own belief that they would rather be dead than disabled. Politicians like us depressed because it makes us less likely to vote against them for cutting our services or gutting the ADA. Health care professionals and social-service bureaucrats like us depressed because it makes us easier to manage.
When we're depressed our world shrinks. Our needs are reduced down to the most basic, and we'll tolerate anything to get them, even the most degrading abuse and mistreatment. Simply put, Depression makes us less uppity.
Yet even if we are depressed as a group, what can any one person do about it, other than submit to long hours of therapy that he or she probably can't afford, anyway?
Actually, I hesitate to recommend therapy to anyone. I personally found it beneficial, but the world is full of awful therapists. Undoing the damage caused by a badly trained, malicious, or just plain stupid therapist is harder than going without it in the first place. I've also come to agree with James Hillman and Michael Ventura, in We've Had a Hundred Years of Psychotherapy and the World's Getting Worse. They say the modern-day “talking cure” has encouraged navel-gazing at the expense of making real connections with the world: “Why are the intelligent people -at least among the white middle class - so passive now? Because the sensitive, intelligent people are in therapy?” Are antidepressants the answer? I've never tried them, so I couldn't say. Expense aside, it would take a depressive episode of catastrophic proportions to for me to consider screwing with my brain chemistry. Even then, I would still have a niggling, unanswerable question in the back of my mind: “Am I taking these pills to feel better, or just to feel “normal?”
At the end of the day, any advice I could offer boils down to an endless series of imperative sentences. Want to feel better? Turn off the television. Read a book. Go outside. Get to know people in your community. Talk to other people with disabilities. Dance. Go to a Disability rights action. Party hard. Listen to music. Write letters to Congress. Masturbate. Ask God for help. Ask Buddha for help. Ask the ghost of Madelyn Murray O'Hara for help. Wheel down to the neighborhood bar and have a beer. Vote. Watch nature. Have more sex than anyone can stand. Argue. Question. Raise Hell. Create. Live. See how easy motivational speaking is?
FOR SALE!!!!***
2003 Ford F-250 lift-equipped green/gray van; leather seats, TV, DVD player. Playstation hookup, am-fm radio. Rick Miller, 937-2245.
*2002 Dodge Caravan “Entervan” (Braun modification); app 18,000 mi; remote operated oil recently changed; mechanic confirms excellent condition; used only a little more than 2 mos.; $34,000. Call 859-492-7971.
*Ford 1997 Econoline Van; 100,140 mi; $16,000. Hunter Green-gray; new tires & brakes; “loaded”; call 270-786-4547; ask for Dale.
*1994 Dodge Caravan, equipped with lock down for driving; cruise control; tinted windows; 56,000 miles; good condition; $14,000; contact Ina Hogan at 241-7849.
*Hoveround MPV4; used only one year; 36” long; 23 1/2” wide; load capacity 300 lbs.; two direct drive motors; turning radius 17”; speed 5 mph. Asking $5,000 or best offer. Call 671-7656.
*Jazzy Electric Wheelchair; $2,000; 812-867-0137.
*1985 Komfort Koach Van with Power Lift; V-8; 350 BB; 5 liter engine; wheelchair safety straps; hook; television; power window and door locks; 127,000 mi; excellent condition; new tires; AC/front and rear vents; cruise control; AM/FM radio; tape deck; CB radio; game table and window shades; trailer hitch. Asking $2,995. Call 425-0314.
*Heavy Duty Scooter; used less than 50 hours/2 new batteries; $1200. Call (502) 348-9305.
*Liberty Stairlift/Set for 13 steps; $1500 soft; 937-9492
*Video tapes for sale. Various topics related to spinal cord injuries. Call David Allgood or Buddy Lawson.
***If assistance is needed to pay for any of the above items, contact Kentucky Assistive Technology Loan Corporation atfor information on loans at 5% interest to qualified candidates.
