Many accounts of those unfairly labled with a mental disease are false, yet do not be fooled into thinking that the Government does not know about your strange habits and faults! Below you will find the tales of two artists who were placed in a Mad House because they dared question authority. Read and Tremble!!!
Case Uno--Ezra Pound
Ezra Pound stands as one of the most important poets in history, and can count among his achievments the Imagism movement, which he helped found and foster. Be warned that even a thinker of this caliber could not escape the wretched claws of conformity, as he would discover for himself under the destructive shadow of World War II. In Italy when Mussolini took over, the poet sadly succumbed to his anti-Semetic darkness, and made several radio broadcasts which would disgust most. When Italy fell, and Pound was siezed by the Americans, he became a victim of the vindictive human spirit, and was locked in a cage on an airstrip for several weeks. This was not all the punishment the Government had in store for the poet, however, as he was then locked in St. Elizabeth's Hospital (a Mad House) for nearly 20 years.
Although all disagree with Pounds actions, they were not, in any way, indicators of insanity. We know that, in reality, he was locked up for violating the rules of society, which is a truly sick use of the mental health system.
Thankfully, Pound was released in the early sixties when a group of poets, led by Robert Frost, freed Pound from his prison of insanity. The damage was done, however, and Pound would spend the rest of his years simpering in catatonic dispair.
Case Dos--Lou Reed
Before Electroshock
After Electroshock
Rock visionary Lou Reed may have taken too many walks on the wildside as a child, excursions which he paid for with screams of agony in his very own Mad House.
In 1959, when Reed was seventeen and suffering frequent mood swings, was sent to Creedmore State Hospital on Long Island for electroshock therapy. Instead of curing the future punk leader, the series of treatments (coupled with various psychoactive drug injections) only served to initiate a prolonged descent in to panic, paranoia, and memory loss. It took Reed fifteen years to come to grips with the episode, which he finally probed in the song "Kill Your Sons," which contained the following disturbing lyrics:
"All Your Two Bit Psychiatrists Giving You Electroshock,
They Said They'd Let You Live At Home With Mom And Dad,
Instead Of A Mental Hospital"
Reed would go on to become a heroin addicted drag queen, coming to death's door numerous times. He never recovered from being comitted
Be Warned: Tread Lightly, Or Suffer The Darkness Of A Contaminated Mind Forever!!
Keep You Head Down And Attempt To Appear Normal As You Flee Back To To In Pace Requiescat!