Wow what an afternoon

It's been great seeing the scope and talent out there in the 8th disability blog carnival on Disability in history and the arts.
I particularly enjoyed Thirza on the evils of the psychiatric profession, as viewed in response to Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper. It's so true that if you let them get a hold of you, you can really lose all sense of your Self, and that's with a capital S. Labels and pills can rob you of your identity, and yes, as Thirza observes, the journey back can be a long and complicated one. Gilman's own experience was to be so reduced by her doctors that they deprived her of her creativity, until she realised she needed it to fight back.
Kristina reflects on how much worse mental illness is perceived these days and how much more excluded people with mental illness are than they were even 20 or 50 years ago. This is certainly true in my experience. I reckon people got much better therapeutic interventions in the 70s than I have received in the last couple of years of the 'mental' side of my illness.
Community care has collapsed into a disjointed succession of largely ill-trained juniors with the occasional beacon, whether it be a therapist, art class, whatever. The good stuff generally has to be fought for, and hard. And yes, people with mental illness are still massively stigmatised, despite the odd good representation in the media.
One such example is recalled by Tikvahgirl, who watched a TV drama with a sensitive portrayal of postnatal depression. If only there was more stuff like that out there, more regularly. Maybe then some positive messages would get through.
ImFunnyToo recalls a personal triumph on the stage, moving for the sense of drama within the drama, the drama of challenging negative perceptions of a person's ability. She did it in style!
ArthriticYoungThing, Wheelchair Dancer and Troy all reflect on exclusion and insensitivity they have encountered in society. They write with anger, but also dignity and perception.
Disgruntled Ladye has a smile at finding an unlikely source of help for her problems tackling the multitudinous stairs at her place (sympathies).
Wheelchair Dancer ponders our view of being seated, and how it leads those without mobility problems to see sitting as immobile, therefore someone in a wheelchair as restricted. Far from it she argues.
There are loads more posts of interest. I've really enjoyed reading this carnival, being massively into the arts, but I am now massively hungry and I have a spanish ommelette to cook, even if I'm not sure I can spell it. Cognitive impairment lets through the most random errors. Never mind. I'll let my mind settle over some cooking. More later.