YouTube Digger

Our month of madness and mania would not be complete withut a peek into the world’s most famous asylum — Bethlehem Royal Hospital, better known as Bedlam (and, yes, the source for our word “bedlam”.)

Trying to treat the insane is baffling today — but imagine what it must have been like hundreds of years ago. Thousands of years ago, the insane would have either perished at the mouths of sabre-toothed tigers or risen to become the undisputed leader of their tribe. But hundred of years ago began the notion that everyone deserves some sort of care and that everyone can be cured.

Unfortunately, what came up was arguably not much better than letting get a person tough it out in the woods. It’s because of Bedlam that anyone is terrified of being diagnosed as having a metal illness like depression because they were scared of getting tossed in a modern equivielent of Bedlam. But there’s a big difference between a person with major depression — who still has a grip on reality — and someone who thinks the neighbor’s dog is the Devil.

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In our month-long look at madness, we’ve looked at symptoms of madness, medical conditions that can be confused with madness and illnesses that can bring on madness. But, if you are an alcoholic, you can also induce madness by going off the drink. It’s worse if you stay on the drink, but in going sober you have to pass through a fun stage known as delirium tremens, or the DTs.

I’ve never gone through this, but I used to live with a career alcoholic. The first time I was able to help him through the DTs until someone could slip him a tranquilizer. That was relatively begin. He babbled about God talking to him, being shown visions about the meaning of life and having the trees talk to him. The best that it got was when he saw and heard a concert pianist and a grand piano up in the top of an oak tree. The worst that it got was when he was convinced that we were being surrounded by vampires and zombies.

But he could not stay off the sauce. Eventually, he went off again and after a few days, the DTs returned. The second time was not so good. At the end of it, I was the one who went to the hospital.

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Not that you aren’t already paranoid enough about getting sick or going insane, but now we’re going to take a look at a little known illness called Huntingdon’s disease, also known as Huntingdon’s chorea. It’s a gradual disease that kills off brain cells in large numbers. It causes the victim to lose bodily coordination, the ability to take care of himself and eventually, all reason. It is not a contagious disease.

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Earlier this month, YouTube Digger looked at mania. Now, we’re going to take a look at it’s more common and less severe younger sibling, hypomania (sometimes nicknamed “mania lite”).

Hypomania is a symptom of mental illness but it doesn’t mean that ther person is dangerous or needs to be committed to an asylum. Hypomania often happens to people suffering with bipolar disorder. However, hypomania can be really disruptive in a person’s life. Even though many people with hypomania report feeling euphoric, they still may not be able to make decisions, may not remember to keep commitmits and can really tick off family and friends. Many people with hypomania can manage their condition with medications and with practices like keeping a journal or entering therapy.

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People with autism aren’t insane, although the popular belief is that they are. I’m including autism in our month-long look at madness just because so many people are under the impression that autistic people are insane or psychotic.

This is because they can have several problems in communicating with others or that they have the mental capacity of an infant. Once you get to know a person with autism, there tends to be a kind of logic in the things that they do that at first seem crazy, such as flapping their arms, walking in tight circles or rocking constantly. (Actually, rocking constantly can get very soothing, no matter if you’re autistic or not.)

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David Berkowitz (”Son of Sam”, but his real name was Richard David Falco) killed six women and wounded countless others. He also killed countless animals just for the heck of it and comitted arsonist. He terrorized New York City — wouldn’t that make him a terrorist?

He’s still alive, and still just as dangerous as in the mid-seventies, when he went on his infamous crime spree. Only now, instead of showing his psychosis through acts of violence, he is trying to ingratiate and seduce others into caring for him because he’s been supposedly “Born Again”.

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The fun continues here at YouTube Digger as we continue looking at YouTube clips devoted to various aspects of madness. Today, we’ll take a look at mercury poisoning. Hey, you can’t blame all forms of madness on genetics (such as you can with some forms of mental illness that induces psychosis.)

Mercury (or quicksilver) used to be a comon element in many industries, but now it’s being phased out due to risks of mercury poisoning. Even dental fillings are starting to come in other materials other than the usual quasi-reliable mercury fillings. However, mercury is now being blamed for everything from autism to bad plot lines in soap operas.

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In the first part of our look at YouTube’s look at Rasputin (the Mad Monk of Russia — not to be confused with the horrible Eddie Murphy character Rasputina), we focused mainly on how this charismatic and crazy character was portrayed in the movies. But what we do we know about the real guy? Quite a bit. People apparently loved to write about him when they met him. Rasputin was a guy you either loved or hated. There wasn’t any middle ground with him.

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Our month-long look at madness continues with a look at a common symtom of psychosis: hallucinations. These can be not just seeing things that aren’t there or hearing things that aren’t there but also smelling things that aren’t there.

These vary in intensity from person to person, depending on how healthy the person is and what the cause of the hallucinations are. For example, the hallucinations may be mild, as in you see a person sitting on a couch that isn’t there — yet the chair is.

Hallucinations can happen very briefly, or for some time. If they repeat or last longer than a few hours, I’d really urge you tocall someone. If you are too worried to call a doctor, then call a trusted friend or loved one who you can talk to and they can help you get back to reality. But if the symptoms still persist, please see a doctor. The hallucinations could be the result of a deep seated illness that needs attention.

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Our month-long look at madness continues with a symptom of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, drug abuse and pyschosis, mania. The presense of mania does not necessarily mean that your loved one is insane. They just are not able to properly perceive reality. Also, takng a new perscription medication like an antidepressant may cause mania in some people (which means the cure is pretty simple). Mania is manageable. Anyone who has mania is not a lost cause.

Mania happens in different degrees in everyone who gets it. Some people just talk really fast, don’t seem too aware of what’s going on and have insomnia, yet they feel great. Other people see Satan popping out from behind the refrigerator and instructs them on who they should kill. However, many people who have hallucinations still have the sense of mind to realize that something is not right.

The following YouTube clips are descriptions of what people do when they are in the grips of mania.

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Recently, I haven’t been able to post as often as I should here on YouTube Digger due to wind problems — no, not problems with intestinal gas, but the thing that blows around outside. The wind plays heck with the cable broadband and keeps knocking out my Internet. One day I may be able to afford wireless, but where’s the fun in that?

This got me thinking about how powerful the wind is, whether it’s a Force 5 tornado or a means to fly kites. And we better get used to the wind, as with climate change, things will get a wee bit windy in many areas that have previously known a distinct lack of movement in the air. So, let’s take a look at the power of the wind in the glory that is YouTube.

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OMG, it’s that’s time of year already! Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten Peter Gabriel’s birthday again. Wrong news reports in the 1980’s claimed that PG’s birthday was actually May 13 and that’s still in some celebrity b-day databases. I think PG personally started those rumors just so he’d get more presents.

What — you don’t know who Peter Gabriel is??? He’s the British singer-songwriter that was the original frontman for Genesis and then began a successful solo career in 1977, including Shock the Monkey, Sledgehammer and Solsbury Hill. For some reason, many of the songs titles beginning with “S” did very well. He’s also been one of the biggest influences in music videos and bringing world music to the attention of the West (although he’s not too fond of the label world music. “I’m not aware of any musical acts coming from Jupiter,” he once said.)

He’s also started two charities, Witness and The Elders, which both support human rights. His other babies include Real World Studios in Box, England and his four children Anne-Marie, Melanie, Issac and Luc.
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I have a client who wants me to write about how Bangledesh should become more eco-friendly and cut down on urban sprawl. Is he kidding me? The poor people in Bangledesh are probably looking forward to the end of the world. Ecological Armageddon would probably be a relief.

Does any good news ever come out of Bangledesh? It seems that’s a place set up to be as bad as possible so their governments rake in all of the charity money. Not that the people (or other critters) of Bangledesh ever see any of it. The first big charity rock concert was in 1971 for Bangledesh, organized by ex-Beatle George Harrison. Fat lot of good that did. But it does make for some interesting YouTube clips.

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On this date fifty years ago, American sports broadcaster and political commentator Keith Olbermann was born, most likely with a microphone in the place of an umbilical cord. He’s one of those celebrities you either love or hate. (Guess which side I’m on?) He’s spending his 50th in Florida covering some sort of sporting event involving large men in helmets and a lot of snack food.

I love Keith, but I’m not watching football just to hear his commentary. If I ever do that, you know it’s time to call the men in the nice white coats.

No, I’m more a fan of his political news show, Countdown with Keith Olbermann that appears 8pm weeknights on MSNBC. He’s described the show as “news done by silly people.” There are a few things you need to know before watching a broadcast of this show. First, it’s devoted to American politics, so sorry all non-American viewers. That’s where I come in to help.
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Last time on YouTube Digger, I did a post entitiled “Hackney Horse People Are Nuts” and now all I can think is:

Mmmm…..nuts!

Of course, there is a peanut butter product recall currently going on the United States, and that has driven my craving for peanut butter and peanut butter products through the freakin’ roof. There’s nothing like the government teling you “Don’t eat that” in order to really make you want to eat something. Especially since the government is paranoid about a few deaths from salmonella, while meanwhile, drunk driving fatalities…anyway, I think you know where I’m going with that.

So, in honour of nuts of all kinds, here’s a sampling of nut-related YouTube video clips. Enjoy.
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