Taken from the Nomadic Delirium Press blog:
DriveThruFiction is currently carrying a bundle of all three issues
of The Martian Wave. You can get PDF versions of the 2013, 2014, and
2015 issues for just $7.50. That's over 100,000 words about the
exploration and colonization of space. It's a deal you can't afford to
pass up.
http://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/117289/The-Martian-Wave-2013
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
My MileHiCon schedule
Here is what looks to be my final MileHiCon schedule for this year...
Saturday at Noon: Game Publishing/Book Publishing: Similarities & Differences
Saturday at 1:00 Signing
Saturday at 2:00 You Always Remember Your First...
What SF/F/H is the earliest you recall? Perhaps it’s Dr. Seuss, or The Twilight Zone, Maybe not the fairytales you were read––or maybe so––but the first you picked up on your own, the first that made an impression, that warped you forever. Our panelists share memories!
Sunday at 10:00 Trends in Publishing...
Are magazines doomed? Will people even pay for content anymore? Are audio books making a comeback? What the heck do readers want these days?
Hope to see some of you there...
Saturday at Noon: Game Publishing/Book Publishing: Similarities & Differences
Saturday at 1:00 Signing
Saturday at 2:00 You Always Remember Your First...
What SF/F/H is the earliest you recall? Perhaps it’s Dr. Seuss, or The Twilight Zone, Maybe not the fairytales you were read––or maybe so––but the first you picked up on your own, the first that made an impression, that warped you forever. Our panelists share memories!
Sunday at 10:00 Trends in Publishing...
Are magazines doomed? Will people even pay for content anymore? Are audio books making a comeback? What the heck do readers want these days?
Hope to see some of you there...
Monday, October 19, 2015
Disharmony of the Spheres
From the Nomadic Delirium Press website...
Nomadic Delirium Press is pleased to announce that we are reading for a new anthology...
Disharmony of the Spheres
Disharmony of the Spheres will be a science fiction anthology in which the main character must be battling some type of mental illness. While we will consider stories where the character is dealing with an illness like schizophrenia or multiple personality disorder, what we really want to see is characters that are battling an illness like depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, PTSD, etc. This is meant to be an uplifting collection of stories, so the characters must overcome their illness to defeat whatever they’re up against. They don’t necessarily have to overcome their illness completely, but they must show that even when suffering from a mental illness, a person can still achieve great things.
Story particulars: We want stories that are 2,000 words or longer. All stories must be science fiction, and they must fit into the guidelines as outlined above.
What we’re paying: We will pay $5 per story for one time rights, and we will also pay two contributor copies. This is less than we would normally pay for an anthology, but half of all of the profits from this book will be going to the Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention organization, which helps to battle teen suicide. We will consider reprints for this anthology.
Where to send your stories: All stories should be sent to editor (at) nomadicdeliriumpress (dot) com. The subject line should include “Disharmony submission.”
Response times: We will respond to all submissions within two months.
Other questions: If you have any other questions, please feel free to send them to the address above.
Nomadic Delirium Press is pleased to announce that we are reading for a new anthology...
Disharmony of the Spheres
Disharmony of the Spheres will be a science fiction anthology in which the main character must be battling some type of mental illness. While we will consider stories where the character is dealing with an illness like schizophrenia or multiple personality disorder, what we really want to see is characters that are battling an illness like depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, PTSD, etc. This is meant to be an uplifting collection of stories, so the characters must overcome their illness to defeat whatever they’re up against. They don’t necessarily have to overcome their illness completely, but they must show that even when suffering from a mental illness, a person can still achieve great things.
Story particulars: We want stories that are 2,000 words or longer. All stories must be science fiction, and they must fit into the guidelines as outlined above.
What we’re paying: We will pay $5 per story for one time rights, and we will also pay two contributor copies. This is less than we would normally pay for an anthology, but half of all of the profits from this book will be going to the Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention organization, which helps to battle teen suicide. We will consider reprints for this anthology.
Where to send your stories: All stories should be sent to editor (at) nomadicdeliriumpress (dot) com. The subject line should include “Disharmony submission.”
Response times: We will respond to all submissions within two months.
Other questions: If you have any other questions, please feel free to send them to the address above.
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
More ranting about mental health issues in America
A while back I posted a blog entry talking about how mental health issues are treated differently than physical health issues. Well, I'm going to go on about it again, as this is an issue that's very important to me. I've dealt with depression off and on throughout my life. Rebecca still deals with PTSD as a result of being robbed at gunpoint. Other members of my family have dealt with affective and anxiety issues, and earlier this year a dear friend of mine was hospitalized because she was having trouble dealing with gender identity issues, so mental health is something that I'm always thinking about. It probably also doesn't hurt that I hold a degree in psychology either...
One thing I've noticed is that if someone tells another person that their child has been admitted to the hospital because they're undergoing testing for something like cancer, people react differently than if you were to say that the child was undergoing psychiatric evaluation and testing for depression. Why should this be different? Both are ailments, and both children deserve our sympathy, but the child being tested for depression is more likely to be looked at as being weak, or the parents are going to be looked at as if they've done something wrong. An important thing to remember is that most psychiatric disorders have a physical and biological cause. Most cases of depression are caused by a neurotransmitter imbalance, but somehow this is viewed as being different than abnormal cell growth causing cancer. Both of these illnesses have a very physical causative agent.
It's true that life choices can exacerbate an already existing psychiatric condition. For example, continuing to date someone who is abusive can make a depressed person's depression worse. So, should we judge these people because their choices have helped contribute to their illness? Before you say yes, keep in mind that a lot of physical ailments can be exacerbated by our life choices as well. How many health issues, especially in America, are made worse by our eating habits? We usually don't judge people for making decisions that helped lead to their cancer (except maybe for lung cancer) or any other ailment, so why should we do it with mental health issues.
Once again, until America wakes up and realizes that mental illness is an illness, not a weakness, we are not going to be able to solve many of our problems. And things like gun violence are only going to get worse.
Please don't judge someone who is dealing with a mental health issue. You have no idea what they are going for, just as you don't really know what someone with a severe illness is going through unless you've dealt with it yourself. There's no difference whatsoever between physical health issues and mental health issues. No difference at all!
One thing I've noticed is that if someone tells another person that their child has been admitted to the hospital because they're undergoing testing for something like cancer, people react differently than if you were to say that the child was undergoing psychiatric evaluation and testing for depression. Why should this be different? Both are ailments, and both children deserve our sympathy, but the child being tested for depression is more likely to be looked at as being weak, or the parents are going to be looked at as if they've done something wrong. An important thing to remember is that most psychiatric disorders have a physical and biological cause. Most cases of depression are caused by a neurotransmitter imbalance, but somehow this is viewed as being different than abnormal cell growth causing cancer. Both of these illnesses have a very physical causative agent.
It's true that life choices can exacerbate an already existing psychiatric condition. For example, continuing to date someone who is abusive can make a depressed person's depression worse. So, should we judge these people because their choices have helped contribute to their illness? Before you say yes, keep in mind that a lot of physical ailments can be exacerbated by our life choices as well. How many health issues, especially in America, are made worse by our eating habits? We usually don't judge people for making decisions that helped lead to their cancer (except maybe for lung cancer) or any other ailment, so why should we do it with mental health issues.
Once again, until America wakes up and realizes that mental illness is an illness, not a weakness, we are not going to be able to solve many of our problems. And things like gun violence are only going to get worse.
Please don't judge someone who is dealing with a mental health issue. You have no idea what they are going for, just as you don't really know what someone with a severe illness is going through unless you've dealt with it yourself. There's no difference whatsoever between physical health issues and mental health issues. No difference at all!
Wednesday, October 07, 2015
Ecotastrophe II
Borrowed from the Nomadic Delirium Press website:
We're now looking for submissions for a new anthology...
ECOTASTROPHE II
In 2006, Sam’s Dot Publishing released an anthology about the effects of global climate change on humanity called Ecotastrophe. Now that it’s been almost ten years since the release, and global climate change still seems a possible threat to humanity, Nomadic Delirium Press has decided to release Ecotastrophe II. Like the original collection, this one will be edited by J Alan Erwine.
What we’re looking for: We want science fiction stories between 3,000 and 10,000 words that look at the effects of global climate change (preferably the extreme effects) on humanity and the other creatures of Earth. We’re not looking for stories about the change, but rather the effects of the change. Although we’d love to have a lot of stories that look at the hard science of climate change, we also want stories that look at the soft sciences. It’s important that the stories focus on the people, rather than the science, but we still want the science to be plausible.
What we’re paying: We will pay $10 for first rights to any story. We will also pay two contributor copies. If possible, we will increase this payment…but we can’t guarantee that.
Where to send your little gems: All submissions should be sent to editor (at) nomadicdeliriumpress (dot) com. Your subject should be “Ecotastrophe Submission”.
Response times: We will respond to all submissions within two months.
Publication date: We are shooting for a mid-Summer 2016 release.
Other questions: If you have any other questions, please send them to the submission address.
We're now looking for submissions for a new anthology...
ECOTASTROPHE II
In 2006, Sam’s Dot Publishing released an anthology about the effects of global climate change on humanity called Ecotastrophe. Now that it’s been almost ten years since the release, and global climate change still seems a possible threat to humanity, Nomadic Delirium Press has decided to release Ecotastrophe II. Like the original collection, this one will be edited by J Alan Erwine.
What we’re looking for: We want science fiction stories between 3,000 and 10,000 words that look at the effects of global climate change (preferably the extreme effects) on humanity and the other creatures of Earth. We’re not looking for stories about the change, but rather the effects of the change. Although we’d love to have a lot of stories that look at the hard science of climate change, we also want stories that look at the soft sciences. It’s important that the stories focus on the people, rather than the science, but we still want the science to be plausible.
What we’re paying: We will pay $10 for first rights to any story. We will also pay two contributor copies. If possible, we will increase this payment…but we can’t guarantee that.
Where to send your little gems: All submissions should be sent to editor (at) nomadicdeliriumpress (dot) com. Your subject should be “Ecotastrophe Submission”.
Response times: We will respond to all submissions within two months.
Publication date: We are shooting for a mid-Summer 2016 release.
Other questions: If you have any other questions, please send them to the submission address.
Monday, October 05, 2015
My preliminary MileHiCon schedule
Here is my preliminary schedule for MileHiCon. It's still subject to change, and I'm also hoping to add a signing. I'll post a complete schedule when we get closer to Con time...
Saturday at Noon: Game Publishing/Book Publishing: Similarities & Differences
Saturday at 2: You Always Remember Your First - get your minds out of the gutter...it's not what you think...
Sunday at 2: Trends in Publishing
Saturday at Noon: Game Publishing/Book Publishing: Similarities & Differences
Saturday at 2: You Always Remember Your First - get your minds out of the gutter...it's not what you think...
Sunday at 2: Trends in Publishing
Saturday, October 03, 2015
Royalties, royalties, and more royalties
September was one of those months when quite a few royalty payments showed up in the last couple of weeks, and although none of them were especially large, they did add up to what seemed like a decent chunk of change. The royalties did, for a while, make me feel like this whole writer/editor/game designer/publisher thing was actually working out. Then I stopped and thought about it and realized that all of those royalties together were less than what I make in one paycheck from my awful "real" job, and then I was sad.
Truth is, my income from all of these endeavors is increasing every year, although it's a gradual increase. Let's just say that if you were graphing them, I'm nowhere close to my income being asymptotic, but it's an increase nevertheless. At this rate, I should be able to support myself some time around my 200th birthday, and I'm pretty sure I'll be able to support my family before my 400th...
Truth is, my income from all of these endeavors is increasing every year, although it's a gradual increase. Let's just say that if you were graphing them, I'm nowhere close to my income being asymptotic, but it's an increase nevertheless. At this rate, I should be able to support myself some time around my 200th birthday, and I'm pretty sure I'll be able to support my family before my 400th...
Thursday, October 01, 2015
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
So much for that more blogging thing
I'd hoped to do more blogging this month, but that idea has gone completely out the window...
There's so much more to do in life now that we have a high schooler in our home. In addition to that, Rebecca is still working an insane amount of hours. She may be facing 19 straight days without a day off, and now my hours are starting to go up at my "real" job as we head into the Halloween season. Add to this the fact that I'm always so tired because of the medication for my chronic pain, and it's been hard to get anything done, and unfortunately, blogging is pretty far down my list of priorities.
I am excited that in two days Nomadic Delirium Press will be releasing Quantum Women by Tyree Campbell, and later in the month we will be releasing Crisis Averted by Laura Givens. Still, I have a long to-do list, and it seems like every time I cross one thing off, there are suddenly six more things on the list. One of these days I might catch up...
There's so much more to do in life now that we have a high schooler in our home. In addition to that, Rebecca is still working an insane amount of hours. She may be facing 19 straight days without a day off, and now my hours are starting to go up at my "real" job as we head into the Halloween season. Add to this the fact that I'm always so tired because of the medication for my chronic pain, and it's been hard to get anything done, and unfortunately, blogging is pretty far down my list of priorities.
I am excited that in two days Nomadic Delirium Press will be releasing Quantum Women by Tyree Campbell, and later in the month we will be releasing Crisis Averted by Laura Givens. Still, I have a long to-do list, and it seems like every time I cross one thing off, there are suddenly six more things on the list. One of these days I might catch up...
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Busy, busy, busy
I had planned on doing more blogging this month, but so far, that has been a complete failure. Life has just been too crazy busy of late to get stuff done. Eryn is doing marching band this year, and her first football game was last week, so we of course went to that. Then on Saturday she had her first competition, which meant being at her school at 7 in the morning. By the time we got home, it was almost 11 at night. Her band finished last in the competition, but they were also the smallest of all of the bands performing. Her school just doesn't have the funding to put together a really strong band, and I think this is a perfect example of yet another failure in American culture. We pour tons of money into the schools for football, basketball, and other sports, but ever time something has to be cut, the first thing that is attacked are the arts. This is a huge failure. While sports are important, the arts are even more important, but American culture no longer recognizes this.
In addition to all of Eryn's band stuff, Juliah started back to school, which of course means tons of shopping, tons of preparation, and in addition to all of this, Rebecca is still putting in a lot of hours, most weeks working six days, and while I'm not working a lot, I am working opposite of her schedule, which is stressful, since we're the type of couple that actually likes and wants to spend time with each other, so that puts a strain on both of us.
I have managed to get one of the books formatted that I needed to do, and I've started work on the second book that I need to get done, but I still haven't managed to make it to the post office to send off copies of The Martian Wave: 2015, but I am trying. Hopefully this week or next I will be able to get there.
The meds that my doctor put me on are helping with the pain, but unfortunately, they're still making me dizzy, and this reached a bad point yesterday when I was going to switch out some laundry. As I got to the door, I felt very dizzy, so I grabbed onto the door frame. The next thing I knew, I was on my back with my head bouncing against the floor like I was having a seizure, and my foot in the litter box. Apparently I blacked out. The worst part was that the only person that was here at the time was Alexis, so if I'd really been hurt, I might have been in trouble. I'm not sure if this means that I should try to switch meds, because I really don't want to. These meds are working, and even though I still have pain, it's nothing like I used to have. I actually feel like a functional human being again.
I guess I've wasted enough time on this post. Now I need to get back to work...
In addition to all of Eryn's band stuff, Juliah started back to school, which of course means tons of shopping, tons of preparation, and in addition to all of this, Rebecca is still putting in a lot of hours, most weeks working six days, and while I'm not working a lot, I am working opposite of her schedule, which is stressful, since we're the type of couple that actually likes and wants to spend time with each other, so that puts a strain on both of us.
I have managed to get one of the books formatted that I needed to do, and I've started work on the second book that I need to get done, but I still haven't managed to make it to the post office to send off copies of The Martian Wave: 2015, but I am trying. Hopefully this week or next I will be able to get there.
The meds that my doctor put me on are helping with the pain, but unfortunately, they're still making me dizzy, and this reached a bad point yesterday when I was going to switch out some laundry. As I got to the door, I felt very dizzy, so I grabbed onto the door frame. The next thing I knew, I was on my back with my head bouncing against the floor like I was having a seizure, and my foot in the litter box. Apparently I blacked out. The worst part was that the only person that was here at the time was Alexis, so if I'd really been hurt, I might have been in trouble. I'm not sure if this means that I should try to switch meds, because I really don't want to. These meds are working, and even though I still have pain, it's nothing like I used to have. I actually feel like a functional human being again.
I guess I've wasted enough time on this post. Now I need to get back to work...
Wednesday, September 02, 2015
Not much blogging last month
Last month was a very light month of blogging for me. Mostly because there were a couple of weeks there where I wasn't able to focus much. I had a nasty respiratory infection for a while that included a high fever, even forcing me to miss work (which I try my best not to do). Shortly after that, I went to the doctor about my chronic pain. We were able to get a referral to a surgeon, so hopefully at some point I'll be able to get in and see him, and maybe we'll get some answers. In the mean time, my doctor put me on a new med for the pain, which actually seems to be having an effect. However, and there's always a however, the medication has some difficult side effects. For one, I'm dizzy quite often. So much so that I actually did black out at one point, and at other times, I get these crazy tremors as I'm trying to regain my balance. In addition, I'm also much more tired than usual. All of this made for many unproductive weeks.
Now, I have to play catch up. I still need to get the copies of The Martian Wave sent out. I have two short story collections I need to edit for Nomadic Delirium Press. I have e-books to format, and who knows what else. It's going to be a busy September as I try to make up for everything I didn't get done in August.
Now, I have to play catch up. I still need to get the copies of The Martian Wave sent out. I have two short story collections I need to edit for Nomadic Delirium Press. I have e-books to format, and who knows what else. It's going to be a busy September as I try to make up for everything I didn't get done in August.
Tuesday, September 01, 2015
Monday, August 31, 2015
The Fifth Di... September 2015
Borrowed from the Nomadic Delirium Press website...
A new issue of The Fifth Di... is now available, and it's still just $1!!!!
The Fifth Di..., one of the longest running on-line zines continues on with four new stories. This month we feature fantasy and science fiction stories from Fredrick Obermeyer, Tim McDaniel, Kate Runnels, and Thomas Canfield.
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/573600
A new issue of The Fifth Di... is now available, and it's still just $1!!!!
The Fifth Di..., one of the longest running on-line zines continues on with four new stories. This month we feature fantasy and science fiction stories from Fredrick Obermeyer, Tim McDaniel, Kate Runnels, and Thomas Canfield.
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/573600
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica: Sectors Forty-Two & Forty-Three
The exploration of "Deep Space" begins.
These sectors are home to many Julahmo colonies, and of course, wherever the Julahmo go, the Ernya and the Khruntha are sure to follow. There's a lot of unexplored areas, and only partially explored areas, plus there are a lot of mysteries waiting for brave...or foolish explorers...
Start your exploration of "Deep Space" by ordering at http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/155085/The-Ephemeris-Encyclopedia-Galactica-Sectors-FortyTwo--FortyThree
These sectors are home to many Julahmo colonies, and of course, wherever the Julahmo go, the Ernya and the Khruntha are sure to follow. There's a lot of unexplored areas, and only partially explored areas, plus there are a lot of mysteries waiting for brave...or foolish explorers...
Start your exploration of "Deep Space" by ordering at http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/155085/The-Ephemeris-Encyclopedia-Galactica-Sectors-FortyTwo--FortyThree
Saturday, August 15, 2015
The Martian Wave: 2015 is here!
Borrowed from the Nomadic Delirium Press blog:
Today is the official release of The Martian Wave: 2015!!!
The Martian Wave: 2015 brings you stories and poems that look at humanity’s exploration and colonization of space, with a special emphasis on our solar system. Within these pages you’ll find stranded astronauts, potentially dangerous aliens, people struggling with dangerous indigenous life, and dangerous thoughts from their own minds, plus much much more.
You can order from us at: http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/product/the-martian-wave-2015
You can order the e-book at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/561565
You can order from Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0120XUMR0
You can order from Barnes & Noble at: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-martian-wave-j-alan-erwine/1122344012?ean=2940152042474
Today is the official release of The Martian Wave: 2015!!!
The Martian Wave: 2015 brings you stories and poems that look at humanity’s exploration and colonization of space, with a special emphasis on our solar system. Within these pages you’ll find stranded astronauts, potentially dangerous aliens, people struggling with dangerous indigenous life, and dangerous thoughts from their own minds, plus much much more.
You can order from us at: http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/product/the-martian-wave-2015
You can order the e-book at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/561565
You can order from Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0120XUMR0
You can order from Barnes & Noble at: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-martian-wave-j-alan-erwine/1122344012?ean=2940152042474
Saturday, August 08, 2015
One week until release
The Martian Wave: 2015 brings you stories and poems that look at humanity’s exploration and colonization of space, with a special emphasis on our solar system. Within these pages you’ll find stranded astronauts, potentially dangerous aliens, people struggling with dangerous indigenous life, and dangerous thoughts from their own minds, plus much much more.
Tuesday, August 04, 2015
Pain update
Regular readers of this blog know that I suffer from chronic pain, and I do get an occasional e-mail asking how I'm doing, so I figured an update was in order. The simple answer is...not well. The pain has gotten quite a bit worse in the last couple of months with an average day being around a 3 on a ten point scale. Although that might not sound bad, that's constant pain no matter what I'm doing. At best, I occasionally have a day where I'm at a 1, but those are becoming more and more rare, and I never have a day where I don't deal with pain.
The last week has been especially bad with the pain level being up around a 5, and last night I overdid it at work while helping to move some boxes around. After I was done, I actually almost blacked out from the pain, and this morning I'm up around a 6 or 7. If I stop moving and breathing, it helps ease the pain, but I don't see those as viable options at this point in time as a long term cure.
Now that I have insurance again, we're trying to get me in to our doctor, but so far, he hasn't had appointments that fit our schedule. We're both working, and we have back to school for the kids, so there aren't many options for us at this time. Rebecca absolutely has to go to the appointments with me since this is going to certainly have an impact on her, since I'm now pretty much convinced that I will eventually have to go under the knife, especially as long as I continue to work in retail, where lifting is almost a must.
I've looked into the rules for qualifying for disability, and it's like jumping through flaming hoops, and since I have a college education and could be retrained, it would be much harder to qualify...although I have to be able to work opposite of Rebecca's day job so that one of us is always here for the kids. It kind of sucks that if I'd dropped out of high school and had no skills, I might be able to get help...
For now, I soldier on, and try to do my best to not make the pain even worse...and that's not easy, considering I've popped ribs by sneezing...
The last week has been especially bad with the pain level being up around a 5, and last night I overdid it at work while helping to move some boxes around. After I was done, I actually almost blacked out from the pain, and this morning I'm up around a 6 or 7. If I stop moving and breathing, it helps ease the pain, but I don't see those as viable options at this point in time as a long term cure.
Now that I have insurance again, we're trying to get me in to our doctor, but so far, he hasn't had appointments that fit our schedule. We're both working, and we have back to school for the kids, so there aren't many options for us at this time. Rebecca absolutely has to go to the appointments with me since this is going to certainly have an impact on her, since I'm now pretty much convinced that I will eventually have to go under the knife, especially as long as I continue to work in retail, where lifting is almost a must.
I've looked into the rules for qualifying for disability, and it's like jumping through flaming hoops, and since I have a college education and could be retrained, it would be much harder to qualify...although I have to be able to work opposite of Rebecca's day job so that one of us is always here for the kids. It kind of sucks that if I'd dropped out of high school and had no skills, I might be able to get help...
For now, I soldier on, and try to do my best to not make the pain even worse...and that's not easy, considering I've popped ribs by sneezing...
Saturday, August 01, 2015
Friday, July 24, 2015
Christmas in July
Borrowed from the Nomadic Delirium Press blog:
For the rest of July DriveThruFiction and DriveThruRPG are running a Christmas in July sale. During this time, you can pick up our titles for 25% off. This is a chance to pick up some of our fiction, or any of the Ephemeris titles that you might need to complete your collection. Simply go to http://www.drivethrufiction.com/browse/pub/2805/Nomadic-Delirium-Press or http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/2805/Nomadic-Delirium-Press. The sale prices are already programmed in.
For the rest of July DriveThruFiction and DriveThruRPG are running a Christmas in July sale. During this time, you can pick up our titles for 25% off. This is a chance to pick up some of our fiction, or any of the Ephemeris titles that you might need to complete your collection. Simply go to http://www.drivethrufiction.com/browse/pub/2805/Nomadic-Delirium-Press or http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/2805/Nomadic-Delirium-Press. The sale prices are already programmed in.
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Mental health treatment in America
A few days ago, the Aurora theater shooter trial came to an end with the accused being found guilty on all counts. No doubt this creature was crazy...after all, no one in their right mind would think about doing what he did, but clearly the jury decided that he was not insane, which is a legal term and not a psychiatric term. Basically, even though he was nuts, he was well aware that what he was doing was wrong, and that's the reason why he will either get life without parole or death.
The biggest problem I have with this whole scenario is that even though this creature was seeking treatment, he obviously never got all of the help that he really needed. And for that, the fault lies with insurance companies and the way that Americans view mental illness.
That might sound crazy, but stay with me for a minute. Many insurance companies do not cover mental health issues the same way they do physical health issues. For many, they pay a smaller percentage, leaving he patient to pay high bills, and mental health treatment can be expensive. In addition, many insurance companies severely limit the number of caretakers in their network, also making it harder for people to seek treatment. Major hospitals might be in the network of an insurance company for physical health issues, but not mental health issues. This doesn't make sense to me. Mental illness is just as real as physical illness. In the majority of cases, there is a biological reason for the mental illness, but somehow it's different in the eyes of the insurance companies.
This difference probably comes from the way that Americans view mental illness. A large number of Americans think that the mentally ill are weak. Basically saying that a person who suffers from depression is weak and just needs to grow a backbone, or some other stupid comment that you might expect to hear from people. This is like saying that a person who gets cancer is somehow physically weak. We don't shun and shame people with cancer, why should we do it with people suffering from mental illness?
I've known a lot of wonderful and a lot of strong people that have suffered from depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses, and it wasn't their fault, and yet America somehow blames them. This is wrong in so many ways, and this, in addition to the insurance BS, is a big reason why people who are suffering never seek treatment, and this can lead to the creation of monsters like the Aurora Theater shooter.
Wake up, America! Mental illness is no different than physical illness, and it's about time that we start treating them the same.
The biggest problem I have with this whole scenario is that even though this creature was seeking treatment, he obviously never got all of the help that he really needed. And for that, the fault lies with insurance companies and the way that Americans view mental illness.
That might sound crazy, but stay with me for a minute. Many insurance companies do not cover mental health issues the same way they do physical health issues. For many, they pay a smaller percentage, leaving he patient to pay high bills, and mental health treatment can be expensive. In addition, many insurance companies severely limit the number of caretakers in their network, also making it harder for people to seek treatment. Major hospitals might be in the network of an insurance company for physical health issues, but not mental health issues. This doesn't make sense to me. Mental illness is just as real as physical illness. In the majority of cases, there is a biological reason for the mental illness, but somehow it's different in the eyes of the insurance companies.
This difference probably comes from the way that Americans view mental illness. A large number of Americans think that the mentally ill are weak. Basically saying that a person who suffers from depression is weak and just needs to grow a backbone, or some other stupid comment that you might expect to hear from people. This is like saying that a person who gets cancer is somehow physically weak. We don't shun and shame people with cancer, why should we do it with people suffering from mental illness?
I've known a lot of wonderful and a lot of strong people that have suffered from depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses, and it wasn't their fault, and yet America somehow blames them. This is wrong in so many ways, and this, in addition to the insurance BS, is a big reason why people who are suffering never seek treatment, and this can lead to the creation of monsters like the Aurora Theater shooter.
Wake up, America! Mental illness is no different than physical illness, and it's about time that we start treating them the same.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
