Garbage in, Garbage out...

Hey everybody!

I was hoping you'd help me with a project.

As most of my regular blog friends know, my oldest son, The Big Kid, AKA The Kid Who is Not Related to Us, had a breakdown last spring while he was away at college. He came home with the screaming meemies, certain that he had a heart condition, an invasive brain tumor, and butt crack cancer.

Anybody new coming in can read all about it by clicking on my handy dandy new label at the bottom of this post.

He's the main reason I've decided to go back to college (since he doesn't drive) and I've posted about our adventures sporadically.

In October, after extensive evaluations, he was diagnosed with rapid cycling Bi-Polar disorder. We've been working really hard to get him on a medication regimen that doesn't "dope" him up, but as most things neurological, it's an individual thing (no one-size-fits-all cure).

He has OCD and ADHD, and the medications normally used to treat this generally induce manic episodes. So while one medication keeps him from feeling the compulsion to scrub his hands until they're bleeding, he needs another to counter it.

It's been a balancing act, worthy of the Ringling Brothers' and Barnum and Bailey Circus!

Knock on wood, I'm grateful to say---he's doing really well with the online classes we decided to take this semester. He can pretty much work at his own pace, doesn't have to sit through endless lectures, or do BS work that is normally used to fill up space in a 2-day a week classroom setting. The format is helpful with his learning style, and he's gotten A's and B's in everything.

Of course it helps that I'm taking the same courses, keep track of the deadlines and beat him with my Bunny Slipper of Doom to get his assignments in on time. We've only got about 3-4 more classes we can take together before our separate majors diverge (he's going for a Criminal Justice degree, I'm getting my Paralegal certificate).

Which comes to my point.

Big Kid is still suffering a lot of sporadic depression. The meds are working as best they can, but he seems to get himself into a lot of unfortunate situations that would make the most positive person feel like slitting their wrists.

So we're trying to take a more aggressive holistic approach to mind/body/environment.

Last fall, in a class we took together---Public Speaking---we met a very charismatic fellow student who was very open about his struggle with Bi-Polar disorder. We talked with him between class periods in the quad and other times, and he said something really profound to the Big Kid. It flew over the kid's head, but it stayed with me.

And recently both the kid's doctor and therapist mentioned it, but in different terms.

The fellow student said, "Garbage in, Garbage out".

The first couple of speeches and class exercises The Big Kid used as his favorite topics were music. The bands he chose to focus on were beyond hard rock. We prefer to call it "the music of the devil". The fellow student noticed, because he'd been there, done that.

I remember when I was a teen and we waited for the folks to leave the house before blasting our stereos with Van Halen and the second 80's incarnation of the Rolling Stones. And the forgettable hair bands. I didn't want my kid to have to do that. So I allowed him some time to blast his crap in the house, in his room, during the day.

But after listening to 15-20 minutes of Mudvayne and Mushroomhead----I was ready for some freaking Ativan myself. The craptastic shit blasted over and over can induce a panic attack in the most ordinary of persons.

There is no discernable beat. There is no discernable melody. The only people who could dance to it is people who are in the midst of having seizures. WTF? No wonder the kid is feeling scattered!

The good thing is that The Kid actually is willing to listen to other forms of music. He likes Seal, and a couple of other artists. He's tired of feeling bad, and is willing to participate.

I'm trying to put together a disc of positive affirmation music for him to listen to when he's feeling depressed. This is what I've gotten off the top of my head:

Beautiful---Christina Agulara
You Gotta Be---Desiree
I Hope You Dance---Leanne Womack
Rubberband Man---The Spinners
Live Like You Were Dying---Tim McGraw
Thank You---Dido

That's all I got.

Anybody have something I can add?

Thanks!