Get Wise, T.I.: The Phases of Psychosis

Article by JMCK, September 30, 2010

Just as a matter of interest, today, on NPR (National Public Radio), a psychiatrist affiliated with Massachusetts General Hospital was interviewed about the hospital's efforts at intervening in cases involving psychosis as a precursor to full-blown schizophrenia. The symptoms described by this psychiatrist sounded VERY much like what TIs report as having been experienced.


The Hospital's website was was considerably less informative, so, I did a wider search to find a psychiatric organization that repeated the information furnished by the MGH psychiatrist during today's NPR interview. I found such a site.


Take a look at the following:


http://www.eppic.org.au/phases-psychosis


The page discusses "The Phases of Psychosis."


Regarding the "active phase" of psychosis, the following information is furnished, which you might want to read closely:

"The active phase of psychosis is characterised by the presence of positive psychotic symptoms which include thought disorder, delusions and hallucinations, and negative symptoms, such as loss of motivation and withdrawal.

Hallucinations are sensory perceptions in the absence of an external stimulus. The most common type are auditory hallucinations, where a person may hear voices or other noises when no-one else is present. Other types of hallucinations are visual, tactile, gustatory and olfactory, where people see, feel, taste, or smell stimuli which are not present. These are less common and an organic cause may be evident in these situations.

Delusions are fixed, false beliefs out of keeping with the person’s cultural environment. They may be sustained despite proof to the contrary. These beliefs are often idiosyncratic and very important to the person, but hard for other people to understand. Delusions often gradually build up in intensity, being more open to challenge in the initial stages, before becoming more entrenched. They can take many forms. Common types of delusions include:

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* Persecutory delusions; where the person believes that they are being, watched, followed, or talked about in a negative way, or that people are planning to, or actually, harming them

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* Grandiose delusions; where the person believes that they have special powers or abilities

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* Delusions of reference; where the person believes that television shows, songs, or newspaper/magazine articles are referring to them

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* Somatic delusions; where the person experiences unusual beliefs about their body or appearance, for example, a part of their body is abnormal, or 'rotting'

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* Passivity delusions; where a person believes that others are putting thoughts in their head, or taking thoughts out of their head, or that others can read their minds [aka "mind-control" - jmck]

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* Delusional guilt; where the person falsely believes that they are responsible for negative events, such as natural disasters

For this reason, TIs need to be particularly careful about how they characterize their symptoms and experiences."


A Word to the Wise T.I. thanks jmck for this insightful information.

Dilbert Does Death Ray

Source: http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2010-07-22/

A Word to the Wise T.I. thanks Debbie Newhook of Stop Organized Stalking, Nanaimo Canada http://osnanaimo.org/.

Beware Fake IRS/US Treasury Checks

If you unexpectedly receive what looks like a US Treasury Check in the mail. It may be a fake check. Scam artists present these checks to unsuspecting banks. Banks must pay out $100 to the person presenting the check the day after it is presented.

Why would a counterfeit IRS check be sent to a T.I.? This US government url explains how con artists use these checks.
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre40.shtm

Since only scam artists or their paid dupes present these checks, a T.I. will be entrapped and accused of being a scam artist. Police may even be waiting nearby to arrest the T.I.

To tell if the check you received is real, go to the below url and carefully carefully compare your check to the one at:

http://www.fms.treas.gov/checkclaims/check-security-poster-april-09.pdf

Here's hoping that A Word to the Wise T.I. is sufficient.

Words of Courage - "Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

A Word to the Wise T.I. thanks Shan.

Get Wise, T.I.: I.D. Theft & Photo Copy Machines

Digital Photocopiers Loaded With Secrets. April 15, 2010, CBS News

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/04/19/eveningnews/main6412439.shtml

At a warehouse in New Jersey, 6,000 used copy machines sit ready to be sold. Almost every one of them holds a secret. Nearly every digital copier built since 2002 contains a hard drive ... storing an image of every document copied, scanned, or emailed by the machine. In the process, it's turned an office staple into a digital time-bomb packed with highly-personal or sensitive data. If you're in the identity theft business it seems this would be a pot of gold. "The type of information we see on these machines with the social security numbers, birth certificates, bank records, income tax forms," John Juntunen said, "that information would be very valuable." Juntunen's Sacramento-based company Digital Copier Security developed software called "INFOSWEEP" that can scrub all the data on hard drives. He's been trying to warn people about the potential risk - with no luck. All the major [digital copier] manufacturers told us they offer security or encryption packages on their products. One product from Sharp automatically erases an image from the hard drive. It costs $500. But evidence keeps piling up in warehouses that many businesses are unwilling to pay for such protection, and that the average American is completely unaware of the dangers posed by digital copiers.

A Word to the Wise T.I. thanks David for this useful news item.