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An Inquiry into the Nature of Mental Health (to be read aloud)
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May 26 16:02 UTC 2000 |
(Another golden oldie, from 1987.)
What constitutes good mental health?
Is it when you are happy and confident
and know that you can look trouble in the eye and stare it down
and live and let live and keep your anxiety under control
and don't get these terrible headaches
and hear voices telling you that they are Xanto the Unavoidable
and you must go and make a salami sandwich
and put it in the back of your boss's desk drawer where he won't see it
and after a while it will begin to smell
and you take some aspirin but no that doesn't help the headaches
and you lie down and try to sleep
and you hear a sound like a great rushing torrent of water
and suddenly the house gets swept away in a flood
and you look up and see a giant who has lifted the roof off the house
and he is staring down at you
and suddenly you wake up and say ha ha it was only a dream
and you take some more aspirin
and then you open the closet door
and you move the pile of dirty clothes in the corner
and reveal an opening into another dimension
and suddenly a hand reaches out and pulls you through the opening
and you are falling and falling down down into a bottomless pit
and you look down and see a great demon's mouth open waiting to swallow you
and you scream and scream and hear a chorus of cackling laughter
and you know it is not a dream and start to cry
and you look at your hand
and it is glowing with an eerie bluish light
and then it falls off?
Is this what constitutes good mental health?
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