I was approved by Voc Rehab for assistance. I have an appointment with a job assistant next Friday and I will be getting a free November bus pass by then. Pedro, my counselor, said that I should get 2-3 estimates of the cost of driving lessons if I want VR to pay for getting a driver's license.
I woke up pretty beat today and even after plenty of caffeine, I haven't woken up. I think I have a minor cold so I called Kris the canvass manager and told him I wouldn't be coming in today. I don't like to miss a chance to help defeat Kyl but I'm just too pooped to do much walking. This will give me a chance to do a much-needed laundry.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Sunday, October 22, 2006
DISABILITY
When I went in for my first or second interview with DES, I was a little surprised when the case worker hinted that I might be eligible for disability. I now see why: many people in ShelterWorld are on some form of disability and some are getting it on what seem to me to be dubious grounds.
Friday, October 20, 2006
RAVELLED SLEEVES
Although I am no longer bone-tired from lack of sleep, I still haven't had a good night's sleep at the Catalina House. I still get up a few times a night to urinate and I don't ever seem to gently fall asleep.
A LOT OF WALKING
Despite having my bike, canvassing involves a lot of walking. The worst part for my knees are the stairs in apartment complexes. I am encouraged by the people I do manage to talk to - they either have voted or are determined to vote Democratic.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
WOOHOO!!!
I was getting worried about not having a job prospect but that's changed. I saw an ad in the U of A's student paper for convassing, sent them and e-mail and - voila -I've been hired by the local Democratic Party to help get out the vote. It's a temporary position but it should pay for another 3 months rent at the Catalina House with a little left over for personal spending.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES
In the last few months, I spoken with two execs at local agencies and each time I came away with the strong impression that they didn't understand my resume. Today, the woman I spoke didn't even bother to look at my resume but she did ask questions about my job application. The application had only a couple of lines to give not only one's job title but also the job's duties. I basically had just enough room to put down the titles.
She told me that I should also put my resume with other agencies, so I doubt that I will get anything from hers.
She told me that I should also put my resume with other agencies, so I doubt that I will get anything from hers.
STRESS: A PERSONAL EXAMPLE
While I was at the Sally and still in the Jackson program, I developed a urination problem. I would have to pee several times after I went to bed, once 5 times in an hour. I also "dribbled" and had intestinal pain when I urinated. I went to the El Rio clinic and the blood tests came out negative but one of the doctors suggested that the symptoms may be caused by stress.
When I left the Sally and the Jackson program, the symptoms disappeared.
When I left the Sally and the Jackson program, the symptoms disappeared.
Friday, October 06, 2006
ACADEMICS ON LEARNED HELPLESSNESS AND THE HOMELESS
I found this article on EBSCO via the UA:
Hope in homeless people: a phenomenological study
Mary Partis Public Health and Primary Care Unit, City University, London, UK
Primary Health Care Research and Development 2003; 4: 9–19
(excerpt)
To be without a home is to be placed in a position of
insecurity (financial, emotional and social), and
vulnerability with no permanent claim to individual
space and no sense of being able to build on
the emotional foundation a sense of home provides
(Bentley, 1994). Trapped by a lack of resources
homeless people profoundly experience society’s
inequalities, which has consequences for prioritizing
goals. In a qualitative study (Newman, 1993)
homeless women experienced feelings of giving
up, self-blame and helplessness. Goodman et al.,
(1991) who proposed that learned helplessness is
a highly prevalent psychological state among
homeless people who frequently experience, poverty,
eviction and abuse of all types, has reiterated
this view.
Here's the Goodman citation:
Goodman, L., Saxe, L. and Harvey, H. 1991: Homelessness as
psychological trauma. American Psychologist 46, 11: 1219–
1225.
Another article from EBSCO:
Homelessness as psychological trauma: : Broadening Perspectives,
By: Goodman, Lisa, Saxe, Leonard, Harvey, Mary,
American Psychologist, 0003066X, Nov 91, Vol. 46, Issue 11
(excerpts)
...among those who are not psychologically traumatized by becoming homeless, the ongoing condition of homelessness—living in shelters with such attendant stressors as the possible loss of safety, predictability, and control—may undermine and finally erode coping capabilities and precipitate symptoms of psychological trauma.
Behaviors indicative of learned helplessness may be consequences of homelessness because, like other traumas, becoming homeless frequently renders people unable to control their daily lives. Homeless people, whether they live in the streets, in cars, in shelters, in welfare hotels, or in other temporary accommodations, experience daily assaults on their sense of personal control. They may depend on help from others to fulfill their most basic needs, such as eating, sleeping, keeping clean, guarding personal belongings, and caring for children. Although the poverty that precedes most homelessness (Rossi, 1990) is itself likely to engender feelings of homelessness and depression (e.g., Holzer et al., 1986), homelessness, by adding a new dimension of deprivation, is likely to greatly exacerbate these feelings.
Although researchers have not yet directly investigated the extent of learned helplessness among homeless people, they have documented high rates of depression, a component of learned helplessness, among the homeless. For example, in Breakey et al.'s (1989) survey of homeless people in Baltimore, affective disorders were the most frequently identified DSM–III–R Axis I diagnoses other than substance abuse. In a study of homeless women in New York City, D'Ercole and Struening (1990) reported that on a commonly used measure of depression, their respondents obtained a mean score well above that used as a cutoff for clinical depression. These findings are not proof that homelessness leads to depression, as depression has also been shown to precede homelessness (see Breakey et al., 1989; Koegel, Burnam, & Farr, 1988). However, they are consistent with the theory that becoming homeless and living in a shelter can exacerbate a person's sense of helplessness and thus heighten the risk of depression.
Learned helplessness theory suggests that the real absence of control in the lives of homeless people eventually can engender a generalized passivity. The ongoing experience of helplessness may lead to an apparent unwillingness on the part of some homeless people to fight for themselves or to utilize the often meagre services available to them. Some may come to view their daily difficulties with apparent indifference, as if they do not expect to move into better circumstances, whereas others may become overly dependent on social service or mental health professionals. In either case, as the stressors inherent in being homeless persist, feelings of helplessness and the passivity these feelings engender can become entrenched and pervasive (Flannery, 1987).
Hope in homeless people: a phenomenological study
Mary Partis Public Health and Primary Care Unit, City University, London, UK
Primary Health Care Research and Development 2003; 4: 9–19
(excerpt)
To be without a home is to be placed in a position of
insecurity (financial, emotional and social), and
vulnerability with no permanent claim to individual
space and no sense of being able to build on
the emotional foundation a sense of home provides
(Bentley, 1994). Trapped by a lack of resources
homeless people profoundly experience society’s
inequalities, which has consequences for prioritizing
goals. In a qualitative study (Newman, 1993)
homeless women experienced feelings of giving
up, self-blame and helplessness. Goodman et al.,
(1991) who proposed that learned helplessness is
a highly prevalent psychological state among
homeless people who frequently experience, poverty,
eviction and abuse of all types, has reiterated
this view.
Here's the Goodman citation:
Goodman, L., Saxe, L. and Harvey, H. 1991: Homelessness as
psychological trauma. American Psychologist 46, 11: 1219–
1225.
Another article from EBSCO:
Homelessness as psychological trauma: : Broadening Perspectives,
By: Goodman, Lisa, Saxe, Leonard, Harvey, Mary,
American Psychologist, 0003066X, Nov 91, Vol. 46, Issue 11
(excerpts)
...among those who are not psychologically traumatized by becoming homeless, the ongoing condition of homelessness—living in shelters with such attendant stressors as the possible loss of safety, predictability, and control—may undermine and finally erode coping capabilities and precipitate symptoms of psychological trauma.
Behaviors indicative of learned helplessness may be consequences of homelessness because, like other traumas, becoming homeless frequently renders people unable to control their daily lives. Homeless people, whether they live in the streets, in cars, in shelters, in welfare hotels, or in other temporary accommodations, experience daily assaults on their sense of personal control. They may depend on help from others to fulfill their most basic needs, such as eating, sleeping, keeping clean, guarding personal belongings, and caring for children. Although the poverty that precedes most homelessness (Rossi, 1990) is itself likely to engender feelings of homelessness and depression (e.g., Holzer et al., 1986), homelessness, by adding a new dimension of deprivation, is likely to greatly exacerbate these feelings.
Although researchers have not yet directly investigated the extent of learned helplessness among homeless people, they have documented high rates of depression, a component of learned helplessness, among the homeless. For example, in Breakey et al.'s (1989) survey of homeless people in Baltimore, affective disorders were the most frequently identified DSM–III–R Axis I diagnoses other than substance abuse. In a study of homeless women in New York City, D'Ercole and Struening (1990) reported that on a commonly used measure of depression, their respondents obtained a mean score well above that used as a cutoff for clinical depression. These findings are not proof that homelessness leads to depression, as depression has also been shown to precede homelessness (see Breakey et al., 1989; Koegel, Burnam, & Farr, 1988). However, they are consistent with the theory that becoming homeless and living in a shelter can exacerbate a person's sense of helplessness and thus heighten the risk of depression.
Learned helplessness theory suggests that the real absence of control in the lives of homeless people eventually can engender a generalized passivity. The ongoing experience of helplessness may lead to an apparent unwillingness on the part of some homeless people to fight for themselves or to utilize the often meagre services available to them. Some may come to view their daily difficulties with apparent indifference, as if they do not expect to move into better circumstances, whereas others may become overly dependent on social service or mental health professionals. In either case, as the stressors inherent in being homeless persist, feelings of helplessness and the passivity these feelings engender can become entrenched and pervasive (Flannery, 1987).
LEARNED HELPLESSNESS
Few people in ShelterWorld have much control over their daily lives and when that is coupled with demeaning treatment at places like the Sally or the Jackson Center, many can become depressed due to learned helplessness:
Learned helplessness is a psychological condition where a human or animal has learned that it is helpless. It feels that it has no control over its situation and that whatever it does is futile. As a result it will stay passive when the situation is unpleasant or harmful.
It is a well-established principle in psychology, a description of the effect of inescapable punishment (such as electrical shock) on animal (and by extension, human) behaviour. Learned helplessness may also occur in everyday situations where continued failure may inhibit somebody from experiencing agency in the future, leading to many forms of depression. The theory was developed by Martin Seligman and S.F. Meir through experiments going back to 1965.
Learned helplessness is a psychological condition where a human or animal has learned that it is helpless. It feels that it has no control over its situation and that whatever it does is futile. As a result it will stay passive when the situation is unpleasant or harmful.
It is a well-established principle in psychology, a description of the effect of inescapable punishment (such as electrical shock) on animal (and by extension, human) behaviour. Learned helplessness may also occur in everyday situations where continued failure may inhibit somebody from experiencing agency in the future, leading to many forms of depression. The theory was developed by Martin Seligman and S.F. Meir through experiments going back to 1965.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
LITTLE THINGS
When one is coming out of ShelterWorld, there are many little things that seem to disproportionately increase one's happiness. I have recently started to bring my AM/FM radio with me when I do voter registration and I really enjoy being able to keep track of the crazy wingnuts while I'm at work.
good news, BAD NEWS
Yes, the capitalization is egocentric.
The good news is that Gabrielle Giffords will likely defeat Randy Graf for the House seat in AZ District 8 and the proposition to increase the minimum wage in Arizona will be approved. The BAD NEWS is that the groups that are paying ACORN in support of these two goals have decided to close up shop in Tucson and that means I will be out of a job after tomorrow. I've already sent in a resume to a hiring agency and made a phone call about another position, so I'm not too depressed. I also will have more than 2 months in the bank, so I don't have any immediate fear of being out on the street.
The good news is that Gabrielle Giffords will likely defeat Randy Graf for the House seat in AZ District 8 and the proposition to increase the minimum wage in Arizona will be approved. The BAD NEWS is that the groups that are paying ACORN in support of these two goals have decided to close up shop in Tucson and that means I will be out of a job after tomorrow. I've already sent in a resume to a hiring agency and made a phone call about another position, so I'm not too depressed. I also will have more than 2 months in the bank, so I don't have any immediate fear of being out on the street.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
ANOTHER TAKE ON KENNY
Despite being a helping hand, the agencies for the homeless in Tucson are also a source of stress and what I believe should be called situational depression:
The Jackson Employment Center is a source of stress. We are forced to go out into the summer heat (105+) dressed in a undershirt, long sleeve dress short and a sport or suit coat. In addition, we are often treated by the staff as if we were misbehaving 6 year olds. Once I was told by Cheryl Bakari that a staff member had noticed that I was taking too much time in the bathroom and was going to the bathroom too often. This was coupled with the directly implied threat that if I didn't change my bathroom behavior, I would lose my bed at the Sally and be out on the streets.
Ken was treated similarly and after having two bad job experiences and the loss of his ShelterWorld girlfriend, he may have reached his personal limit for putting up with adversity.
The cause of depression is the subject of intense study. Experts believe genetic traits, along with stressful events, illness, medications, or other factors, can lead to an imbalance of certain brain chemicals called neurotransmitters, causing depression. Conditions that may trigger an episode of depression include:
- Social stressors, such as the death of a loved one
- Chronic stressors, such as living in poverty, having family difficulties, or having serious medical problems or living with someone who does.
The Jackson Employment Center is a source of stress. We are forced to go out into the summer heat (105+) dressed in a undershirt, long sleeve dress short and a sport or suit coat. In addition, we are often treated by the staff as if we were misbehaving 6 year olds. Once I was told by Cheryl Bakari that a staff member had noticed that I was taking too much time in the bathroom and was going to the bathroom too often. This was coupled with the directly implied threat that if I didn't change my bathroom behavior, I would lose my bed at the Sally and be out on the streets.
Ken was treated similarly and after having two bad job experiences and the loss of his ShelterWorld girlfriend, he may have reached his personal limit for putting up with adversity.
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