The new Atlanta Aquarium...

[JohnBender]

People forget this is the time of year for giving. What Mr. Home Depot does with his money is up to him. We forget it is a tax write off. For me I would have donated the money to the great good than an aquarium. I have an aquarium and I hardly look at it after I built my pond.

Money comes and goes like the wind, for someone else to enjoy who is less fortunate makes you fell better at the end of the day.

[Brutuscz]

Koifishgirl...I appreciate you telling that story. But, my point is you still had the mental ability to recover. I am talking about scizophrenics (sp?) and such. They often don't know what year it is, and talk to people who don't exist. We treated one patient who literally had roaches living in her pants...and told us not to touch them because they were her "friends". Many homeless people fall into this category...and do not get the help they require. I saw this routinely in Harlem...and even when I worked in the VA hospital in NY. It is easy to lump all these homeless people together in a category...but it is very wrong to do so. Some are way beyond the..."pull yourself out of it and get a job"...category. I truly believe a society should be judged by how they treat their sick and indigent...and we are all sorely lacking!!

[koifishgirl]

I would say from my past experience with this type of illness is all they need is food for their brain to function. I to fell into that type of mental illness, caused by not eating. All the people that I met that had this problems got so depressed that they did not eat, I used to hear a telephone ring and no one could tell me it was not a phone ringing. After I started eating the phone stopped ringing. You would not believe the thoughts that went through my mind at this time. Total nuts, I have witnessed people that thought they were haveing sex with rats, they too were not eating, when the person started eating and food was supplyed to the brain, these crazy thoughts left them. Any form of mental illness or grade of mental illness is not long term. You can get well but you have to be the one to take charge. By the way I was skinny as a rail at that time and all the patients that were not eating had the same problems, mental difuction. Seeing and hearing things that are not real, problem can be fixed by just eating.

Judy

[Valarc]

You're right Judy - your one single experience that you yourself showed these symptoms is proof positive that everyone is as weak willed as you were.

/sarcasm

You recovered - bravo for you. That doesn't mean your situation has one iota of impact on the situations of others. For someone who claims to have suffered depression yourself, I'd think you would be a bit more compassionate toward others who went through the same thing. Just because you got sick because of your own stupidity doesn't mean everyone suffers the same things. To lump everyone who suffers depression together is downright ignorant - to lump everyone who suffers any mental illness at all into the same group is downright offensive.

I've constantly seen you state your own single experience as an over-arching fact that encompasses everyone in every situation. Anecdotes are NOT proof, and the world doesn't revolve around you. Your own experiences do not define how the universe works - so stop acting like they do. I can't possibly be the only one who's gotten sick of this crap coming from you.

[Brutuscz]

Ditto!! Many causes of mental illness...Biochemical, traumatic, nutritional, tumors, drug induced, hereditary, enironmental etc. At the VA hospital...I saw more post traumatic stress disorder than I can tell you. These guys were eating just fine...but thought they were still in a war zone. Please do not take your one personal experience and translate that to all with a disorder. Sounds almost like tom (the idiot)cruise discussing post partum depression. I had an uncle who was a wealthy stock broker....his wife and daughter died in a house fire. After that, he began to see them and other dead family members, everywhere...he was diagnosed with scizophrenia. He began to do bad business deals, and eventually lost his business...he was then in and out of mental institutions. Well...my rich uncle died as a homeless person in the streets. It was sad to see this happen to such a successful and brilliant man...My family and his doctors did everything possible, nothing helped. I remember this every time I see a homeless person..It keeps me humble and respectful. You never know who those people were and what they went through.

[HenryC]

Talk about getting off topic. In any big city if something large is going to be built, it is going to displace some homeless people. So people shouldn't b***h at Bernie for it. Yes, I call him Bernie because I know him personally (whether he still remembers me is besides the point). Back in the summer of 79, I worked for him opening up the first 2 Home Depot stores. I nicer man you will not meet. He worked side by side with the employees stacking paint cans and moving PVC. He worked hard to make his money and should be able to spend it as he desires without being criticized. Besides, the Atlanta Aquarium is not the only thing he gives his money to; there are a lot of other charities he supports.

Now if I had just taken company stock during the summer job instead of the hourly wage, maybe I could build a large aquarium today or at least a really large Koi pond

[koifishgirl]

Now that is a sad story to be traumatize to the point to where you never recover. Most people in that condition are taken care of by the state or some kind of disability so why was he homeless. He had family right? So I dont understand why he was homeless. He had a roof over his head right or are you saying he was on the streets?



Judy.

[aquitori]

Now to get this thread on track....Anyone else goin to this new Aquarium....?

[Brutuscz]

He would be in a facility..he simply walked out on several occasions, and was released on medication a few times. My mother would get him all set up in an apartment. He would go off his medications when not supervised. He would then have other homeless people come live in his apartment. He would eventually leave, and disappear for a few months (and be homeless). Eventually, he would do something illegal and the police would pick him up (he once through a brick through a bank window..as he was sure they were holding 25 billion dollars of his money). He would go back to the institution, and it would start all over again. This went on for years. He had a heart attack about 10 yrs ago, and died homeless. Really a tragic story. Always felt bad for my mother(it was her younger brother)..she kept trying to get him set up in new places...spent a fortune, and he would simply disappear.

[Brutuscz]

Definitely off-topic...but have nothing against the home depot guy. I'm sure he does plenty of charity work.

Also, dying to see the new aquarium!!

Oh well....remember people who need your help this holiday season!!!