postsecret

[fatfeminist]

I don't know if any of you out there read post secret regularly, but this weeks post has a CPAP related postcard.

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/


Dee

[roster]

That's a good girl friend. Thanks.

[slacker361]

wow glad I am married, could you imagine haveing an itamite,sp?......then hey hon i have to put on my cpap while i sleep over...........YIKES

[CollegeGirl]

Um...my experience is that if you're dating worthwhile people (and I do), they're glad you're doing something good for your health. I've never had one person I dated be freaked out by it, or not want to date me because of it.

[elader]

my daughter sent me that postsecret card . she tought it was funny. I told her it wasn't

[CollegeGirl]

Hey Dee -

Yeah, I saw this. I don't know whether I was more angry or sad. I wonder how many people it will encourage to just go ahead and throw in the towel.

I'm with elader - not funny AT ALL.

[greenvelvetdragon]

i am with collegegirl and elader, NOT funny. i see too much senseless death and destruction everyday at work (acute hospital er) this type of thing does not help. thats my 2 schillings for the day............

[jnk]

Hmmm,

Not funny, yes. But not, in my opinion, meant to be funny, either, since PostSecret is an art project that provides, as Wikipedia says, "non-judgmental space for participants to reveal personal secrets." It is a way for a person anonymously to "portray a secret that they had never previously revealed."

I took the artist's anonymous work, and Dee's pointing to it, as a good, though poignant, reminder that many people make self-destructive choices (like quitting CPAP) based on their personal notions of the stigma surrounding the treatment. And it reminded me of my resolve to do all I can as my little part to change the perceptions that may lead some people to hurt themselves by choosing to suffocate themselves at night.

Thank you, Dee, for pointing that card out to me.

jeff

[greenvelvetdragon]

jeff, very interesting perspective you have pointed out and i must say after considering your statement i may view this in a different light. i get a bit black and white at times, and the shades of grey bounce off. thanks for the alternative enlightenment. cheers

[Debjax]

Hey Dee -

Yeah, I saw this. I don't know whether I was more angry or sad. I wonder how many people it will encourage to just go ahead and throw in the towel.

I'm with elader - not funny AT ALL.

Actually, I looked at it a bit differently...perhaps the intent was to encourage people TO wear their mask so they do not die prematurely.....

[jnk]

jeff, very interesting perspective you have pointed out and i must say after considering your statement i may view this in a different light. i get a bit black and white at times, and the shades of grey bounce off. thanks for the alternative enlightenment. cheers

Thanks for saying that, greenvelvetdragon. I learned from your reaction as well. My view of art is that every reaction is as valid as the next one, regardless of the artist's original intent. It provoked thought and discussion. And much of the fun of forums is for us all to learn from one another's varied takes.

[roster]

.....

Actually, I looked at it a bit differently...perhaps the intent was to encourage people TO wear their mask so they do not die prematurely.....

Sure, that is the way I see it. The artist mentions the choice between two options: wear your mask <or> die prematurely.

Isn't that the same message we pound into whiners?

Maybe a third message is that CPAP is uncomfortable. Accurate statement also and adds to the cry to develop better products and treatments.

[carbonman]

Isn't that the same message we pound into whiners?

.....wow.....this would imply that 2X4 therapy is present......

...is the postsecret not just a subtle use of 2X4 therapy?
.....if one has enough cognitive ability to realize that?

[jnk]

Isn't that the same message we pound into whiners?

.....wow.....this would imply that 2X4 therapy is present......

...is the postsecret not just a subtle use of 2X4 therapy?
.....if one has enough cognitive ability to realize that?

Should we consider that a confession that you posted the card, carbonman?

[OmniMarconi67]

wow glad I am married, could you imagine haveing an itamite,sp?......then hey hon i have to put on my cpap while i sleep over...........YIKES

As funny as this is, it actually is a concern in the back of my mind, and one of the things I've had to come to grips with as I've gotten started with CPAP. I'm still young (23 in March), and aside from how this affects my night life it's kinda scary to think that this is something I'll probably need to do the rest of my life. After the sleep study I felt a lot like the guy in the card, I figured if I only lived to be late 70s/early 80s instead of 90s I could at least have a better quality of life if not quantity--that was my dad's rationale for not going through with CPAP himself. But then the results came back (90+ apneas/hour), and a likely prognosis of death in the 30s without CPAP made me rethink a few things.

And the real issue here isn't that we're just a few unfortunate souls who can't sleep, there's a lot of us out there (probably more than statistics show, a lot are like me and know they have it for a while but don't do anything about it until it gets too bad to function), and we're not a type-cast mold. Some of us are overweight (I'm about 40 lbs over what I should be), some of us aren't (my father is 6'0, 180 lbs and a health nut). Some of us are smokers, some of us are not. Some are vegetarians, some are carnivorous carb loving fiends (again I fall into this category). The real issue is that no matter what our lifestyle is, it's going to be greatly inconvenienced by being dead. And while going in my sleep sounds better than burning alive, I'd rather not do it when I'm 30.