Kissed by God

The movie was really about mental illness, in this case Bi-Polar disorder. The drugs were simply a coping mechanism for him it seemed. I don’t have bi-polar, but I do deal with depression / anxiety and have my own methods as well, but never to that extreme. His disorder sounded pretty bad, and his drug choices only made it worse. Pills are the devil!

To make matters worse, his wife, friends, and family enabled him. I do understand how frustrated he must of been to not be able to put into words how he was feeling inside and because of that it was hard to deal with.

 

This frustrated me watching the movie. Lyndie should have stepped in before he went to Puerto, she had to see this wasn't going to end well. I feel like she could have done a lot more; but, I am sure that's easy for me to say not having been in her shoes.

Loved seeing the Slater vs Irons stuff. Especially from Kelly himself.

How did you guys feel about the 9.5 Kelly got at Bells (I think) to stop AI from getting his 4th World Championship in a row. The movie portrayed it as a totally scam by the judges for Kelly; but, I don't remember it being talked about that way when it happened.

 

Hindsight is 20/20, I’m sure she lives with that regret every day. He didn’t want anybody to know how bad his problem was, she thought she was protecting him but in reality she was the one he needed to step up and do more to help.

But in the end if someone doesn’t want help they won’t listen anyways. My nephews are prime examples. They are going through very similar struggles with similar / same drugs to deal with ADHD, depression, anxiety, bi-polar, you name it. No matter how much people try to help they can’t stay off that shit!

 

good surfer but i thought he often had a shitt y attitude.

 

I didn't like him a bit. Sad story though.

 

Hate to say this, but no amount of effort from his lady would have made a rats ass bit of a difference. She wasn't dealing with measles, the flu, or pneumonia. She was facing Bi-polar. Even if she convinced him to be treated by a psychiatrist, a common behavior of BP and Schizophrenics (BP resembles them in the manic phase) is that they cheek their meds, and when nobody is looking, they spit them out. If they do take them for a bit, they begin to feel better, then they stop taking their meds, thinking they are cured. This then allows for brain degeneration to progress each time they relapse because of not taking meds. Encephelogram studies prove this.
Mental illness is a losing proposition. Our diagnosis of it is barbaric; our treatments are horrific; the meds are side-effect cocktails. Our understanding of the brain and its illnesses' is neanderthal. We are all morons on that bus.
No doubt AI was an incredibly good surfer. He was defeated, not by Jaws, Tchopoo or Waimea, nor by Slater, but by mental illness. And that, because NOBODY wins there.
We have millennia to go before we learn to win there. May AI rest in peace.

 

Well said. No telling what could have been with more effort to help him, but I see you point, and in many cases it’s all true.

 

Good post Barry.

 

My x was bi-polar, that caused me serious depression and anxiety.

 

How'd you like lord huron? Seen him a few times. Always good stuff. Kinda forgot about him for a second there. Thanks for the reminder! Now i know what to put on while making dinner.

 

Spot on....very good comment. Science isn't close at all to unlocking our mental side.

 

Sorry to hear that dude. It sucks.

 

Haven't seen the movie/don't plan to either. Met a former marine (electronics specialist) a few months back (had his rifle in his mouth/then wife issues...barracks hopper/CO saw him/rapidly discharged, less than honorably...). Diagnosed with bi-polar years later. Worked for me a bit over the course of a few months earlier this year. Cool guy, beyond highly intelligent. Regularly takes his meds unless he intends to have a drink (plans for it, if so/can't mix the two). Said he can go 3-4 days without his meds before paranoia sets in. Said the worst thing he will ever do when off his meds is run down the street naked, lol.

 

I had an ex who was bipolar. Didn't know at first. She was literally crazy. Always thought being bipolar just meant mood swings. Which i guess it is. But i never realized how extreme. Like i said, she was CRAZY. Great in bed though.

And Barry is spot on. Not only with mental illness though. The brain in general. We are barley scratching the surface. I believe there is alot of seemingly paranormal/hippie dippie/ect. type of experiences and happenings that are related to the brain. We just don't understand it at that level so it is often thought of as coincidence or BS. Some doctors are attempting to figure that out and have theories, but are considered quacks by most of their peers. But that's a whole other discussion.

 

And that’s what matters!

 

Most people that have to struggle for periods of their life will suffer from depression. Depression is almost always triggered by the environment. Very few people will suffer depression as an intrinsic part of their biological manifestation. However, depression is intrinsic to human nature. It's a symptom of our ability to reflect deeply, and if grave things have happened, our reflection results in melancholy.

I'd also wager that his depression became worse from using drugs, and quite possibly that drug abuse was the primary cause of the depression in the first place. Early onset drug abuse can have a detrimental effect on brain health. When severe mental addictions are not fulfilled depression will ensue.

Psychology is the least scientific of all scientific fields. The 'science' of psychology is debatable at best, yet propagated through society as it was as sure a science as mathematical law. There is very little math to back up psychology. And what is science without math? (Speculation, that's what)

I didn't know much about Andy Irons, I do not worship celebrities (they are just people you dopes), but may he rest in peace.

 

Some people are hard wired with depression, anxiety, bi-polar, etc., I believe it’s mostly hereditary / genetic.

Drug abuse can make it worse, but many people, including myself are born with it. Having struggles in life and being depressed about it is NOT the same thing as having depression or other mental illnesses.

Chemical imbalances are not caused from having struggles in life. They are built in from the day you are born.

I do however believe that alcohol and drug abuse can cause a chemical imbalance and develope depression. You are alluding to that being Andy’s case, but the sense I got from the movie is that he dealt with it very early on and he used alcohol and drugs to try and deal with it his way, because he didn’t like the meds they gave him as a kid. He didn’t like how they made him feel. I can relate with that.

Most of the meds they give people only make matters worse and they change you to something you don’t like.

 

All I can say is that I disagree.

I believe you were hard wired to be a human being. I think human beings have evolved exponentially over the last several thousand years, and we continue to do so at an ever increasing pace.

My argument is that hardwired mental disorders, as you claim they are, are actually manifestations of our biological inability to keep up with our technological evolution.

Imagine if you could live nomadically, working hard every day to survive and constantly being rewarded with the fruit of your labors (life, love, freedom). Sure you can make the argument life would be brutish and hard, but I guarantee you that the mental hardwired disorders you have would disappear in a blink if you were struggling to survive on this planet.

I am asking you to think geologically of time and not on a human lifetime scale of time. Without that, my argument has no foundation.

 

I also think convincing oneself that they have a mental disorder is inflicting damage on their ability to prosper, and also giving them a crutch for their bad behavior. I'm not saying everyone acts that way, but anyone who does is holding themselves back.

 

I think you are way off base but I respect your opinion, but I couldn’t disagree more.