“What next, a black, mentally ill, lesbian amputee in the
story?” Seriously, what is this supposed to mean? Why not? We operated on a black,
mentally ill, lesbian bilateral amputee just a few weeks ago. She and her wife were both incredibly funny people. By
acting so flabbergasted that anyone would want to hear a story about a person
like her, you are either suggesting one of two things: that people like this do
not exist (which is demonstrably false) or that people like this don’t matter (which, I suspect, is what you really mean).
Health measures in Eastern Kentucky and other parts of Appalachia were worse in recent years compared to the rest of the country, according to a report released Thursday. The years of life Appalachian Kentucky residents lose to health maladies such as heart disease and cancer is 63 percent higher than the national average.
The people at the hospital always say I’m lucky to be training here because we have the #1 sickest patients in the country. Not so sure that should be the selling point, but it’s for sure not arguable.
This is true! The zoo where I volunteer (the illustrious Columbus Zoo & Aquarium) was one of the pioneers of this program.
Our zoo is known for raising cheetah cubs. Cheetahs have a terrible infant mortality rate and cubs are often rejected, so we get a lot of cubs to raise from all over the country (other zoos and sanctuaries, mostly).
The cubs are placed with a puppy friend when they are wee and small, so they grow up together like littermates. They play together, wrestle, and the dogs (yellow Labs) are so calm, friendly and well-socialized that the cheetahs take behavioral cues from them. When they meet new people, or go into new situations (which they often do, as ambassador animals for cheetah conservation), they check out if their dog friend is feeling chill – which he is – and then they know it’s okay for them to be chill, too.
Basically the dog is a service animal for them.
The cats need their dog friends less and less as they get older and more comfortable, but they still often hang out as grownups.
Our zoo does cheetah runs, where the cheetahs get to chase a lure and show off their speed. Often they’ll have one of the cheetahs run (we have like twelve cheetah), and then they’ll have one of the dogs do the run to show how much faster the cats are. People get a kick out of that. The dogs…let’s just say they try their best.
people always talk about edgy 13 year olds saying they have a mental illness to look cool as if that started with tumblr but like.. they’ve always done that…… they’ve literally always done shit like that. and overall increased access to mental health resources is an overwhelmingly good thing. plus if someone’s pretending to have an illness for attention they could probably use those resources anyways
the idea of the “teenager who lies about mental illness for attention” is essentially entirely a myth. i’m absolutely aware there are kids who say they have schizophrenia when they don’t, but i think them doing that is a lot more complicated than “they want to look cool online”. it’s often them recognizing the onset of mental illness of some kind and processing it through the only lens they have, which is media portrayals.
and behaviour like that CAN often be a “cry for attention”, but that’s something that needs to be taken seriously. people discredit a lot of things young people do (especially self destructive behaviours or self harm itself) as being something they’re just doing for attention, but that’s ridiculous because someone being in a situation where they need help enough they’re willing to hurt themselves to get it IS a real problem. attention seeking behaviour is a symptom.
Not to derail, but this happens with physical illnesses too, I wasn’t diagnosed for months because my doctor thought I was ‘just being a teenager’ when I was literally in kidney failure. If a teenager is saying they’re ill, chances are they fucking are ill.
this isn’t derailing in the slightest! i really appreciate this addition. because my experiences there are pretty limited i didn’t want to speak on how this articulates with physical disability, but i know the rates of young people (ESPECIALLY young women) being dismissed by medical professionals despite having genuine medical issues that need addressing is staggering.
Urocyon's Jaunts 2.0 
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