Mental illness and owning parrots

[GaleriaGila]

Well said, friends. WE are not our ILLNESES... mental or physical.

Furthermore, I know of some folks who have no mental or physical diagnoses, yet are unfit for pet ownership.

Good sharing. Brave.

 

[eagle18]

I'll say it again, I have a severe mental disorder (Bipolar II) and I take very good care of my parrots and they have really helped me. Just because I have severe symptoms does not mean that I'm irresponsible, dangerous or incapable, and the same goes for people with Schizophrenia and other mental disorders.

You really took my reply and turned it into something it definitely was NOT.

I am aware that people suffering from schizophrenia can lead productive lives as long as they take their medication.

I never said that ALL people who have the unfortunate luck to have depression anxiety, etc shouldn't have a bird.

But birds can be noisy and demanding. They posses neither the independence, warmth, or empathy of either a dog or cat.

And for the BIRD'S SAKE, how you deal with those ailments, is something that you need to be aware of.

And something about an Amazon parrot missing it's feathers, which is now an active topic on this site, is well worth reading.

 

[reeb]

...That is just a stereotype and a misunderstanding.



In western society there is a general trend to diminish and misunderstand the mentally ill, and through that process many people don't feel able to speak up and get the help that they need, or they are straight up rejected by the people around them. Mental disorders like schizophrenia can be treated and people can live stable and full lives on medication and treatment. They are fully capable human beings, capable of love, capable of care, and more than capable to have responsibilities.



I'll say it again, I have a severe mental disorder (Bipolar II) and I take very good care of my parrots and they have really helped me. Just because I have severe symptoms does not mean that I'm irresponsible, dangerous or incapable, and the same goes for people with Schizophrenia and other mental disorders.

WHAT REEB SAID!
-we are people
-we are adults
-we are not our illnesses
-we have rights
-we have strategies
-we have treatments
-we have tools.

I know you are not TRYING to be nasty, but it FEELS like you are. You don’t know us, you don’t know what our strengths or weaknesses are.



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^^ this is so important.

 

[Anansi]

Hey, all. Let's keep in mind how sensitive a subject this is for many of our members, and endeavor to do all that we can to respect that. Eagle, you've made your point and defended it with vigor, so by now people have the choice of either agreeing with your thoughts on the matter or agreeing to disagree.

Discussing it further, however, will continue to take this thread off from it's original subject, namely the effect (for good or ill) of keeping parrots on those with mental illness. (As opposed to this current debate which has actually come to focus on the right and fitness of anyone with mental illness to keep a parrot. Quite a different topic, that.) So let's try and come back to the original course of this thread. Thanks, everyone.

 

[ChristaNL]

OKay- here we go (again)
I've had soooo many "oh then it must be this" diagnoses over the years I know al lot of the DSM (-IV and) -V by heart.
CSS/CFS/ADD/dysthymia and autism are the best and or latest in a long line of guesses and near/far misses
(Autism is the go-to-diagnosis at the moment, so it is hard to take it seriously, but it is a great excuse in a lot of situations that make me queasy ... so I can learn to live with that one if I have to )

I belong to the 50 (or more) percent of the population that gets zero benefits from any type of anti-depressants.
(yup- I have been through the lot! Contemplaiting magic mushrooms or ketamine for my next deep dip. )

-> that is where the parrots come in!

Being (that one at least everyone agrees upon) chronically depressed makes for a challenging existence ... so how about some extra ones?
Sure- why not?
As long as they are not about me - I can handle that!

But (grinnn, playing the autism card here and will not even try to phrase this in a more tactfull way) if you cannot take (good) care of yourself, then you have no business raising children or having animals that are solely dependent on you!
Just DONT.

The days that I can hardly force myself to provide even basic care for my animals are the worst - apart from being miserable, numbed to the gills and flat out exhausted - there come the feelings of guilt and worries about their future.
On every other day: they always make it better with their crazy demands and the 1001 challenges that come with having some way-too-smart characters sharing my life.

Everyone should have (just like the birdy first aid kit) a worst-case-scenario written out somewhere easy to find.
Whether you have a mental illness/ weak spots/ or not: if something happens to you, there should be a script (for short absences, longer of even permanent ones).

But ... oh- the hilarious moment when the evaluating (student)shrink asks the age-old-question: "Do you hear voices (when there a no other people around)?"
and the answer is obviously "yes, but only if the parrots are awake... "


.

 

[Just-Passn-Thru]

I will neither confirm or deny my mental state.

All I can say is that if it hadn't been for all the wonderful animals that have shared my life so far, I would surely be a complete lunatic.

I like animals a lot more than the vast majority of people I've met or known.

I Ditto that...enough said LOL!

 

[Just-Passn-Thru]

OKay- here we go (again)
I've had soooo many "oh then it must be his" diagnoses over the years I know al lot of the DSM (-IV and) -V by heart.
CSS/CFS/ADD/dysthymia and autism are the best and or latest in a long line of guesses and near/far misses
(Autism is the go-to-diagnosis at the moment, so it is hard to take it seriously, but it is a great excuse in a lot of situations that make me queasy ... so I can learn to live with that one if I have to )

I belong to the 50 (of more) percent of the population that gets zero benefits from any type of anti-depressants.
(yup- I have been through the lot! Contemplaiting magic mushrooms or ketamine for my next deep dip. )

-> that is where the parrots come in!

Being (that one at least everyone agrees upon) chronically depressed makes for a challenging existence ... so how about some extra ones?
Sure- why not?
As long as they are not about me - I can handle that!

But (grinnn, playing the autism card here and will not even try to phrase this in a more tactfull way) if you cannot take (good) care of yourself, then you have no business raising children of having animals that are solely dependent on you!
Just DONT.

The days that I can hardly force myself to provide even basic care for my animals are the worst - apart from being miserable, numbed to the gills and flat out exhausted - there come the feelings of guilt and worries about their future.
On every other day: they always make it better with their crazy demands and the 1001 challenges that come with having some way-too-smart characters sharing my life.

Everyone should have (just like the birdy first aid kit) a worst-case-scenario written out somewhere easy to find.
Whether you have a mental illness/ weak spots/ or not: if something happens to you, there should be a script (for short absences, longer of even permanent ones).

But ... oh- the hilarious moment when the evaluating (student)shrink asks the age-old-question: "Do you hear voices (when there a no other people around)?"
and the answer is obviously "yes, but only if the parrots are awake... "

Ha ! Ha! funny and true

 

[texsize]

I guess I should throw my hat in.

When I was in kindergarten I came down with encephalitis and was hospitalized for at least a week. After this happened I started exhibiting the symptoms of OCD (back then the term had not been invented). I had ticks mostly related to jerking my head to the left. I would make noises sniffing and snocking, and I would count when switching light switches on and off. I had to come up with an even number 2,4,6 etc. and that caused me to flip the light switch rapidly on/off while counting.

I was given a mild sedative and over time I was able to reduce/control the desire/compulsions of doing these things.

To this day it's something that is close to the surface. I have to be carful not to start up again lest I loose control of it.

texsize

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

The ONLY reason I haven't eaten my 357 is because of Amy and BB! If I was not here,WHO would give Amy his heart meds? Who would take him for car rides?? Who would give BB loveys???? My brother???? He knows squat about birdies and Amy would just sit locked up in his house til he died,or be sent off to a sanctuary.. I have nightmares of this! "Why am I here? What did I do wrong??? Where is DAD????" I wake up in a sweat!!!


" Uncle DJ" would probably take both,but the way he treats Pookie at times makes me want to throw up,and I see Amy getting the same treatment.

Amy is eating good now,NO MORE SEEDS Eats his Roudytush pellets and birdie muffins,and I see DJ just giving him seed again,afterall..that's what Pookie gets,except for an occasional banana or piece of pasta/pizza. ( Oh Pookie wont eat anything else )

In the past twenty-two years I have had three heart attacks and double bypass. Bad tickers run in my family ( Thanks Dad ) my house is in forclosure, I'm on disability ect ect ect.. Depressed??? Ya THINK??? If it weren't for the unconditional love from my fids and knowing they need ME for their proper survival and enrichment..


Jim

 

[itzjbean]

I will neither confirm or deny my mental state.

All I can say is that if it hadn't been for all the wonderful animals that have shared my life so far, I would surely be a complete lunatic.

I like animals a lot more than the vast majority of people I've met or known.

I Ditto that...enough said LOL!

I am glad to see this thread coming back into discussion.

I have a deep passion for animals also (I like them more than most people I've met) and I truly believe that they have helped me to be more responsible, aware, and more present in the now. Knowing it's up to me to care for them to ensure they thrive and stay happy, that's what keeps getting me out of bed in the morning. I don't think I can be without any pets, they show me endless love and affection. And I'm one of those people that likes taking care of things...I like growing plants, too.

I would consider owning pets therapeutic. It keeps my mind working to know I have to take care of them. Like taking care of kids, their needs come before my own most times.

 

[dhraiden]

I will neither confirm or deny my mental state.

All I can say is that if it hadn't been for all the wonderful animals that have shared my life so far, I would surely be a complete lunatic.

I like animals a lot more than the vast majority of people I've met or known.

Hey! Didn't your signature include that "you don't have to crazy to love parrots" line, hmm old man!? :20::09:

 

[TiredOldMan]

I will neither confirm or deny my mental state.

All I can say is that if it hadn't been for all the wonderful animals that have shared my life so far, I would surely be a complete lunatic.

I like animals a lot more than the vast majority of people I've met or known.

Hey! Didn't your signature include that "you don't have to crazy to love parrots" line, hmm old man!? :20::09:

Affirmative! And I firmly believe it to be true

 

[EllenD]

Alright, I'll throw something a little different into the ring here...

I started having horribly painful ovarian cysts from the age of 16, pretty much every month I was down for a day or two while they ruptured and went away...And at just 19 while a sophomore in college I got my first kidney stone and had to have surgery to remove it, and have probably had 4-5 a year since that I'm aware of, some worse than others. I was misdiagnosed as having Polycystic Ovaries for years, until finally I found a Gynecologist who was willing to do an exploratory laparoscopy, during which he found that I was absolutely riddles with Endometriosis (can't be seen on a CT Scan, only on an MRI, and no one ever did that, of course). It was stage 3 Endometriosis, meaning it was outside of my reproductive tract and growing every month in the ligaments of my hips. I had a complete open hysterectomy at 32, they took everything, both ovaries, etc. But the pain finally stopped...Then a year later I was diagnosed with stage 1 vaginal cancer (actually cervical cancer from cervical cells left behind)...So again started the surgery, biopsies, tests, lasers treatments, blah blah blah...and the kidney stones continue (have one right now, lol)...I'm fine as far as the cancer/reproductive issues go now, finally, on hormone replacement and that all is fine...

So obviously, having suffered from these 2 extremely, agonizingly painful medical issues from the age of 16 until, well, now really (along with some nasty orthopedic surgeries while in high-school, as I played varsity softball and soccer, and am a hard-core mountain biker and skater), I have obviously been on a massive amount of opiate narcotic pain killers since being a teenager. There is literally no other way to stop the pain of a kidney stone that is obstructing your urine and making it back-up into your kidney, the back/flank pain that results from this is indescribable, only if you've felt it can you fully understand it (very similar to the pain you get with a severe kidney infection, except sharper)...and this started in the mid-90's when I was 14 years old (the first orthopedic surgery, a big one, broke my leg badly in softball and had it rebuilt with hardware), so back then I don't remember there being any awareness of the danger prescription opiates present when taken on a regular basis. Any time I had a kidney stone my urologist would diagnose it, tell me I had a month to pass it or he was going to have to remove it again, and then give me a prescription for like 160 15mg oxycodone (I'm 5'6 and weigh around 135 pounds, so it's not like I'm huge and needed much of the stuff to help, but that's just the way it was back then)...

Add all of this to the fact that I've been in the car business since I was 23 years old, which is and always has been riddled with drug use and abuse, and it was sometime in my late 20's, like 28 or so, that I realized I had a serious issue. I was promoted to sales manager of a 3-franchise car dealership after being an extremely successful salesperson for only 5 years, in a business full of men, all older than me, that I was not only way more successful than, but then I was promoted to being their boss...It was stressful, to say the least..But more dangerously, from the age of 23-24 I was making more money than I knew what to do with, and once I was promoted to sales manager, well, forget about it. I was making ungodly money to play with cars all day long, and it really was like one big party...Oh, and I'm a musician who plays guitar in a punk band...So yeah, it was one, big party...Until it wasn't anymore. Until you start having to buy drugs illegally, until you start spending more than you're making, until you have to switch from buying opiate pills on the street to buying a much cheaper alternative because you have no choice, well, that's when most people either wake-up and get themselves help, or they go to jail...or they die. After several failed attempts I finally got myself well, and have been clean for 2 years and 4 months as of now...But addiction is a disease, anyone who says otherwise either doesn't understand it, or has been hurt by an addict and is so angry that they refuse to call it a disease...So many people have said to me "Why don't you just stop?", and as an addict you have do your best to try to remember that people just don't get it...And 2 of the people who just don't get it are my mom and my dad...My mom has at least tried to understand and be supportive, but she has said some things to me that made me consider never speaking to her ever again..My father doesn't want to understand it and makes no effort to do so, he just yells and name-calls, says horrible, hateful things to me, and accuses me of things that are just insane...So we no longer have any contact, as I have to take care of myself and keep myself on the right track. Anyone who is counterproductive to that is unfortunately off-limits until they wake-up and at least attempt to make an effort to understand that addiction is a disease, it's not something that anyone does to themselves intentionally, and if an opiate/heroin addict could "Just stop" they would..

But the birds, the birds get it.

I've always had birds, I grew-up with them all around me. But I went through a long period of time between the ages of 24-35 where I had only my Budgies and that was it. And ironically it was just after I got into treatment that I brought home Lita, my Quaker, as a baby, and shortly after Bowie and Duff, and then Kane. I had always volunteered at the rescue, and I quickly realized that I could go to the rescue and spend all day with the birds, talk to them, play with them, and all of that stress, all of the pain, both physical and emotional just left me. So when i brought Lita home it was giving myself a purpose and a responsibility. I obviously can't ever have children, maybe things would have been different if I had, maybe not, but having my birds has given me a very good reason to stay clean, as well as a healthy, positive way to deal with stress, pain, etc. Like with the kidney stone i have right now, when this happens I know that it may get to the point where I end-up needing to have IV opiate pain meds, as the pain can be so great that you literally can't breath. And most addiction physicians will tell you that when you're in such severe pain as that brings upon you that you not only need the pain relief, but that it won't cause a relapse, per se, because you really do need to stop the pain...This may be true, but I'd rather not find out. I take prescription NSAIDs for this, mostly Mobic, which does actually help when combined with Pyridine to numb your urinary tract. But just having my birds with me, around me, sitting on me while I'm laying on the floor trying to get through the little "episodes" of kidney pain, it really does help so much...

And most of all, my birds don't judge me, they don't look down on me, they don't call me stupid or tell me how much of an idiot I am for allowing this to happen to me, etc. They don't say things to me like "you're so much smarter than this Ellen, what were you thinking?", as if I purposely made myself into a drug addict. Empathy is scarce when it comes to being an addict, so is understanding, and even just kindness or basic human politeness. But not with the birds.

 

[ChristaNL]

Wow Ellen, that was quite a read...and yes you are so right to put it here!
That much physical pain alone is enough to get you a huge amount of emotional scarring as well.

Since the definition of illness always has been "the absence of feelings of physical or emotional well being" you are sort of overqualified already.
Addiction sucks - glad to hear you are managing!



Once again: Parrots to the rescue!

 

[Anansi]

The ONLY reason I haven't eaten my 357 is because of Amy and BB! If I was not here,WHO would give Amy his heart meds? Who would take him for car rides?? Who would give BB loveys???? My brother???? He knows squat about birdies and Amy would just sit locked up in his house til he died,or be sent off to a sanctuary.. I have nightmares of this! "Why am I here? What did I do wrong??? Where is DAD????" I wake up in a sweat!!!


" Uncle DJ" would probably take both,but the way he treats Pookie at times makes me want to throw up,and I see Amy getting the same treatment.

Amy is eating good now,NO MORE SEEDS Eats his Roudytush pellets and birdie muffins,and I see DJ just giving him seed again,afterall..that's what Pookie gets,except for an occasional banana or piece of pasta/pizza. ( Oh Pookie wont eat anything else )

In the past twenty-two years I have had three heart attacks and double bypass. Bad tickers run in my family ( Thanks Dad ) my house is in forclosure, I'm on disability ect ect ect.. Depressed??? Ya THINK??? If it weren't for the unconditional love from my fids and knowing they need ME for their proper survival and enrichment..


Jim

You are a treasured member of this community, Jim, so I think I speak for a good many of us when I say that we are quite thankful as well that Amy and BB are in your life... and that they continue to inspire you to push through your depression.

 

[Anansi]

...And most of all, my birds don't judge me, they don't look down on me, they don't call me stupid or tell me how much of an idiot I am for allowing this to happen to me, etc. They don't say things to me like "you're so much smarter than this Ellen, what were you thinking?", as if I purposely made myself into a drug addict. Empathy is scarce when it comes to being an addict, so is understanding, and even just kindness or basic human politeness. But not with the birds.

So very well said, Ellen. They really do just love us entirely for who we are, don't they? They read our body language, and "see" us in a way that is not confounded by the all-too-human tendencies toward assumption and self-righteousness.

You've been through so much pain and loss. It warms my heart that you can find some comfort and solace in the love of your birds.

 

[condobirds]

I don't have mental illness but on stressfull days, I can de-stress by hanging out and talking to my birds. We sit on the porch and just talk. they are always interested in what I have to say. LOL.

 

[GaleriaGila]

We DO need our birds as much as they need us.
And we need you, Jim and Ellen.

 

[EllenD]

I don't have mental illness but on stressfull days, I can de-stress by hanging out and talking to my birds. We sit on the porch and just talk. they are always interested in what I have to say. LOL.

Hey, every single person on the face of the earth goes through pain, stress, suffering, etc., both physical and emotional. And animals in-general are one of the healthiest and most effective ways of dealing with that pain and stress.

It's nice to have a place to rant a bit, lol...Yes, counselors/therapists are also on the list of companions who don't judge or talk-down to you (or if they do, you need a new therapist), and who you can say anything to without worrying about offending anyone or upsetting anyone...But there is just something about animals that is different, it's something that can't be replicated or mimicked by any person.

Addiction is a very bizarre and powerful disease, it happens extremely quickly, yet it seems like it happens over a really long period of time to the person it's happening to. Once you are able to say "I've got a real problem here, and I need to do something about it", then you can start the process, but until you get to that point it's not going to happen. And once you get help, realizing that you're always going to be sick is really depressing, and that's where my bird's have been a life-saver. it's impossible to be sad or depressed when on of them is sitting on me, dancing, laughing, etc

It really is sad that, at least in my personal experience, the largest obstacles to a drug addict getting clean are usually their family and friends who either just don't understand, don't want to understand, don't want to talk about it or deal with it in any way, or who actually look-down upon any and all drug addicts simply because they have the problem..It's hard to believe that in 2018 the general public still has an immediate negative reaction to and opinion of someone who is an addict. You'd think that with education and time would come acceptance and understanding, but that just isn't the case...And the same applies to mental illness as well. It's such a shame that if you say that someone has cancer the immediate response is one of support and usually "prayer" for the person, while if you say that someone suffers from a mental-illness or a drug addiction the immediate response is one that can be described as almost disgust...

 

[Inger]

Ellen, not only have I been clean and sober since 1987, but I work in the drug treatment industry. Everything you say is true and so very frustrating. And if it helps to have a friend in pain this week? I have a pinched nerve in my back which has shown no improvement in a week. So we can roll around on the floor groaning in pain together if you like! Thank heavens Bumble has been cute, sweet, and understanding.


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