and positive.

In some cases social media can have a positive impact, however there are also instances where social media can make mental health matters worst.

This post will be looking at some of the negatives and positives when it comes to mental health and social media.

But lets be honest here, ain’t nobody got time to list them all so we are just some of the most prominent reasons. 

What are the negatives?

One negative is the fact that it can be argued that social media both furthers and facilitates mental illnesses such as depression, eating disorders and more through their platforms.

By providing a platform for mental illnesses to thrive, people online can now come together and sometimes instead of helping each other for the better, encourage negative and unhealthy lifestyles.

Tumblr is a perfect example of facilitating negative mental health in some cases. Everyone knows that there are two sides to this platform. The innocent, girlish, giggly, aesthetic happy-go lucky side, and then the emo, graphic, sexual, “i wanna die” side.

Tumblr is basically a teenage girl going through the monthly cycle. 

There are definitely two sides of her.

The “dark” side of tumblr holds an online community of people who share a common interest/trait of mental illnesses. People come together and share their mental illness stories while proving each other with emotional support. And while this may be good, in some cases rather than helping it does the opposite.

“Support” isn't what is really being offered.

Pro-Ana is an example of social media facilitating negative contributions towards mental health.

Pro-Ana is short for Pro anorexia, and are groups of people who see anorexia (an eating disorder) as a lifestyle rather than a medical condition. They come together and use tumblr as a place to share tips on how to lose weight through un-orthodox ways.

This can be seen as one of the negatives of social media in relation to mental health, as it acts like a platform for these types of mental illnesses to form and thrive.

Another negative is the idea of “perfection”.

In today’s society social media has created a world in which people can share their lives through a series of pictures, tweets and status updates. Users can share their lives with a click of the button, having the choice to show as much or as little of themselves as they like.

Celebrities showcase a “perfect” life with photoshopped pictures, while others online create an online social identity- different from their true selves.

These type of “perfect” posts can damage people’s perception of themselves. Especially when users look up to celebrities who seem flawless. Evidence has shown that young teenagers will tend to physically compare themselves to others online.

Both young men and women can develop body image issues due not feeling good enough. Receiving likes for looking “good” gives of these idea of achievement and popularity, which negatively impacts users sense of self worth. 

Collecting “likes” and followers provides an immediate marker of achievement and popularity. This feed directly into users’ sense of self-worth. Viewing “perfect” images can increase women’s body dissatisfaction as they compare their own bodies to thin and lean ones (the type of body society deems good enough).

It’s amazing what people can hide behind a photo. People may seem like the life of the party in a post, but in some cases can be far from it. Basically, most people online have a secret identity and no one ever really knows someone completely.

What are the positives?

Yes, there are some benefits when it comes to social media and mental health. Social media offers the opportunity for people with poor mental health to better their own health care through social media platforms. 

Social media brings a “new dimension” to health care as people use platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to improve their mental health and seek help.

The first positive of social media in relation to mental health is that it increases interactions with others, and finds/create communities that offer support.

*shock horror* 

But yes if you didn’t gather already social media connects people from anywhere together. Not only that but these health communities that form and interact can offer each other emotional and peer support.

While some may be negative like Pro-Ana groups on tumblr, others can be more positive like One in Four which is a Facebook page that shares quotes and resources around mental health with a particular focus on depression.

One in Four look particularly at aiming to reduce the stigma and negative connotations surrounding mental illnesses. Currently there is 78 members in the closed group, but there are many other pages who have the same focus.

People in these group come to seek help, gain support and feel like they’re not alone.

Social media has also enabled mental health facilities to connect with people with depression easier.

For example, Beyond Blue have an Instagram page that contains all their contact information, information and mental health awareness posts. Users can also comment on posts or send a direct message for further information or questions.

These type of pages are good as they focus on helping those with poor mental health rather than encouraging it like some.

Yes that was some well deserved shade. In simpler terms, One in Four and Beyond Blue - good, Pro-Anna - bad.

Another positive of social media is that it can create awareness and act as a promotional tool in fundraising for Health Campaigns.

A great example is the #HereForYou Campaign on Instagram that took place in 2017. Instagram used to campaign to bring both awareness and to highlight the important of understanding mental health in the online community. 

The campaign emphasised and brought attention to people in the Instagram community who are helping others by sharing their own stories of struggle. Social media allowed for this campaign to spread as people from the around the world began to participate and tell their own stories.

It was a great thing to see. Social media has truly become a powerful tool in today’s society. In this case it brought people together, and raised awareness at the same time.

A definite positive if I do say so myself. 

Just to confirm, that translates to “hell yeah it is”.

Anyway, before I end this post I just want to remind everyone on here that it is okay to not be okay. Life sometimes sucks, but you’re never alone. 

If you need to help i’ve provided some really good Australian help lines below! Speak up, and seek help. Everyone deserves to be happy.

Screenshot of different helplines taken from the Health Direct Website.

[khalilhumam]

The Indirect Health Effects of COVID-19: The Challenges of Living through a Pandemic

New Post has been published on http://khalilhumam.com/the-indirect-health-effects-of-covid-19-the-challenges-of-living-through-a-pandemic/

The Indirect Health Effects of COVID-19: The Challenges of Living through a Pandemic

As we enter month six of the coronavirus pandemic, more reports emerge of the indirect health effects of the pandemic. While some countries around the world begin to ease or lift lockdowns, others are preparing for a second wave with reintroduction of lockdowns and travel restrictions. Our previous blogs on the indirect health effects of COVID-19 show the pandemic has created additional barriers for patients accessing essential care through restrictions on movement, lack of service provision, stigma, impoverishment from loss of livelihoods, and avoidance of care due to concerns over contracting the virus. This blog highlights the impact of living through a pandemic on mental health, including worsening substance abuse disorders, and on nutrition and access to primary health care. As readers of earlier posts in this series know, we have built an open-access inventory of accounts of indirect health effects of COVID-19 to support researchers working to quantify these impacts and devise pragmatic approaches to minimising them. We are posting regular snapshots such as this one to broadcast some of the reports captured in our inventory. Rather than a comprehensive overview, we aim to give a horizontal view of the indirect impact of COVID-19 around the world, showing the complex and fast-changing nature of the pandemic.

Health areas

Non-communicable diseases

Cases of cholera have drastically increased in the last few months in Yemen owing to a drop of around 50 percent in the number of people seeking treatment, due to coronavirus. Oxfam and UNICEF report that Yemen is now facing the worst cholera outbreak in modern times, with 110,000 cases between January and April this year.

Immunisation

The South African Department of Health reports that national immunisation coverage in South Africa dropped from 82 percent in April 2019 to 61 percent in April 2020, when South Africa was at its highest level of lockdown. Of most concern is the sharp decrease in the coverage rate of the second dose of measles vaccine, from 77 percent in April last year to 55 percent in April this year.

Nutrition

In a study in Obesity Society, Lim and co-authors find that in South Korea, there has been an observed a change in dietary patterns towards unhealthy foods, as well as a marked increase in time spent sedentary during the COVID-19 pandemic. Causes include increased dependence on food delivery services, which increased 66 percent, and economic disruptions causing households to increase consumption of cheaper, more unhealthy foods.

Primary health care

A longitudinal study by Siedner and co-authors finds that in rural South Africa, access to primary healthcare services has changed during lockdown. While there was no significant change in total clinic visits a day from prior to the lockdown, there was a reduction in child healthcare visits during lockdown, both in children younger than one and in children one to five years old. In contrast, when lockdown was lifted, there was an immediate increase in HIV visits.

Maternal and reproductive health

A new study in The Lancet demonstrates that the COVID-19 outbreak has decreased the number of women giving birth in hospital by 43.2 percent. The study also shows a significantly increased in-hospital mortality among pregnant women and late intrauterine foetal death and stillbirth after the lockdown period, when compared with the pre-lockdown period.

Mental health

The mental health of populations who have implemented lockdowns has been shown to be worsening in a recent study in The Lancet. Brooks and co-authors conducted a literature review of quarantine situations that shows that prolonged confinement is related to psychological damage that can last for months after the end of lockdown periods. They find that the stresses of a quarantine should be mitigated by officials providing accurate and timely information to the population, adequate resources, and special attention to healthcare workers. Increased cases of substance abuse have been reported in countries affected by COVID-19, in particular where lockdowns have been implemented. In the US, states like Kentucky have reported there has been signs of a significant increase in opioid overdoses during the COVID-19 pandemic, from emergency medical services data in Kentucky, US.

Various

Healthcare utilisation trends

Many countries have reported drops in healthcare utilisation throughout the lockdown, and India is no different. PM-JAY, the national health insurance scheme in India, has shown a decline in average weekly claim volume of 51 percent during the 10-week lockdown period compared to the 12 weeks preceding lockdown, but with wide variation across states and procedure type.

Tracking impact in the US

As cases in the US continue to increase, a team from Harvard and Brown universities have built a real-time economic tracker to measure the economic impacts of COVID-19 on people, businesses, and communities across the US. The data is sourced from credit card processors, payroll firms, and financial services firms, and includes statistics on consumer spending, employment rates, business revenues, job postings, and other key indicators.

Homelessness

A new paper from VanderWeele discusses the difficulty in simply using current total excess mortality rates as an impact of COVID on mortality as it is insufficient to show the mortality consequences of unemployment, isolation, and depression that are yet to manifest.

In good news...

Our previous blog reported influenza rates have shown positive declines in Singapore, and it appears that fighting COVID-19 achieved similar significant reductions of severe influenza in Taiwan. Chan and co-authors report that data from Taiwan CDC has shown a reduced influenza and a reduced death toll from pneumonia after the establishment of disease prevention measures to fight the COVID-19 outbreak. Stay tuned for more on the indirect health effects of COVID-19, and please do get in touch by email (lregan@cgdev.org), Twitter, or in the comments section of this post if you have resources or news that you would like to see included in our inventory. Our thanks to those of you who have already contributed—please continue to share!

[learningrendezvous]

Women's Studies

ALL WE'VE GOT

By Alexis Clements

ALL WE'VE GOT is a personal exploration of LGBTQI women's communities, cultures, and social justice work through the lens of the physical spaces they create, from bars to bookstores to arts and political hubs.

Social groups rely on physical spaces to meet and build connections, step outside oppressive social structures, avoid policing and violence, share information, provide support, and organize politically. Yet, in the past decade, more than 100 bars, bookstores, art and community spaces where LGBTQI women gather have closed. In ALL WE'VE GOT, filmmaker Alexis Clements travels the country to explore the factors driving the loss of these spaces, understand why some are able to endure, and to search for community among the ones that remain. From a lesbian bar in Oklahoma; to the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center in San Antonio run by queer Latinas; to the WOW Cafe Theatre in New York; to the public gatherings organized by the Trans Ladies Picnics around the US and beyond; to the Lesbian Herstory Archives in Brooklyn, the film takes us into diverse LGBTQI spaces and shines a light on why having a place to gather matters. Ultimately, ALL WE'VE GOT is a celebration of the history and resilience of the LGBTQI community and the inclusive spaces they make, as well as a call to action to continue building stronger futures for all communities.

DVD (Color) / 2019 / 67 minutes

I AM THE REVOLUTION

By Benedetta Argentieri

I AM THE REVOLUTION is an empowering portrait of three determined women in the Middle East who are leading the fight for gender equality and freedom. Politician Selay Ghaffar is one of the most wanted people in the world by the Taliban and yet she still travels through Afghanistan to educate other women about their rights. Rojda Felat is a commander of the Syrian Democratic Army, leading 60,000 troops to defeat ISIS, including freeing their hold on Raqqa and rescuing its people. And Yanar Mohammed, named by the BBC as one of 100 most influential women in the world in 2018, pushes for parliamentary reform in Iraq while running shelters for abused women. Despite battling seemingly overwhelming obstacles, all three women display resilience, bravery and compassion. I AM THE REVOLUTION challenges the images of veiled, silent women in the Middle East and instead reveals the extraordinary strength of women rising up on the front lines to claim their voice and their rights.

DVD (English, Arabic, Kurdish, Pashtun, Color) / 2019 / 72 minutes

93QUEEN

By Paula Eiselt

93QUEEN follows Rachel "Ruchie" Freier, a no-nonsense Hasidic lawyer and mother of six who is determined to shake up the boys club in her Hasidic community by creating Ezras Nashim, the first all-female ambulance corps in NYC.

In the Hasidic enclave of Borough Park, Brooklyn, EMS corps have long been the province of men. Though the neighborhood is home to the largest volunteer ambulance corps in the world known as Hatzolah, that organization has steadfastly banned women from its ranks. Now Ruchie and an engaging cast of dogged Hasidic women are risking their reputations, and the futures of their children, by taking matters into their own hands to provide dignified emergency medical care to the Hasidic women and girls of Borough Park. In a society where most women don't drive-and a few minutes can mean the difference between life and death-how do female EMTs transport themselves to the scene of an emergency? And how does Ezras Nashim combat a behemoth like Hatzolah, which possesses political clout throughout New York City?

With unprecedented and exclusive access, 93QUEEN follows the formation and launch of Ezras Nashim through the organization's first year on the ground. We witness the highs and lows of creating an organization against incredible odds, as well as the women's struggles to "have it all" as wives and mothers. And in the midst of this already ground-breaking endeavor, Ruchie announces that she had decided to take her burgeoning feminism even further when she enters the race for civil court judge in Brooklyn's 5th Municipal Court District. Through it all, we see Ruchie and the other women grappling to balance their faith with their nascent feminism, even as they are confronted by the patriarchal attitudes that so dominate Hasidic society. As Ruchie observes, while making dinner at 3 a.m., "I sometimes wonder why God created me a woman. If I'd have been born a Hasidic man, I don't think I would have half the problems I have."

DVD (Color) / 2018 / 90 minutes

COUNCILWOMAN

By Margo Guernsey

COUNCILWOMAN is the inspiring story of Carmen Castillo, an immigrant Dominican housekeeper in a Providence hotel who wins a seat in City Council, taking her advocacy for low-income workers from the margins to city politics.

The film follows Castillo's first term as she balances her full-time day job as a housekeeper with her family life and the demands of public office. She faces skeptics who say she doesn't have the education to govern, the power of corporate interests who take a stand against her fight for a $15 hourly wage, and a tough re-election against two contenders. As Castillo battles personal setbacks and deep-rooted notions of who is qualified to run for political office, she fiercely defends her vision of a society in which all people can earn enough to support themselves and their families.

An eye-opening look at entrenched power in American democracy, COUNCILWOMAN is essential viewing for Latinx, Immigrant, Political Science and Labor Studies courses.

DVD (English, Spanish, Color) / 2018 / 57 minutes

HOME TRUTH

By April Hayes and Katia Maguire

Filmed over the course of nine years, HOME TRUTH chronicles one family's pursuit of justice, shedding light on how our society responds to domestic violence and how the trauma from domestic violence tragedies can linger throughout generations.

In 1999, Colorado mother Jessica Gonzales experienced every parent's worst nightmare when her three young daughters were killed after being abducted by their father in violation of a domestic violence restraining order. Devastated, Jessica sued her local police department for failing to adequately enforce her restraining order despite her repeated calls for help that night. Determined to make sure her daughters did not die in vain, Jessica pursued her case to the US Supreme Court and an international human rights tribunal, seeking to strengthen legal rights for domestic violence victims. When her legal journey finally achieved widespread national change and she became an acclaimed activist, Jessica struggled to put her life and relationships back together.

DVD (Color) / 2018 / 72 minutes

LOVESICK

By Ann S. Kim & Priya Giri Desai

In India, where marriage is a must but AIDS carries a stigma, what are HIV-positive people to do?

After discovering India's first case of HIV in 1986, Dr. Suniti Solomon left a prestigious academic post to found India's premier HIV/AIDS clinic. Twenty-five years later, India now produces its own anti-retroviral medications, enabling Dr. Solomon's to patients live longer - and face the pressure to marry. At the age if seventy-two, and in the twilight of her bold and unconventional career, Dr. Solomon has taken on a new role: marriage matchmaker. Like other Indian matchmakers, Dr. Solomon matches by religion, education, and income; but she also matches by white blood cell counts and viral loads. For her, this isn't just about romance - it is a way to stem the spread of HIV and fight stigma.

LOVESICK interweaves Dr. Solomon's personal and professional journeys with the lives of two patients: Karthik, a reticent bachelor, and Manu who, like many women in India, was infected by her first husband. As Karthik and Manu search for love, they learn how to survive under the shadow of HIV. Shot over eight years and told with humor and compassion, LOVESICK is a surprising and hopeful story about the universal desire for love.

DVD (English, Tamil, Hindi, Color) / 2018 / 74 minutes

MARCELINE. A WOMAN. A CENTURY

By Cordelia Dvorak

MARCELINE. A WOMAN. A CENTURY is a fascinating portrait of the persevering French filmmaker, writer, and Holocaust survivor Marceline Loridan-Ivens (1928-2018).

Marceline was only 15 when both she and her father, a Polish Jew from Lodz, were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. She survived but her father didn't, and Marceline had to find radical and unconventional ways to heal after the tragedies of the war. In 1961, she appeared in Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin's landmark film Chronicle of a Summer, which gave birth to the term cinema verite. Later she married the legendary Dutch documentary director Joris Ivens, traveled with him to Vietnam, and co-directed films such as 17th Parallel: Vietnam in War (1968) and How Yukong Moved the Mountains (1976).

Filmed as she was nearing 90 years old and living in Paris, MARCELINE. A WOMAN. A CENTURY spans the broad arc of her life from Holocaust survivor to political activist to combatively critical filmmaker. Looking back on the momentous events she experienced and filmed such as the Algerian and Vietnam Wars and the Chinese Cultural Revolution, MARCELINE is a thought-provoking chronicle of a remarkable witness of the 20th century.

DVD (French, Color, Closed Captioned) / 2018 / 58 minutes

PRIMAS

By Laura Bari

PRIMAS is an evocative and poetic portrait of two Argentine teenage cousins who come of age together as they overcome the heinous acts of violence that interrupted their childhoods.

When Rocio was 10 years old, she was dragged from her bike by a stranger, raped, set on fire and left for dead. Now a teenager, she still grapples with memories of the nightmarish assault that left her body scarred. Together with her cousin Aldana, who was sexually abused for years by her own father, she lives, laughs and shares her story. Traveling through Argentina and Montreal, the two cousins embark upon a program of theater, dance, and circus that helps them process complex emotions. Little by little, they manage to rebuild the lives that were so brutally stolen from them and free themselves from the shadows of their past.

A humanistic exploration of familial love, creativity, and courage in the wake of sexual violence, PRIMAS is a moving tribute to the deep strength of resilient women.

DVD (Color, Spanish) / 2018 / 95 minutes

REST I MAKE UP, THE

By Michelle Memran

The visionary Cuban-American dramatist and educator Maria Irene Fornes spent her career constructing astonishing worlds onstage and teaching countless students how to connect with their imaginations. When she gradually stops writing due to dementia, an unexpected friendship with filmmaker Michelle Memran reignites her spontaneous creative spirit and triggers a decade-long collaboration that picks up where the pen left off.

The duo travels from New York to Havana, Miami to Seattle, exploring the playwright's remembered past and their shared present. Theater luminaries such as Edward Albee, Ellen Stewart, Lanford Wilson, and others weigh in on Fornes's important contributions. What began as an accidental collaboration becomes a story of love, creativity, and connection that persists even in the face of forgetting.

DVD (Color) / 2018 / 79 minutes

THOUSAND GIRLS LIKE ME, A

By Sahra Mani

A THOUSAND GIRLS LIKE ME is an awe-inspiring verite documentary that tells the story of a young Afghan woman's fight for justice after experiencing years of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her father.

Khatera Golzad was brutally raped by her father for thirteen years, resulting in numerous pregnancies, most of which ended in forced abortions. But two reached full term. Despite her many attempts to file charges, neither the Afghan police nor the legal system helped her. In 2014, she appeared on national television to publicly accuse her father, finally succeeding in bringing her case to court despite threats from male relatives and judges who labelled her a liar.

A THOUSAND GIRLS LIKE ME sheds light on the broken Afghan judicial system and the women it seldom protects. In a country where the systematic abuse of girls is rarely discussed, Afghan filmmaker Sahra Mani presents a story of one woman's battle against cultural, familial, and legal pressures as she embarks on a mission to set a positive example for her daughter and other girls like her.

DVD (Color) / 2018 / 52 minutes

YOURS IN SISTERHOOD

By Irene Lusztig

YOURS IN SISTERHOOD is a performative, participatory documentary inspired by the breadth and complexity of letters that were sent in the 1970s to the editor of Ms.- America's first mainstream feminist magazine. The film documents hundreds of strangers from around the U.S. who were invited to read aloud and respond to these letters written by women, men and children from diverse backgrounds. Collectively, the letters feel like an encyclopedia of both the 70s and the women's movement- an almost literal invocation of the second-wave feminist slogan "the personal is political." The intimate, provocative, and sometimes heartbreaking conversations that emerge from these performances invite viewers to think about the past, present, and future of feminism.

DVD (Color) / 2018 / 101 minutes

BREAST ARCHIVES, THE

Director: Meagan Murphy

Real women reveal their breasts and uncover personal truths in this gently provocative documentary exploring embodiment, womanhood, and the power of being seen.

The Breast Archives features nine women's personal stories of empowerment. Baring their breasts and their hearts, the women share the unique journeys they've made with their bodies, from their formative years of hiding, shame, and disconnection to adulthood and the discovery of what it means to be a powerful woman. As the women slowly reconnect with their body-based stories they find a reservoir of strength and wisdom that lies within their breasts.

DVD / 2017 / 57 minutes

FEMINISTA: A JOURNEY TO THE HEART OF FEMINISM IN EUROPE

By Myriam Fougere

FEMINISTA is a lively and inspiring feminist road movie that explores the largely unrecognized yet hugely vibrant pan European feminist movement. Filmmaker Myriam Fougere joined an international group of young feminists who were traveling across twenty countries - from Turkey to Portugal, by the way of the Balkans, to Italy, Spain and Portugal - to make connections and unite forces with other women. She witnessed these determined activists participating in political gatherings, supporting homegrown local feminist struggles, exchanging strategies, and inventing new ways to resist and fight for change. Revealing how feminism is transmitted from one generation to another, FEMINISTA provides a rare glimpse into a widespread feminist groundswell movement, possibly one of the largest and unrecognized mass political movements that is very much alive and well throughout Europe today.

DVD (Color) / 2017 / 60 minutes

TRACKING EDITH

Director: Peter Stephan Jungk

When she wasn't working as a Soviet agent, she was taking photos of workers and street children in Vienna and London, documenting poverty and social deprivation. Being a secret agent doesn't seem to have come naturally to the photographer Edith Tudor-Hart. But she did manage to recruit Kim Philby, and act as one of the architects of the Cambridge Five, the Soviet Union's most successful spy ring in Great Britain.

Edith was director Peter Stephan Jungk's great aunt, his mother's cousin; in Tracking Edith he tries to unravel the truth about his great aunt's life - a spy with a conscience and hidden family secrets.

DVD / 2017 / 92 minutes

SPEED SISTERS

Director: Amber Fares

The Speed Sisters are the first all-woman race car driving team in the Middle East. Grabbing headlines and turning heads at improvised tracks across the West Bank, these five women have sped their way into the heart of the gritty, male-dominated Palestinian street car-racing scene. Weaving together their lives on and off the track, Speed Sisters takes you on a surprising journey into the drive to go further and faster than anyone thought you could.

DVD (Arabic and English with English subtitles) / 2016 / 80 minutes

HARPER LEE: FROM MOCKINGBIRD TO WATCHMAN

Director: Mary McDonagh Murphy

To everyone's surprise, fifty-five years after the publication of "To Kill a Mockingbird" Harper Lee is publishing another novel. "Go Set a Watchman" was written before Lee's beloved masterpiece, as director Mary McDonagh Murphy explains in this update of her 2011 documentary Hey Boo: Harper Lee and "To Kill a Mockingbird". Murphy's Harper Lee: From Mockingbird to Watchman brings the story up-to-date as it sifts through the facts and speculation surrounding Lee and both her novels, and includes interviews with Lee's older sister, close friends, and literary admirers, from Oprah Winfrey to Wally Lamb.

DVD / 2015 / 82 minutes

ALTINA

Director: Peter Sanders

Altina is the provocative portrait of an American trendsetter whose free spirit defied convention. A woman ahead of her time, Altina Schinasi was born in 1907 in New York City; the daughter of a tobacco tycoon and decedent of Sephardic Jews, she upended the expectations that accompanied her position. Altina was a paradox: simultaneously seductive and reserved, her genteel upbringing was in sharp contrast to the bold sexuality of her art and her life.

In addition to creating whimsical works of art and sculpture, Altina invented the glamorous Harlequin 'cat's-eye' eyeglasses, worn by the likes of Lucille Ball and Peggy Guggenheim, and as well directed an Oscar-nominated documentary about Nazi brutality told through the drawings of German expressionist artist George Grosz. Altina's life was anchored in the social and political issues of the time: helping Jewish refugees escape the Holocaust; providing aid and shelter to friends who were targeted by Joseph McCarthy's Un-American Activities campaign; and being involved early on in the struggles of Martin Luther King Jr.

Directed by her grandson Peter Sanders, the film captures this unpredictable woman whose bold, uninhibited passion for life is an inspiration for all.

DVD / 2014 / 80 minutes

I AM FEMEN

Director: Alain Margot

They are known around the world as the topless female activists who fight corrupt and patriarchal political systems. Their weapon of choice is their bodies- which they place front and center in protests around the streets of Kiev, where the group began, and all across Europe.

Oksana Shachko is FEMEN's creative backbone. As a teenager, her fascination with religious painting led her to consider entering a convent, but in the end she used her many talents to create FEMEN and devoted herself to a life of activism.

With I am FEMEN, director Alain Margot paints a portrait of the bewitching and many-faceted Oksana, while also revealing the stories of the brave young women around her who put their bodies on the front line in the fight for justice and equality.

DVD (Russian and French with English Subtitles) / 2014 / 94 minutes

ANITA: SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER

Director: Freida Mock

An entire country watched transfixed as a poised, beautiful African-American woman in a blue dress sat before a Senate committee of 14 white men and with a clear, unwavering voice recounted the repeated acts of sexual harassment she had endured while working with U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. That October day in 1991 Anita Hill, a bookish law professor from Oklahoma, was thrust onto the world stage and instantly became a celebrated, hated, venerated, and divisive figure. She has become an American icon, empowering millions of women and men around the world to stand up for equality and justice.

Against a backdrop of sex, politics, and race, ANITA reveals the intimate story of a woman who spoke truth to power. Directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Freida Mock, the film is both a celebration of Anita Hill's legacy and a rare glimpse into her private life with friends and family, many of whom were by her side that fateful day 22 years ago. Anita Hill courageously speaks openly and intimately for the first time about her experiences that led her to testify before the Senate and the obstacles she faced in simply telling the truth. Anita Hill's graphic testimony was a turning point for gender equality in the U.S. and ignited a political firestorm about sexual misconduct and power in the workplace that resonates still today.

DVD / 2013 / 77 minutes

HALF THE ROAD

Director: Kathryn Bertine

Half the Road is a documentary film that explores the world of women's professional cycling, focusing on both the love of the sport and the pressing issues of inequality that modern-day female riders face in a male dominated sport. With footage from some of the world's top UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) races to interviews with Olympians, World Champions, coaches, and managers, Half the Road offers a unique insight into the drive, dedication and passion it takes for a female cyclist to thrive.

The documentary highlights significant inequalities that separate men's and women's professional cycling including: shorter race's than men's events, lower prize money granted to female winners, a lack of union or standardized salary to support female pros, factors which limit the length and success of professional female cyclist's careers. These institutionalized pitfalls demonstrate the shortcomings of Title IX and similar legislation and explores how women can achieve equality, support, and equal pay with their male cycling counterparts.

DVD / 2013 / 106 minutes

MERCEDES SOSA: THE VOICE OF LATIN AMERICA

Director: Rodrigo H. Vila

In 1960s, prior to her fame and international acclaim, Mercedes Sosa defied expectations by drafting, together with four other young musicians, the "Manifesto del Nuevo Cancionero" ("The New Songbook Manifesto"). How did this manifesto make an impact on youth culture in Argentina and future generations of Latin Americans? How much did the "Nuevo Cancionero" influence the development of the "Nueva Trova Cubana," the folk-music revolution driven by its message of social and political change? How did Sosa's ideology affect the politics of both emerging and developed countries? Apart from the millions of records she sold, the thousands of international concerts, her countless fans and detractors, Mercedes Sosa left behind an indelible legacy, an ideal that has not become a reality yet but which keeps pushing forward. Mercedes Sosa, The Voice of Latin America is an intimate and informative journey into the world of a ground-breaking artist and activist.

DVD (English, Spanish, Portuguese and French with English Subtitles) / 2013 / 93 minutes

PINK RIBBONS, INC.

Director: Lea Pool

The ubiquitous pink ribbons of breast cancer philanthropy - and the hand-in-hand marketing of brands and products associated with that philanthropy - permeates our culture, providing assurance that we are engaged in a successful battle against this insidious disease. But the campaign obscures the reality and facts of breast cancer - more and more women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year, and face the same treatment options they did 40 years ago. Yet women are also the most influential market group, buying 80 percent of consumer products and making most major household purchasing decisions. So then who really benefits from the pink ribbon campaigns - the cause or the company? And what if the very companies and products that profit from their association have actually contributed to the problem?

In showing the real story of breast cancer and the lives of those who fight it, Pink Ribbons, Inc. reveals the co-opting of what marketing experts have labeled a "dream cause."

DVD-R / 2012 / 98 minutes

GIRL MODEL

Directors: David Redmon & Ashley Sabin

Despite a lack of obvious similarities between Siberia and Tokyo, a thriving model industry connects these distant regions. Girl Model follows two protagonists involved in this industry: Ashley, a deeply ambivalent model scout who scours the Siberian countryside looking for fresh faces to send to the Japanese market, and one of her discoveries, Nadya, a 13-year-old plucked from her rustic home in Russia and dropped into the center of bustling Tokyo with promises of a profitable career. After Ashley's initial discovery of Nadya, they rarely meet again, but their stories are inextricably bound. As Nadya's optimism about rescuing her family from financial hardship grows, her dreams contrast against Ashley's more jaded outlook about the industry's corrosive influence.

DVD-R (English, Japanese and Russian with English Subtitles) / 2011 / 77 minutes

OUR CITY DREAMS

Director: Chiara Clemente

Chiara Clemente's affecting documentary strings together the self-told narrative of five women artists of all ages, each of whom has a passion for making art inseparable from her devotion to New York. Swoon, the youngest, exhibits cut-outs directly on city walls and subways, and exudes idealism and energy while carrying a two by four the way some women would a briefcase. Cairo-born Ghada Amer mixes media - embroidering with painting - to confront sexual taboos that cross cultural boundaries. After experiencing The New York Dolls in San Francisco, Kiki Smith realized she needed the energy of the city to create her paintings and sculptures. Marina Abramovic, originally of Belgrade, is a performance art pioneer who often uses her own body as a canvas. And Nancy Spero returned from Paris with artist-husband Leon Golub in 1964, to meld art and activism during the Vietnam War and become, in her own words, "a woman warrior."

DVD / 2008 / 87 minutes

http://www.learningemall.com/News/Women_1908.html

[mrsteveecook]

update: I slept through an entire day of work

Remember the letter-writer who slept through an entire day of work? She updated a few months later to say she’d sought medical help about her fatigue. Here’s the latest update.

I’ve been at my new job a year now, and 9 months since sleeping through a full day of work. That exhaustion episode turned into months of doctor’s appointments and eventual diagnoses for: Crohn’s disease, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, fibromyalgia, anemia, and multiple vitamin deficiencies. One of the medications for one of those caused another unrelated major organ to begin malfunctioning, and also brings with it an increased risk of certain cancers that require regular screenings. I go to multiple doctors, labs, and hospitals on average 2-3 times/month, and it has certainly made work life, and life in general, pretty challenging. At times I wondered if I’d have to simply say “nope” to my ideal career as a mover and shaker, as well as other future life aspirations.

All that said, somehow I finagled a raise in July (what?!) and get the not-so-sneaky-feeling that my boss is grooming me for a leadership position. It’s been a wild rollercoaster ride of a year, to say the least. I wanted to share my “lessons learned” with you and the readers (whom I affectionately refer to in my head as “The Peanut Gallery”).

1. Alison & reader consensus/advice – I credit you all with removing the stigma of shame from my initial exhaustion episode, and spurring me to seek real medical attention. In particular, commenter Wendy Darling made a note about how US culture makes us sometimes feel that poor health is our fault, like a moral failing. I realized this was spot-on for me, and putting it into words went a long way towards mediating the effects. Other commenters really hammered home the importance of self-care and avoiding repeat events, which I’ve made strides towards (but continue to work at… I’ve learned that “aspirational” and “ambitious” aren’t always compliments!).

2. None of this would be possible without my excellent manager and colleagues. I mean, really. I feel forever indebted to the folks at work for their compassion, understanding, and flexibility. I don’t know how anybody with chronic illness can function in a hostile or unaccommodating work environment, truthfully. It’s only because of my workplace accommodations that I’m still able to do my best work despite constantly (literally constantly) being sick, and I’m so grateful to feel that I’m still valued. Plus, being able to work makes me feel like a contributing member of society and gives me respite from the other yuckiness.

3. Chronic illness is a lot of things, but “chronic” is right there in the name. For a while, my coworkers would ask if I was feeling better (daily), until I got around to explaining, one-by-one, that I might never actually feel better and that I needed to just take some time to find my new normal (but thank you for your concern!). In our line of work “finding the new normal” is a familiar concept (albeit in a different context), so thankfully I think we’re all on the same page.

4. I worked a modified work schedule for about 3-4 months. Due to the nature of my illnesses, I have good days and bad days but almost nothing about it is predictable. My doctors and I thought maybe a day-in/day-out alternating schedule would help, so that on good days I could still be productive remotely and on bad days when I had to be in the office I only had to make it through that one day before knowing there would be a recovery day following. It also allowed me to schedule health-related appointments when I was already remote, which cut back on disruptiveness. We went this path instead of invoking modified disability or part-time work.

5. I preemptively decided to come back to the office full-time before the official start date because I was finding that the back and forth was disrupting my workflow, and being in the office full-time felt more manageable once I got 2 of my worst symptoms under control. Plus, to be fully honest, if my boss thinks I could potentially be a leader here, then I’m still going to be hellbent on climbing upwards.

6. I’ve had to cut back on travel but keep in close contact with my boss about what seems manageable. My boss continues to be phenomenal about reallocating work – the team in general is willing to play to each other’s strengths, even if it means shuffling job responsibilities and roles on an ad hoc basis. For projects where I cut back on travel, I do more of what I like to think of as “ground support” (managing relationships, putting my writing/editing skills to good use, strategic oversight, etc.). Our work by nature is chaotic, so this is probably less wonky in our industry than it might be in others.

7. Ultimately, I decided (stubbornly, as some commenters noted), “Hey, this chronically ill thing is not for me.” I’m not delusional – it can’t be cured and the best I can hope for is remission. It requires a truly stupid amount of managing in both lifestyle/diet choices and organization (and money! Holy moly, the healthcare costs even with insurance). But I am an ambitious/stubborn person and I can’t imagine a life where I’m limited because of my autoimmune illnesses. I gots things to do, places to be! Actually, it’s a little funny because it seems that both my autoimmune system and I are overachievers in this situation.

Mostly in my ups and downs I learned that “ill” doesn’t mean incompetent. You still have valuable qualities to lend to your workplace, although balancing work, life, and wellness will be at times unfairly challenging. I briefly considered contracting either a concierge medical service or a personal patient advocate, because at times the volume of appointments, follow-ups, and bills was overwhelming. Ultimately I chose not to, but I’m grateful to know that services are available to help manage the “full-time patient lifestyle” in the event that you’re both a “full-time patient” and also happen to be a “full-time” something else, and actually want to accomplish other things!

In 2019 I hope to see clinical signs pointing towards remission, and I’ve set my sights on finishing my doctoral degree that was rudely interrupted by health issues. Hopefully after that, more time for enjoyable life experiences and maybe, just maybe, a promotion.

You may also like:

update: I don’t want to share my personal life with nosy coworkers

my boss wants to give me his kidney — but I don’t want it

updates: the soda policer, the person who slept through a day of work, and more

update: I slept through an entire day of work was originally published by Alison Green on Ask a Manager.

from Ask a Manager http://bit.ly/2vAMKbw

[ambitiouslycontented]

Feigning a Life

It’s a generally lonely life being positive. So much effort is put into disguising that you carry the virus, that it’s hard to think of anything else. Between the medications, specialized clothing to warm your appendages, and the make-up, properly re-integrating into society is a veritable nightmare. The stigma surrounding our current existence has sparked a variety of reactions ranging from violent resistance, desperation for approval or suicidal shame. For my part, I’m not angry that I’m dead. I just wish I could find someone to be honest with.

     To begin with, it’d be amazing to recoup what I lost. My parents were both bitten when trying to board up the house in the first months of the outbreak. They battled with fever dreams, attempting to stave off death, but left untreated the disease is terminal. I won’t wax poetic about how difficult it was to kill them when they came back. Paranoia about the virus actually simplified the moral conundrum, and it’s only now that I wish I’d considered that perhaps a cure was possible. Between the hyper-religious and the middle to upper classes, it was generally assumed that we were either in some sort of rapturous future or that it was a virus confined to the poorer overcrowded neighborhoods, hospitals, and ethnically diverse corners of the country. One family with three children who had died and come back attempted to keep the children hidden in their basement chained up. When the rest of the neighborhood found out, they naturally assumed a pox was upon suburbia, and in response burned down the house with the children inside.

     The worst part is those scientists on the ground knew that the virus spread through very specific ways (bites, blood, vaginal fluid, and breast milk), and that the presence of a carrier was a very small threat, and not a threat at all if said carrier was restrained or prevented from biting. Living a normal life brought almost the same amount of risk as exposure to the infected. Of course, that’s how I contracted the disease. After my parents, I met an amazing girl and figured I’d found my post-apocalyptic-y spouse. I wasn’t aware that she had already contracted the virus from a shared syringe, and I in turn picked it up from sex. Really, the worst part is that the disease ran its course with me far more quickly, and I came back when she was weakest.

It’s a strange thing to explain. Really, the closest I can get to telling you what being untreated feels like is to say that you seem to sink into yourself (not yourself, you aren’t you anymore), and gaze out through an ever-elongating peephole. If you are lucky, sooner than later, you will turn in and stop seeing the vicious action taken by your untreated self. If you fail to do so or you’re not quick enough, you are among the (privileged?) few, who get to voyeuristically observe your fingers, your teeth, your gnashing, snarling bits rip and tear at the flailing, vainly resistant pieces of the unaffected, negative, breathing.

I was lucky enough to turn inward before I could watch myself murder and consume others. Once I turned inward, I was able to enjoy an almost Beckettian state. Strange is too descriptive for the primordial blank one finds oneself in, but time effectively passes attempting to define, redefine, and contradict definition. Madness moves slowly for some. Anyway, there is a touch of irony of existing in this non-state: True, you shield yourself from the crimes committed by your ravenous corpse, but hiding inwardly is the fastest track toward irreparable self-erasure. The individual is left to choose between retreating until their consciousness devours itself, or gazing outward upon unspeakable horrors until – I imagine no one hears the shot.

Had I died early in the outbreak extermination would have been my only option. As I mentioned earlier, paranoia pushed people to a viciously reactionary state, and any funding raised for the virus went instead towards testing, even though the rapid tests from the beginning were incredibly accurate. It is truly remarkable how quickly successful medicines came down the pipeline once efforts to treat emerged. It began with satiation medication, then reducing viral load, and now there are even pace-maker style devices meant to create an artificial heartbeat, maintain circulation, and essentially preserve someone’s flesh.

Still, we are at a point where the only ones that can receive treatment seem to be either incredibly wealthy or incredibly poor – medications are quite expensive, yet the income level to receive government sponsored medication is so low (less than $20,000 per household per year) that almost no one can receive it. I am only allowed treatment because I am orphaned and died before I could ever get a job. These days I work, but only enough to get by on the smallest margin, lest I lose my meds. I know plenty of zombies who attempted to generate enough cash to carve out a more comfortable life, and immediately wind up in debt, cannot pay up on their loans, return to rabidity, and are executed.

Then there is the issue of those who wish to live visibly positive. These brave, but foolish people then become victims of what should constitute a hate crime, however as of yet, there is no law in place describing the killing of a dead individual as murder. I have seen dozens of public executions and it is excruciating every time. One of my friends decided to go au naturale. His logic was that we were already on borrowed time, so what were we risking anyway? The fear in his eye as the crowd beat him into submission clearly evidenced the pain the dead still feel; the regretful acceptance on his face as the barrel of the Sig Sauer .357 rose between his eyes maintains countenance over even my restful nights.

We are slowly shifting toward a begrudging acceptance, but the animosity still exists. The biggest thing to thank is that athletes, politicians, rock stars, all have stepped forward as carriers, which helps to normalize things, but being in an undead state is still pretty clearly defined as dead, contaminated, repulsive. Of course, I’m not a rock celebrity, so I can’t be considered brave. Rather, I spend my time practicing a more “lively” walk, and fight the pain from my unlubricated joints, avoid death sighs, and eat food only to vomit it up later, since my stomach no longer functions except for the purpose of voiding my corpse. Stigma prevents any proper dialogue, which in turn helps the spread.

Currently I’m dating. It’s of course doomed to fail, because I’m rapidly approaching a time when I’ll have to tell her that I’m a post-living human. My medication keeps the disease under control well enough that I couldn’t give it to her if I tried, but that has yet to be publicized. Yes, you hear stories of couples that stuck together through death and resurrection, but I have yet to actually meet one of them, let alone someone who began dating with full disclosure. Some have killed themselves to resuscitate in the same state as their diseased partner as some sort of sacrificial act, which is just ludicrous. I don’t know, maybe she’ll be brave enough to stay after hearing my truth, but optimism is rarely a luxury for us undead.

God, I hate coffee. I used to love it, but now it’s just a requisite step toward keeping up this charade that I’m still a living, virulent 20 year old. It’s still worth it for potential human connection. I wonder how many more of us there are that hide this secret. The hardest part of being undead is coming out as such. I still have yet to do it, but rather wait and hope for others to do the same. Perhaps it’s time to do so as I wait for her to step into this café, unencumbered by aches, non-functioning organs and the like. Maybe she won’t care.

[sweetsuccesssociety]

The Complete Truth About Mental Illness and Medication

I bet you’ve probably heard something along the lines of “you shouldn’t use medication for anxiety or depression” at some point in your life. There’s such a stigma behind all things related to mental illness, but particularly when it comes to medication. Why is that, do you think? I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of hearing stuff like that, because medication to treat mental illness can literally save someone’s life.

Before you start thinking that I’m pushing medication on people, hear me out. Of course, there are so many things that can be done to treat mental illnesses such as anxiety or depression other than medication. Talk therapy is absolutely fantastic, for example. It’s also been proven that exercising regularly helps minimize the symptoms of anxiety and depression. These are all wonderful things, but they’re topics for another day. Today, I want to talk specifically about the role medication can play in the treatment of mental illness. There’s a lot more to it than you may think.

My journey with medication

You may or may not already know that I have been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder. If you did, great! If not, there’s your fun fact of the day! I’ve always been anxious, but only recently (within the past couple of years) have been able to put a name to what I was experiencing and begin to tackle it. I started on Cipralex in December 2015 in combination with Ativan, which I take on an as needed basis (aka when I feel a panic attack coming on). This past December, I felt like the Cipralex was no longer working for me, as I was having panic attacks fairly frequently. I then switched to Cymbalta and have been taking that since.

At this point, my symptoms are fairly stable. Sure, I get anxious every now and again, but I feel better overall. I hope to eventually go off of medication all together. My reason for this is that I gained a lot of weight since I started it. Now that I’m exercising frequently and living a more balanced lifestyle, I hope to eventually be able to feel okay on my own. My confidence has definitely increased if nothing else! (If you want, you can head over to my personal blog, A Daynna Life, to learn more about my journey with mental illness). I’ve also created some self-love inspiration for those of you struggling with something similar, so be sure to get access to the free resource library to check it out!

Medication isn’t an instant fix

If you’re hoping to find something that will instantly help you to feel better, you may be in for some disappointment. Unfortunately, the journey of taking medication to treat mental illness is often a long one. Oftentimes, there’s a trial and error period when it comes to finding the right medication and dosage for you. It’s a daunting and incredibly frustrating process. That being said, when you do eventually get it right, you’ll absolutely notice a difference.

it might get worse before it gets better

When I first started taking medication to control my anxiety, my body had difficulty adjusting to it. And I was only taking 10mg, which is the lowest dose. For about the first week, I was feeling even more anxious than I was before taking the medication. Had I not known any better, I probably would have stopped taking it right then and there. Fortunately, both the doctor and pharmacist warned me that this would happen, so I stuck it out and waited for things to get better.

The other thing worth mentioning here is the issue of withdrawal symptoms. Girlfriend, let me tell you, the struggle is REAL. When I was in the process of switching medications, my withdrawal symptoms from my first medication caused me to feel the worst I ever had. I was having multiple panic attacks a day. It was to the point where I was scared to leave my room. Fortunately, a slight adjustment in my dosage fixed that problem, but this is something you’ll want to take into consideration if you’re thinking about starting medication.

Just because you’re on medication now doesn’t mean you always will be

This was one of the biggest things that held me back for so long from trying medication. Committing to taking something everyday for the rest of your life is terrifying! For a long time, I just suffered needlessly because of this fear. I was gladly corrected by my doctor when I finally brought up the thought of trying medication to control my anxiety. He told me that should I decide one day that I’m in a place in life where I don’t think I need it, there’s no harm in slowly weaning myself off of it all together. The main thing to keep in mind with this is your well-being. If you think you’re better off taking medication, then do it. If not, then you have the freedom to stop (just do it slowly to avoid withdrawal!).

it’s beneficial to utilize a combination of methods to control your mental illness

Study after study have shown that the best results happen when you combine techniques when controlling mental illness. Think of each technique as a supplement; they all work together to collectively help you feel better! For instance, someone who works with a therapist, takes the proper medications, exercises regularly, and practices regular self-care is far more likely to be successful at controlling their symptoms than someone who only takes medication. You really do get out of it what you put into it. This is something that often gets overlooked, but it’s important to consider.

people who take medication aren’t crazy

If there’s anything you take away from this post, it should be this. Just because you take medication for your mental illness doesn’t mean you’re crazy. Would you call someone crazy for taking blood pressure medication? What about someone who takes Aspirin after having a heart attack? No, you wouldn’t, so why do we shame ourselves for taking medication for our brain? It’s called mental ILLNESS, and medication is just one of many highly effective treatments. People who take medication to control their symptoms are just trying to live their lives, so let them be.

So there we go! I hope this post is able to shine some light on this incredibly stigmatized topic. Now let’s chat: What are some of the wildest things you’ve heard about using medication to treat mental illness? And if you’re comfortable sharing if you’ve ever taken medication for anxiety or depression, what was your experience like? Let me know in the comments!

The post The Complete Truth About Mental Illness and Medication appeared first on Sweet Success Society.

from The Complete Truth About Mental Illness and Medication

[learningrendezvous]

Gender Studies

93QUEEN

By Paula Eiselt

93QUEEN follows Rachel "Ruchie" Freier, a no-nonsense Hasidic lawyer and mother of six who is determined to shake up the boys club in her Hasidic community by creating Ezras Nashim, the first all-female ambulance corps in NYC.

In the Hasidic enclave of Borough Park, Brooklyn, EMS corps have long been the province of men. Though the neighborhood is home to the largest volunteer ambulance corps in the world known as Hatzolah, that organization has steadfastly banned women from its ranks. Now Ruchie and an engaging cast of dogged Hasidic women are risking their reputations, and the futures of their children, by taking matters into their own hands to provide dignified emergency medical care to the Hasidic women and girls of Borough Park. In a society where most women don't drive - and a few minutes can mean the difference between life and death - how do female EMTs transport themselves to the scene of an emergency? And how does Ezras Nashim combat a behemoth like Hatzolah, which possesses political clout throughout New York City?

With unprecedented and exclusive access, 93QUEEN follows the formation and launch of Ezras Nashim through the organization's first year on the ground. We witness the highs and lows of creating an organization against incredible odds, as well as the women's struggles to "have it all" as wives and mothers. And in the midst of this already ground-breaking endeavor, Ruchie announces that she had decided to take her burgeoning feminism even further when she enters the race for civil court judge in Brooklyn's 5th Municipal Court District. Through it all, we see Ruchie and the other women grappling to balance their faith with their nascent feminism, even as they are confronted by the patriarchal attitudes that so dominate Hasidic society. As Ruchie observes, while making dinner at 3 a.m., "I sometimes wonder why God created me a woman. If I'd have been born a Hasidic man, I don't think I would have half the problems I have."

DVD (Color) / 2018 / 90 minutes

BEFORE HOMOSEXUALS

Director: John Scagliotti

John Scagliotti, executive producer of the landmark film Before Stonewall, here guides us in a wondrous tour of erotic history, poetry and visual art in his new documentary on same-sex desire - from ancient times to Victorian crimes.

Traveling all over the world and talking with dozens of experts, he revels in lesbian love spells from ancient Rome, censored chapters of the Kamasutra, Native American two-spirit rituals and much more. A prequel to Before Stonewall, Before Homosexuals unearths the diverse and fascinating garden of human same-sexual desire.

DVD / 2018 / 87 minutes

QUIET HEROES

Directors: Jenny Mackenzie, Jared Ruga, Amanda Stoddard

In Salt Lake City, Utah, the religious monoculture severely complicated the AIDS crisis, where patients received no support from-or were cast into exile by-the political, religious, and medical communities. Further, Mormon culture encouraged gay men to marry women and have a family to cure themselves of their "affliction," counsel which led to secret affairs and accidental marital transmissions of HIV. In the entire state and intermountain region there was only one doctor to serve all HIV/AIDS patients. This is the story of her fight to save the lives of a maligned population everyone else seemed willing to just let die.

Dr. Kristen Ries came to Salt Lake City with the hope and ambition to set up a medical practice of her own. By chance, she arrived on the exact same day the CDC released a report about a new infectious disease affecting populations of gay men. This intrigued Dr. Ries and she launched her long career as the premier specialist who treated HIV/AIDS patients. What started as hospice care for highly stigmatized individuals became a model for compassionate care at the height of the AIDS epidemic. She faced stigma and blame in a repressive religious culture and had to find creative ways to serve her patients. She and her Physician's Assistant, Maggie Snyder, developed backdoor patient policies, underground drug markets, and status confidentiality policies to give their patients the best possible chance at prolonging their lives-or at worst, dying comfortably. When their families, their churches and social circles, their politicians, and even other doctors had abandoned them, Kristen Ries and Maggie Snyder created a safe haven amidst a sea of hate and fear for those who had nowhere else to turn.

DVD / 2018 / 68 minutes

SUNDAY SESSIONS, THE

Director: Richard Yeagley

The Sunday Sessions is an intimate portrait of one man's struggle to reconcile his religious conviction and sexual identity. The feature length documentary follows Nathan Gniewek, a gay man in his late twenties, as he seeks counseling from conversion therapist Christopher Doyle.

Conversion therapy is the controversial, non-scientifically based process which aims to convert an individual's sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual. Although it has been discredited by all major American medical, psychiatric, psychological and professional counseling organizations, some therapists still offer the service for reasons almost exclusively rooted in a conservative religious belief system.

The filmmakers had unfettered access to individual therapy sessions, family sessions, and a collection of weekend camps, and have crafted an emotional and psychological thriller which chronicles two years of Nathan's journey from acceptance to skepticism, all leading to a profound epiphany.

DVD / 2018 / 89 minutes

BONES OF CONTENTION

By Andrea Weiss

BONES OF CONTENTION is the first nonfiction feature film to explore the theme of historical memory in Spain, focusing on the repression of lesbians and gays under Franquismo. Lining the roads of Spain, masked by miles and miles of pine trees, are unmarked graves in which over a hundred twenty thousand victims of the Franco regime are buried. Today the families of the desaparecidos lead a grassroots effort to uncover and identify the bones of their loved ones, despite opposition from the Spanish government.

Invisible to the eye but hyper-visible in the mind, these mass graves of Spain's missing persons are an apt metaphor for the historical memory conundrum. How does a country excavate a past that is actively suppressed?

The film weaves together two strands, the historical memory movement's campaign to uncover the past, and the search for the hidden lives of lesbians and gays under Franco. These strands are connected through the figure of Spain's most famous poet, Federico Garcia Lorca, who was killed by a right-wing firing squad in the first few weeks of the Spanish Civil War. The mystery of his missing remains and the debates over their significance provide the narrative spine of the documentary, as he has become the symbol today for both the historical memory movement and the LGBT movement.

The film features interviews with: Laura Garcia Lorca, President, Garcia Lorca Foundation Emilio Silva, Founder, Asociacion para la Recuperacion de la Memoria Historica Antoni Ruiz and Silvia Reyes, imprisoned by the Franco regime due to their sexuality Isabel Franc and Empar Pineda, lesbian witnesses and activists Fernando Valverde, poet and Lorca scholar

DVD (English, Spanish, Color, Black and White) / 2017 / 75 minutes

BREAST ARCHIVES, THE

Director: Meagan Murphy

Real women reveal their breasts and uncover personal truths in this gently provocative documentary exploring embodiment, womanhood, and the power of being seen.

The Breast Archives features nine women's personal stories of empowerment. Baring their breasts and their hearts, the women share the unique journeys they've made with their bodies, from their formative years of hiding, shame, and disconnection to adulthood and the discovery of what it means to be a powerful woman. As the women slowly reconnect with their body-based stories they find a reservoir of strength and wisdom that lies within their breasts.

DVD / 2017 / 57 minutes

FEMINISTA: A JOURNEY TO THE HEART OF FEMINISM IN EUROPE

By Myriam Fougere

FEMINISTA is a lively and inspiring feminist road movie that explores the largely unrecognized yet hugely vibrant pan European feminist movement. Filmmaker Myriam Fougere joined an international group of young feminists who were traveling across twenty countries - from Turkey to Portugal, by the way of the Balkans, to Italy, Spain and Portugal - to make connections and unite forces with other women. She witnessed these determined activists participating in political gatherings, supporting homegrown local feminist struggles, exchanging strategies, and inventing new ways to resist and fight for change. Revealing how feminism is transmitted from one generation to another, FEMINISTA provides a rare glimpse into a widespread feminist groundswell movement, possibly one of the largest and unrecognized mass political movements that is very much alive and well throughout Europe today.

DVD (Color) / 2017 / 60 minutes

HOT TO TROT

Director: Gail Freedman

Mad Hot Ballroom meets Paris is Burning in this entertaining documentary set in the swinging world of same-sex competitive ballroom dancing.

Hot to Trot goes inside that fascinating but little-known world, which is surging in popularity, remaking lives and bodies, along with popular culture and gender politics. Following four magnetic men and women on and off the dance floor over a four-year period, the film is not only an immersive character study (and an idiosyncratic attack on bigotry) but a rousing, powerful story that unfurls with the rhythms and energy of dramatic cinema.

DVD / 2017 / 88 minutes

JOURNEY INTERRUPTED

In Journey Interrupted, five individuals share their personal stories of struggle with sexual identity in relation to how The Bible interprets their challenges. It is a comparative between gender identity and faith.

This 2017 documentary addresses two key questions:

What does the Bible say about gender identity and homosexuality;

How should Christians respond to these divisive issues?

These questions are explored with candor and sensitivity through the lens of personal testimony. This important film is refreshingly transparent, deeply honest as it offers hope for healing and wholeness through Jesus Christ.

DVD (With English Subtitles) / 2017 / 61 minutes

LIVES: VISIBLE/LEFTOVERS

By Michelle Citron

LIVES: VISIBLE (2017, 35 mins): Lesbians in a box... two thousand private snapshots hidden away for over fifty years reveal the rich history of Chicago's working class butch/fem life in the pre-Stonewall era. Spanning four decades, from the 1930s to the early 1970s, the snapshots provide a rare look at a vanished and vibrant Lesbian culture: images of lovers and friends as they played, posed, serially switched partners, worked, partied, drank, and aged. Now we all take selfies; these women used a Brownie camera to tell the story of their community. LIVES: VISIBLE explores the ephemeral nature of culture and the power of the images we make.

LEFTOVERS (2014, 23 mins): Norma and Virginia were lovers for almost fifty years. They died isolated; the vibrant pre-Stonewall lesbian community of their youth long gone. A love story about the unforeseen trajectory of lives lived outside the mainstream told through the 2000 snapshots left behind.

2 DVDs (Color) / 2017 / 58 minutes

INSIDE THE CHINESE CLOSET

By Sophia Luvara

In a nondescript lounge somewhere in Shanghai, men and women giggle, eyeing prospective partners, visibly nervous about making the first move. This isn't your average matchmaking event - it's a "fake-marriage fair," where gay men and women meet to make matrimonial deals with members of the opposite sex in order to satisfy social and familial expectations of heterosexual unions. Inside the Chinese Closet is the intricate tale of Andy and Cherry looking for love and happiness in vibrant Shanghai. They are both homosexual but their families demand a (heterosexual) marriage and a baby from them. Because being single and childless would mean an unacceptable loss of face for their rural families, particularly in the remote countryside where they live. Will Andy and Cherry deny their happiness and sexual orientation to satisfy their parents' wishes? The stories of Andy and Cherry mirror the legal and cultural progress that is happening in China against the backdrop of a nation coming to terms with new moral values.

DVD (Color) / 2016 / 70 minutes

MEN: A LOVE STORY

By Mimi Chakarova

After spending nearly a decade as a journalist documenting young women sold as slaves into the sex trade, award winning filmmaker Mimi Chakarova (THE PRICE OF SEX) sets out on a journey across the United States to explore how men feel about women and love. Piecing together a rich tapestry of vignettes, woven from stories shared by men of different races, ages, and socio-economic backgrounds, Chakarova weaves a stunningly honest and unapologetic portrayal of masculinity in America. With a diverse set of subjects from tiny blues bars of the Deep South to hedge funds of Manhattan and from ranchers in New Mexico to farmers in the Midwest, MEN: A LOVE STORY is a poignant and at times unforgettable dark comedy that reveals a deeper multilayered understanding of maleness, sexuality and gender performance in America today.

DVD (Color) / 2016 / 80 minutes

REVIVAL, THE: WOMEN AND THE WORD

By Sekiya Dorsett

THE REVIVAL: WOMEN AND THE WORD chronicles the US tour of a group of Black lesbian poets and musicians, who become present-day stewards of a historical movement to build community among queer women of color. Their journey to strengthen their community is enriched by insightful interviews with leading Black feminist thinkers and historians, including Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Nikki Finney, and Alexis Deveaux. As the group tours the country, the film reveals their aspirations and triumphs, as well as the unique identity challenges they face encompassing gender, race, and sexuality. This is a rarely seen look into a special sisterhood - one where marginalized voices are both heard and respected.

DVD (Color, Closed Captioned) / 2016 / 82 minutes

SIBERIAN LOVE

By Olga Delane

In rural Siberia, romantic expectations are traditional and practical. The man is the head of the household. The woman takes care of the housekeeping and the children. But filmmaker Olga Delane doesn't agree. While she was born in this small Siberian village, as a teenager she migrated to Berlin with her family, and 20 years of living in Germany has changed her expectations. SIBERIAN LOVE follows Delane home to her community of birth, where she interviews family and neighbors about their lives and relationships. Amusing and moving, this elegant film paints a picture of a world completely outside of technology, a hard-farming community where life is hard and marriage is sometimes unhappy - but where there are also unexpected paths to joy and family togetherness. Through clashing ideals of modern and traditional womanhood, SIBERIAN LOVE is a fascinating study of a country little known in the US and of a rural community that raises questions about domesticity, gender expectations, domestic abuse, childcare, and romance. Excellent for anthropology, women's studies, sociology, Russian and Eastern European Studies.

DVD (Color) / 2016 / 82 minutes

DEEP RUN

By Hillevi Loven, Susan Sarandon

DEEP RUN is a powerful verite portrait of trans life in rural North Carolina. Exiled by her family and rejected by an ex-partner, 17-year-old Spazz has no one to lean on for support. But when Spazz falls in love again and summons up the courage to become Cole, a strong-willed trans-man, his candid humor and steadfast, all-inclusive Christian beliefs counter the bigotry he experiences daily.

This deeply personal documentary reveals rebirth and courage within America's deeply conservative Bible Belt as Cole struggles to find a church that will affirm his identity and the couple's relationship. With a small group of supportive friends, relatives, and his girlfriend, Ashley, Cole's search for love and belonging leads him to a radical revision of what faith and church can be. An intimate study of young outsiders in an insular Christian community, DEEP RUN explores the intersection of modern identity and faith in the American South. Essential viewing for LGBTQIA Audiences, Queer and Gender studies classes.

DVD (Color) / 2015 / 75 minutes

FROM THIS DAY FORWARD

Directed by Sharon Shattuck

Tells the story of a love, and family, that survived the most intimate of transformations.

With her own wedding just around the corner, filmmaker Sharon Shattuck returns home to examine the mystery at the heart of her upbringing: How her transgender father Trisha and her straight-identified mother Marcia stayed together against all odds. From This Day Forward is a moving portrayal of an American family coping with the most intimate of transformations.

As the film evolves into a conversation about love and acceptance in a modern American family, it raises questions relevant to all of us. As individuals how do we adapt to sustain long-term love and relationships? Where do sexuality and gender intersect? And how do families stay together, when external forces are pulling them apart?

DVD / 2015 / (Grades 6-12, College, Adults) / 76 minutes

LOVE BETWEEN THE COVERS

By Laurie Kahn

Romance novels comprise over a billion dollars a year in book sales, outselling science fiction, fantasy, and mystery combined. So why is the genre so often dismissed as frivolous "scribble" rather than elevated as a radical literary form that pushes the envelope on gender, race, and diversity? The heroic characters, prolific writers, and voracious readers that dominate romantic fiction are primarily women. Witty and intelligent, these lovers of the written word form a collaborative, supportive, and dynamic community where readers and writers inspire one another. Emmy Award Winning director Laurie Kahn (Tupperware!) takes a comprehensive look at what goes into publishing a romantic novel, from the author's inspiration and writing process to the photo shoots for those distinctive cover designs. Speaking with literary scholars, romance fanatics, aspiring writers, and award-winning authors, including Nora Roberts, Eloisa James, Beverly Jenkins, and Radclyffe, this documentary offers fascinating insights into this female-centric literary world.

DVD (Color) / 2015 / 84 minutes

SAME DIFFERENCE, THE

By Nneka Onuorah

THE SAME DIFFERENCE is a compelling documentary about lesbians who discriminate against other lesbians based on gender roles. Director Nneka Onuorah takes an in-depth look at the internalized hetero-normative gender roles that have become all too familiar within the African American lesbian and bisexual community. Onuorah shows how these behaviors reproduce the homophobic oppression and masculine privilege of the straight world, while looking for solutions in compelling discussions with community members. Self-identified studs - and the women who love them - discuss hypocrisy in terms of gender roles, performative expectations, and the silent disciplining that occurs between community members. This film features many queer celebrities, including actress Felicia "Snoop" Pearson from the critically acclaimed HBO drama The Wire, and Lea DeLaria from Netflix's Orange Is the New Black, living daily with opinions about how identity should be portrayed. Onuorah's engaging documentary shines a light on the relationships and experiences within the queer black female community, intersecting race, gender and sexuality. Required viewing for Women's, Gender and Queer Studies.

DVD (Color) / 2015 / 78 minutes

VALENTINE ROAD

Directed by Marta Cunningham

In 2008, eighth-grader Brandon McInerney shot classmate Larry King at point blank range. Unraveling this tragedy, the film reveals the heartbreaking circumstances that led to the shocking crime as well as the aftermath.

On February 12, 2008, in an Oxnard, California, classroom, 14-year-old Brandon McInerney shot classmate Larry King twice; Larry died of the wounds two days later. Larry (Leticia), a gender-variant youth of color, had liked to wear makeup and heels to school, and had publicly announced a crush on McInerney. For this reason, some of McInerney's defenders say the victim had "embarrassed" the shooter--and was therefore at least partly to blame for his own murder.

VALENTINE ROAD is about an outrageous crime and an even more outrageous defense of it, but the film goes much deeper than mere outrage. In the end, it's the story of two victims of homophobia. Larry was killed because of it, but Brandon's life was horribly twisted by it as well. And it's the story of a community's response--sometimes inspirational and sometimes cruel--to a terrible tragedy.

Filmmaker Marta Cunningham deftly looks beyond the sensational aspects of the murder, introducing us to Larry's friends, teachers and guardians, as well as Brandon's loved ones--both children had led difficult lives. In examining Brandon's prosecution and defense, the documentary poses difficult questions about punishing juveniles for serious crimes, while exposing society's pervasive and deadly intolerance of young people who don't conform to its gender "norms."

VALENTINE ROAD brilliantly focuses on how bigotry and prejudice are community-wide problems, rather than only the acts of individuals. It asks how schools can respond to the the full complexity of students' lives, and support students in crisis before tragedy strikes.

DVD / 2013 / (Grades 8-12, College, Adult) / 88 minutes

BOYS TO MEN?

In this moving follow-up to the critically-acclaimed Hoop Dreams, award-winning filmmaker Frederick Marx continues his exploration of the lives of ordinary young men and the extraordinary challenges they face. Boys to Men? - the second in a proposed trilogy about masculinity in America- trains its focus on the pressures and expectations faced by a diverse group of young urban males. The DVD consists of four films. Are You Listening? Features several teenage boys from different ethnic, racial, and class backgrounds offering fascinating insights into their own experiences and the meaning of manhood in America. Three additional pieces - Spencer, Cisco, and Al-Tran - give insight into the lives of three 15-year-old boys as they navigate the daily challenges of school, family, and American society.

DVD (With English Subtitles) / 2004 / 143 minutes

AFTER STONEWALL

Director: John Scagliotti, Janet Baus & Dan Hunt

Narrated by Melissa Etheridge.

In 1969 the police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City's Greenwich Village, leading to three nights of rioting by the city's gay community. With this outpouring of courage and unity the Gay Liberation Movement had begun.

After Stonewall, the sequel to Before Stonewall, chronicles the history of lesbian and gay life from the riots at Stonewall to the end of the century. It captures the hard work, struggles, tragic defeats and exciting victories experienced since them. It explores how AIDS literally changed the direction of the movement.

The two films, Before & After, tell the remarkable tale of how homosexuals, a heretofore hidden and despised group, became a vibrant and integral part of America's family, and, indeed, the world community.

Featuring Dorothy Allison, Michael Bronski, Rita Mae Brown, Barney Frank, Barbara Gittings, Arnie Kantrowitz, Larry Kramer, Craig Lucas, Armistead Maupin, Leslea Newman, Barbara Smith, and many more!

DVD / 1999 / 88 minutes

BEFORE STONEWALL: THE MAKING OF A GAY AND LESBIAN COMMUNITY

By John Scagliotti

Directors: Greta Schiller, Robert Rosenberg

Newly restored for the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots!

In 1969 the police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City's Greenwich Village, leading to three nights of rioting by the city's gay community. With this outpouring of courage and unity the gay liberation movement had begun.

Before Stonewall pries open the closet door, setting free the dramatic story of the sometimes horrifying public and private existences experienced by LGBT Americans since the early 1900's. Revealing and often humorous, this widely acclaimed film relives the emotionally-charged sparking of today's gay rights movement, from the events that led to the fevered 1969 riots to many other milestones in the brave fight for acceptance. Experience the fascinating and unforgettable, decade-by-decade history of homosexuality in America through eye-opening historical footage and amazing interviews with those who lived through an often brutal closeted history.

Narrated by iconic author Rita Mae Brown. Groundbreaking interviews with Ann Bannon, Martin Duberman, Allen Ginsberg, Barbara Gittings, Harry Hay, Mabel Hampton, Dr. Evelyn Hooker, Frank Kameny, Audre Lorde, Richard Bruce Nugent, Jose Sarria and many more.

DVD / 1984 / 87 minutes

BEST OF BOYS IN LOVE, THE

Director: Barry Purves, John Scott Matthews, P. David Ebersole, David Briggs, Patrick McGuinn, Stewart Main & Todd Downing

The Best of Boys in Love is a wildly diverse collection of films that mixes styles, settings, and stories ranging from "elegant gay romance" (Frontiers), to a musical send-up of Hollywood, to an "exquisite period piece" (Village Voice) set in New Zealand. The DVD features seven audience favorites selected from our collection of award-winning gay short films: Achilles; Boot Camp; Death in Venice, CA; Karen Black Like Me; SPF 2000; Twilight of the Gods; Dirty Baby Does Fire Island.

DVD / 101 minutes

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