Wow, I’d really like to be in Florida this weekend.

Both Patty Duke and Elyn R. Saks are going to be Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. talking about their experiences with mental illness at a free community education program called “Journey into Wellness from Mental Illness” that Sunshine From Darkness is sponsoring.

Duke is a pretty well-known celebrity voice for mental illness advocacy, and Saks is just – well – amazing in my opinion. I read her memoir, The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness, a couple of years ago, and was (still am, actually) in awe of the woman. She enrolled in and graduated from Vanderbilt, Oxford, and Yale Law School – all while struggling with schizophrenia – before going on to build a resume that boggles my mind. She’s currently an associate dean at the University of Southern California and teaches psychology, psychiatry, and law.

If you haven’t read The Center Cannot Hold, I highly recommend it. It’s an honest, very raw inspiration to anyone dealing with mental illness.

And, if you happen to live near Sarasota, check out the event. It’s sure to be enlightening and, hey – it’s free

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Hmm.

This is sort of an awkward topic for me to write about, given that I’m a low-grade celebrity stalker myself (kidding, kidding! unless you’re into that sort of thing, Misters Miller, Weatherly, and most recently, Pattinson – nope, nope, I’m still just kidding), but when I read what former federal prosecutor Sunny Hostin said in a FOXNews.com article about celebrity stalkers, I couldn’t stay quiet.

The article, Celebrities’ Stalker Menace: ‘It’s Tough To Control Crazy’, which takes its title from Hostin’s quote (and you can pretty much guess which part of it got me going), discusses statistics regarding celebrity stalkings, some minimal advice on how to handle it (what works and what doesn’t), and highlights some celebrities who’ve had to deal with stalkers (Alyssa Milano, Jennifer Garner, Gwyneth Paltrow, and most recently Paula Abdul, to name a few).

Overall, fine information.

But for someone who should clearly have a tad bit more political correctness under her belt to come out and say “it’s tough to control crazy”… That is just not cool, Ms. Hostin. Not cool, and very stigmatizing. Did you just not have enough time to come up with something like, oh, I don’t know, “It’s tough to deal with the unpredictable and often delusional behavior of people who’ve become obsessed with celebrities”? I wouldn’t think so. I mean, I just came up with it in three seconds.

“Crazy.” The word bothers me. I’m not totally opposed to using it – I say “crazy” all the time. The fact that my two-and-a-half-year-old dog is still as hyper as a three-month-old puppy is crazy. My reaction to Warner Bros.’s decision to postpone the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince for almost a year was crazy.

Calling someone who could very well be struggling with mental illness “crazy”? I’m not down with it.

Sadly, not everyone really gets the effect stigma has on people with mental health issues. I’m positive I didn’t really understand it until I got involved in the world of mental health. The Mental …

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As if you didn’t know, Jett Travolta, the 16-year-old son of John Travolta and Kelly Preston, passed away Friday morning during a vacation in The Bahamas. Jett suffered a fatal seizure while in the bathroom, and apparently hit his head on the bathtub. He was taken to Rand Memorial Hospital, but he couldn’t be revived.

Period. That’s all we really know.

Because that’s all we really know, it only makes sense that the public has started fervently speculating the tragedy, right? (Yes, that’s sarcasm.) Specifically, the accuracy of Jett’s developmental problems being linked to Kawasaki disease. People are claiming Jett actually had autism (something people’ve been claiming for several years, I believe) and that Travolta’s and Preston’s Scientology beliefs skewed their ability to accept it.

I’m not exactly sure why people think Jett had autism, but I do know that CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta appeared on Larry King Live saying of Kawasaki disease:

“You get pretty sick for a few days. In the worst-case scenario, sometimes it can affect the blood vessels of the heart, called the coronary arteries [...] Sometimes they can develop aneurysms in it. That’s probably the most dangerous thing. But again, this is typically a disease associated with young children. It’s typically in Japan, and it’s pretty rare.”

Dr. Gupta also pointed out that it’s “rare for teens to display symptoms of the disease” and that most Kawasaki patients are “usually between 2 and 5 years old.”

And, Dr. Stanford Shulman (Kawasaki disease specialist at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine) was quoted saying:

“Seizures are not part of Kawasaki disease [...] If a teenager had a seizure and died, that would not commonly be due to Kawasaki disease.”

I can imagine how that kind of information – from medical professionals and experts, no less – would help fan the flames.

Well, I’m not an expert in Kawasaki disease. I’m not a doctor, either (even if I were, how could I diagnose autism in a boy I’ve never met?). But I do feel pretty …

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I still haven’t thought of a clever name for this little weekend roundup (well, a name I think is clever, anyway – Weekend Psychings…what do you think? Serves the purpose, at least), but I’ve decided that the weekend roundup idea is definitely one I want to pursue.

There are just too many psyching opportunities out there each week to pass up, after all.

Most of the little news bits I received this week focused on mental illness in new literature and films, so, without further ado…

In book news, New York Times reviewer Jeremy McCarter shares his thoughts on Stefan Kanfer’s biography of Marlon Brando, Somebody: The Reckless Life and Remarkable Career of Marlon Brando, a book I’m not likely to read (undoubtedly because I’m too wrapped up in fiction right now), but one that calls mental illness the “‘Rosebud’ in Brando’s life”…

Songwriter and author Rand Bishop is calling for uplifting tunes to bring some hope during these otherwise seriously depressing economic times in his new book Makin’ Stuff Up, which Bishop calls “a songwriting course wrapped in a memoir.”

Perhaps the most interesting, and bizarre (though not really new, as the book was released in October) is Library of Dust, David Maisel’s book covering photos from the abandoned ward at Oregon State Hospital that houses canisters that “contain the unclaimed cremated remains of former psychiatric patients.” Natural first response of “scary!” aside, that is really sad.

As for movies, Robert Carlyle (The Full Monty, Trainspotting) may be portraying R. D. Laing in an upcoming movie about the well-known London-based psychiatrist from the 60s and 70s, but it’s Revolutionary Road that remains the movie I want to see; not just because it looks seriously interesting (and reunites Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet), but also because apparently “the only clear thinker of the story” is “John,” a character battling mental illness in an institution. I’m always intrigued with that kind of character – someone whom you may think has trouble grasping reality, but, who in reality, sees it the clearest.

If you found anything …

Can you believe it’s 2009? 2009?! Where does the time go.

In addition to a variety of other New Year’s traditions I didn’t participate in, I did not make any resolutions. I can’t even remember the last time I made a New Year’s resolution.

However, that didn’t stop me from making resolutions for a certain 10 celebrities.

Dave Matthews (& Co.) – I love you. Like, I really do love you, man. Your music has carried me through some of the darkest and happiest times of my life. Remember back in 2007 when you launched that petition to the Secretary of Defense about the medical care of American soldiers and the difference between pre-existing personality disorders and the illnesses related to their jobs? You should totally do something like that again. As if I could love you anymore. See you in April!

Lindsay Lohan – I do think you’re working to improve your personal life and I commend you for that. In 2009, maybe you should refrain from the public fighting with your family. Your message to Britney was great, but you also dragged in your father’s alleged secret child. Really, that probably just added to your stress. I wouldn’t dream of telling you to “make up” with your father – that’s none of my business – but I will say that it’s a lot less stressful to deal with certain areas of life when you don’t have the burden of family discord to deal with. Maybe a truce? Counseling? A more defined parting of the ways?

Stephenie Meyer – I jumped on the Twilight bandwagon later than most folks (this past Sunday, to be exact), so I just learned about the Midnight Sun leak and how it affected your frame of mind and creative drive. I’m so sorry. In 2009, I suggest working on those issues, finishing the book, and publishing it. Not only because I am an insanely selfish reader and totally in love with Edward Cullen (which, speaks volumes about my own state of mind, I’m afraid), but because I genuinely do think it will bring you peace of mind. Writing is therapeutic, as you well know.