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Other Side Buddy

by OSB

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about

When my friend Greg was in his early 20's he had a mental health crisis and stopped eating and sleeping until he threw a jar of pickles at a police officer. He got taken to the hospital and diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. He lived in a tiny one room apartment with a shared bathroom. In hot spells, the temperature would rise to 45 degrees Celsius in his room. Greg spent 25 years or so, on and off quite heavy and complicated medications. Eventually they determined that he wasn't bipolar, but by then it was too late. The bipolar medication gave him parkinson's disease in his early 50's. He was starting to shake a lot. He really valued his independence and in our region, moving into assisted living would mean sharing a room with strangers and not being able to bring the paintings and photographs he made that kept him living. He started some new medication to help him with the shaking, but they dehydrated him. He was unable to go down the hall to the shower to cool down because he was afraid of falling down. A very hot and humid period killed him and lay rotting in his room for days, as I was camping out of town, away from the cellphone and with my kids.

He likely wouldn't have liked this record, he was more into the Police and the English Beat. He didn't have a computer or a cellphone or any interest in the internet.

People with mental illness are made fun of. People with mental illness are shunned. They often leave lonely lives. This system as it stands sees little value in their lives, and treats them as a burden, and spends as little money as possible on them.

Any one of us could have the same fate, it's a question of luck.

The world is in a climate crisis. It will be the vulnerable that will suffer first.

In Montreal we live in a housing crisis. The vulnerable will suffer most.

I miss Greg, he didn't need to die like that.

credits

released November 5, 2021

Painting by Greg Lipscombe

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OSB Montreal, Québec

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