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1 month ago | 
thestreetspirit.org | Jack Bragen |Bradley M. Penner
When I was young, in my twenties, I took pride in being able to get letters to the editor published. For a young adult with severe psychiatric illness, a letter to the editor in a paper is pretty good. But I wanted more. I really wanted to become a published writer. Periodically, I would submit stories to publications, and if you consider the level of the writing I produced back then, I stood little or no chance of getting something accepted. I married my wife when I was 31.
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Jan 6, 2025 | 
thestreetspirit.org | Jack Bragen |Bradley M. Penner
At a reasonable guess, most of the readers and writers of this publication are unhappy, to say the least, with Donald Trump returning to the White House. I am no exception. And with my psychiatric issues, I am not as able—as many people probably are—to be resilient and to come back to a normal space. I use the word “normal” meaning baseline and it is not a term used to exclude those who are normally different.
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Oct 7, 2024 | 
thestreetspirit.org | Jack Bragen |Bradley M. Penner
Yearsago, while I sat in a waiting room at a mental health clinic, I observed an old man who might have had dementia being brought in to get his shot of medication. He was grumpy and complaining at first, but said he felt better after the shot. It is plausible that the person administering it was to the man’s liking. It seems more doubtful to me that the medication, very likely a time-release oil compound injected into the muscle, would quickly make him feel noticeably better.
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Aug 5, 2024 | 
thestreetspirit.org | Jack Bragen |Laura Zink
I am close to age 60, and I have lived with substantial psychiatric issues for the past 42 years, my entire adult life. It’s a difficult fact of life and it will never go away. In this essay, I will summarize some of the hardships that come with being considered severely mentally ill. This manuscript is in no way comprehensive. Because having a mental illness affects everything.
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Jul 11, 2024 | 
thestreetspirit.org | Jack Bragen |Laura Zink
“Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person.” – United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 3Every person of every race, religion, ancestry, sexual orientation, and ability should have the right to exist, and people should let us be when we are minding our own business.
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May 9, 2024 | 
thestreetspirit.org | Jack Bragen |Alastair Boone
I’vewoken at about 2:30 in the morning and I am not tired. I might have forgotten to take AM medication yesterday. This morning I’m taking the pills very early to be sure I don’t miss them. I have chronic schizoaffective disorder, or at least that’s my current diagnosis. In my past, I was pegged with “Schizophrenia: Paranoid-type.” My diagnosis was changed because the presumption is, if you are intelligent and able to do things with your mind, you are not schizophrenic.
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Apr 4, 2024 | 
berkeleydailyplanet.com | Jack Bragen
Government is a disaster in the U.S. But let's refrain from saying the Democrats are horrible, the Republicans are horrible--or refer to any particular politician. The net result is the same: The basic needs of people with mental disabilities are not being met, and really, it is worse than that. This essay marks the beginning, I hope, of a new phase for my writings in the Berkeley Daily Planet.
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Mar 18, 2024 | 
berkeleydailyplanet.com | Jack Bragen
Harassment exists where someone doesn't want to be contacted, and where the other person is violating this expressed need. Harassment can exist in numerous contexts. Harassment causes people to lose their jobs. Even presidents of universities have lost their beloved job because they have abused their position. Harassment is a major issue in the modern world, where society is trying to evolve into something better.
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Feb 19, 2024 | 
berkeleydailyplanet.com | Jack Bragen
MENTAL WELLNESS: Organized Activity Alongside Others Can Heal Jack Bragen In the mid to late nineteen eighties, I worked at numerous jobs, and I succeeded at some of them, meaning I kept the job six months or longer. Some were too hard for me, and some I could do. But eventually, I became burned out on conventional employment and couldn't keep doing it. I'd worked myself too hard. I'm wondering how much of a role being medicated played into this.
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Feb 11, 2024 | 
berkeleydailyplanet.com | Jack Bragen
I am closing in on the mark of sixty, and I expect I will make it into old age. Additionally, I have retained my faculties, and I don't have dementia. This description is contrary to the prognosis I was given forty years ago at Kaiser Martinez, when I was first sick. It was believed that my prospects were limited. The doctor in his own mind believed he was being cautiously optimistic. But he vastly underestimated me, and he wasn't doing me a favor.
