Dear JJ (AKA "What Crazy Looks Like")

Yesterday I listened to an audio clip of Fletch and Vaughan reading some text messages allegedly send from a girl called JJ, to a man she had a one night stand with. The girl was clearly suffering from a severe anxiety episode, yet people all over the globe seem to view this as entertainment.

Since when has a girl having a mental breakdown been funny? Screen shots of the texts have propagated all over the web under the title "This is What Crazy Looks Like Via Text Messaging" and there are literally thousands of comments from people laughing at her.

I really hope that the texts are a hoax. If not, there is a girl out there, who will no doubt be deeply distressed by this mass, disgusting example of digital bullying.

What JJ appears to have experienced, is the involuntary surge of chemicals that follows sex. She felt attached to Kevin, whether she wanted to or not, and any sign that he did not feel the same way, caused her great anxiety. In order to alleviate this anxiety, she texted him again and again. Every time he failed to respond, she felt more anxiety and the urge to text him again increased. She got caught up in a self-defeating loop. Later texts suggest that she loathed the way she was behaving, yet was powerless to stop.

Most of the comments about this appear to see things from the man's point of views. Yes, I understand why her texts may have annoyed him, but that seems negligible given the pain she must have been in to send so many, deeply troubled texts.

So JJ, if you're reading this, the people who are laughing about this are the ones you should feel sorry for. They are obviously to shallow to appreciate that somebody in your position deserves compassion, not public humiliation and mockery. For many people, the emotions that follow sex with a new partner, or overpowering and confusing. You are not the only girl who has behaved in this way, and you won't be the last.

Opportunity for writers of lesbian/bi fiction

I stumbled upon Freya Publications, who specialise in offering a diverse range of lesbian fiction.

They are currently looking for submissions for two short story collections. The themes are:

- Sunkissed - short love stories with a summer theme.

- She Bites - short stories with a gothic theme.

They also accept novel submissions.

See submission guidelines.

The Selfish Act - A Portrait of Suicide

Following our post about Jeremy Clarkson' comments on suicide, Rosen Trevithick has written a short story depicting a suicidal mind.

On her blog, Rosen posted,

"Clarkson likes saying things for shock value, but the fact remains that an astonishing number of people genuinely believe that this method of suicide, or indeed suicide on general, is selfish."

About the story,

"Morwenna has a very satisfying life, but she's plagued by an undiagnosed mental health problem that she refers to as, 'Too many thoughts.'

When she wakes up the morning after her engagement party, feeling disconnected from the world, her despair drives her to a railway bridge. She finds herself trapped between the reality of phone calls from loved ones and the alternative universe painted by desperate depression."

Rosen added,

"It's not very cheery reading, but it is honest."

Read The Selfish Act.

Clarkson versus Husband of Train Suicide Victim

Jeremy Clarkson on what to do after a train suicide:

"Change the driver, pick up the big bits of what's left of the victim, get the train moving as quickly as possible and let foxy woxy and the birds nibble away at the smaller, gooey parts that are far away or hard to find."

Was he joking? Was he sincere?

To be honest, I don't really care. It's not acceptable to make comments like that in sincerity or jest.

In an important radio interview, a man who lost his wife to OCD, discusses the impact Clarkson's comments have had on him.

Following his wife's suicide in front of a train, Glinn tortured himself imagining the parts of his wife that were hard to find. He found comfort in the level of respect with which the rail company treated his wife's body.

Clarkson's comment was part of a wider discussion in his column in The Sun newspaper, in which he argues that suicide is selfish.

Suicide could only be selfish if the person committing it, is fully aware that the destruction that their suicide will cause, is going to be worse than the destruction caused by he or she remaining alive.

"In most Western countries, close to 90 per cent of those who die by suicide have a mental disorder. " - Mind

"Broken down by type: mood disorders are present in 30%, substance abuse in 18%, schizophrenia in 14%, and personality disorders in 13% of suicides." - Wikipedia

This means that most suicide victims have a distorted perception of reality at the time of suicide. Many sufferers of the conditions listed above, are not capable of fully appreciating the impact that their suicide might have on others, especially not during the moment that they take their own life.

In the aforementioned radio interview, Glinn states, "She [his wife] wanted to die because of the effect it [the OCD she suffered from] was having on lots of other people around her." He also said, "She was probably one of the most unselfish people you could ever meet."

It is outrageous, in this day and age, for anybody to view death that is a consequence of an illness, as a slight on the sufferer.

Listen to Glinn interviewed on the radio.

If anybody can tell me what radio station this is from, or who the presenter is, I'd be really grateful. Thanks.