celebrating "the reject bin"

[Eddi]

In the UK there was a 1980s children's TV show that taught children to be kind to society's rejects and that there is no shame to being a reject (should they ever become one!) and that there is nothing to fear from a person simply because they are a reject

As one of society's rejects I think it is good to teach the non-rejected to have compassion on us

(And yes, I am very much a reject)

I mean we have a right to exist and to expect to be treated with respect and dignity and stuff....

The show was called The Raggy Dolls and is about the adventures of some sentient soft toys who have been rejected by a soft toy factory's quality control procedures!

It humanises the insane, the hopeless, and the sub-normal - in The Raggy Dolls these character literally live in a giant bin marked "REJECT" which the highly catchy and upbeat lyrics refer to as "the reject bin"

It's hardly subtle and it encourages the viewer to identify with these "raggy dolls"

But here's the thing: All the non-reject dolls are insentient

So perhaps by being rejected by The System one ascends to a higher level?????

On this video there is the (catchy as hell) theme tune and following that the credits, in which The Raggy Dolls climb into their giant bin marked "REJECT" and wave happily and unthreateningly at the non-rejects:

I'm quite happy living in the reject bin amongst other rejects, I can imagine far worse company that I could be keeping and I do have friends who are not rejects!

It is not awful and there is no shame in it

I freely admit to being a reject and am resigned to forever living in the reject bin

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

(And yes, I am very much a reject)

May I ask why? (The label is not used here in the U.S.)

 

[Eddi]

May I ask why? (The label is not used here in the U.S.)

Since 2004 I have had "paranoid schizophrenia" - that diagnosis alone puts you into a bad category of people, as far as society is concerned

That is not a label anyone wants!

As far as I am aware there are no positive stereotypes when it comes to schizophrenia - quite the reverse!

The 20th anniversary of my initial breakdown is only a few weeks away, I consider each of those 20 years to be a year well wasted

I cannot function well enough to be able to live a normal life, just can't thanks to negative symptoms

(see this link)

Schizophrenia - Wikipedia

I also suffer from terrible bouts of depression and my thoughts sometimes take me to some very bleak places

I am disorganised and almost always going through some kind of psychotic belief which distracts me from reality

And I never have a solid, regular sleeping pattern - it is all over the place and the meds that I absolutely have to take don't help this

If I were to stop taking my meds for say maybe a week's time I would definitely end up on a psychiatric ward, last happened in 2016, won't make that mistake again!

But the thing is, I really hate those meds, they make me fat and sluggish

Also, I experience a being who communicates with me directly by touch which often encourages me to think mad thoughts

I am actually an official reject, if there is a reject bin then I'm definitely in it

We don't use the term "reject" formally in the UK either, but it's clear that there is a reject bin

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

@Eddi, thanks for the explanation. Your situation sound exceedingly bleak. Are you getting the help you need? Is anything improving?

 

[Eddi]

@Eddi, thanks for the explanation. Your situation sound exceedingly bleak. Are you getting the help you need? Is anything improving?

Yes, it is pretty bleak!

But I'm resigned to it

So long as I take my meds things will be OK

I have actually been discharged from the community mental health team (which is a part of the local National Health Service) because my condition has been judged "chronic" as opposed to "acute" and they only have the resources to be able to look after those with acute illnesses, who are in more urgent need

I no longer have a psychiatrist and the mental health people class me as stable. The person I've been assigned to is a nurse, I see him every month when I go and pick up my monthly supply of anti-psychotic medication - every month he asks if I'm OK and I just tell him I'm the same as ever, which is usually the case. That's all the contact I have with the mental health system and I don't think I actually need any more

I have a supportive family and friends too, which is great

But no, things aren't improving and I don't expect them to but then at lest they aren't getting any worse!

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I'm quite happy living in the reject bin amongst other rejects, I can imagine far worse company that I could be keeping and I do have friends who are not rejects!

Me too. My friends are all in low places, but as far as I can tell that just helps people to function as better people.
It's those normies you have to worry about. They LOVE to pretend they're so in control they don't realize one combination ofbad gene being activated, one accident, poverty-inducing accident away from the Reject Bin.
But my rejects, outcasts, misfits and other sorts have been the best friends I've had or could ask for, especially the Juggalos (fans of ICP, largely and mostly those who came from poverty and had difficult childhoods), a group that embraces being an outcast.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

I have a supportive family and friends too, which is great

I am truly glad that this is the case. I just wish there was more that the system could do for you.

 

[ChristineM]

@Eddi
Can i ask what medication you are on? My brother in law is paranoid schizophrenic, he was hospitalised just before Christmas because he fired the nhs and wasn't taking his meds. He now gets full support, he takes aripiprazole. Although he now can function quite well It doesn't seem to be as effective as he would like but he dreads the idea of being moved onto clozapine.

 

[Eddi]

@Eddi
Can i ask what medication you are on? My brother in law is paranoid schizophrenic, he was hospitalised just before Christmas because he fired the nhs and wasn't taking his meds. He now gets full support, he takes aripiprazole. Although he now can function quite well It doesn't seem to be as effective as he would like but he dreads the idea of being moved onto clozapine.

I'm on the mighty Clozapine

None of the others worked for me, they all did nothing and I've been on at least three or four others

They call Clozapine "the drug of last resort" for "treatment-resistant schizophrenia"

It hasn't eliminated my schizophrenia but it has made me much, much less psychotic and also calms me down a lot

When I stopped taking it in 2016 I ended up getting sectioned for a few weeks until they re-started my dose and waited for it to kick back in

 

[ChristineM]

I'm on the mighty Clozapine

None of the others worked for me, they all did nothing and I've been on at least three or four others

They call Clozapine "the drug of last resort" for "treatment-resistant schizophrenia"

It hasn't eliminated my schizophrenia but it has made me much, much less psychotic and also calms me down a lot

When I stopped taking it in 2016 I ended up getting sectioned for a few weeks until they re-started my dose and waited for it to kick back in

Thanks, it may be that's what my brother in law needs. We've talked about it, he really hates the thought of clozapine for the reason you mentioned in post #3

 

[Eddi]

Thanks, it may be that's what my brother in law needs. We've talked about it, he really hates the thought of clozapine for the reason you mentioned in post #3

You mean how it makes people fat and drowsy?

It most certainly does!

But there is an upside to that, it makes people much less psychotic - although for me it hasn't expelled the demon, but it has improved my thought-patterns so I don't pay it as much attention!

 

[Eddi]

@ChristineM

The way I see it I can be fat and sluggish and not constantly tormented by mad thoughts.......

Or I can be slim and active but totally at the whim of mad thoughts

I'd rather be as fat and sluggish as I currently am than less fat and sluggish and even more insane!

 

[ChristineM]

You mean how it makes people fat and drowsy?

It most certainly does!

But there is an upside to that, it makes people much less psychotic - although for me it hasn't expelled the demon, but it has improved my thought-patterns so I don't pay it as much attention!

Yes, he's very sharp on his body image, gym every day etc, and with the meds he's on now he's sleeping 14 hours a day and doesn't like that and clozapine will probably make that worse.

 

[ChristineM]

@ChristineM

The way I see it I can be fat and sluggish and not constantly tormented by mad thoughts.......

Or I can be slim and active but totally at the whim of mad thoughts

I'd rather be as fat and sluggish as I currently am than less fat and sluggish and even more insane!

Yes, i understand that. Last year when he wasn't taking meds it was bad, i was never sure whether the police would phone me with bad news. I just wish he'd see it that way.

 

[Eddi]

Yes, he's very sharp on his body image, gym every day etc, and with the meds he's on now he's sleeping 14 hours a day and doesn't like that and clozapine will probably make that worse.

Does his physical activity give him a boost to his mental health?

I remember runner's buzz from when I used to go jogging!

Also, I doubt the Clozapine would make him sleep more than 14 hours a day

I currently sleep either 12 or 13 max

I cannot imagine sleeping any more than 14 hours, that just wouldn't be possible for me

So I don't think he should be worried on that count although granted, it would probably make getting exercise much more of a challenge

Why not see if he could try it out for a bit?

Everyone reacts differently to every medicine, perhaps he wouldn't get the same side effects as me?

Drowsiness is not an inevitable side-effect

 

[ChristineM]

Does his physical activity give him a boost to his mental health?

I remember runner's buzz from when I used to go jogging!

Also, I doubt the Clozapine would make him sleep more than 14 hours a day

I currently sleep either 12 or 13 max

I cannot imagine sleeping any more than 14 hours, that just wouldn't be possible for me

So I don't think he should be worried on that count although granted, it would probably make getting exercise much more of a challenge

Why not see if he could try it out for a bit?

Everyone reacts differently to every medicine, perhaps he wouldn't get the same side effects as me?

Drowsiness is not an inevitable side-effect

His gym sessions help

Thanks for the advice, I'll talk to him in the morning, he sees his nurse and psychologist tomorrow.

 

[Eddi]

His gym sessions help

Thanks for the advice, I'll talk to him in the morning, he sees his nurse and psychologist tomorrow.

I hope it goes well for him

 

[Wirey]

I assumed this post was about my dating career.