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paul merton

#EoTFMH0001: Famous Mental Healthers: Paul Merton

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFEX9EVmnZA]

Paul Merton is #EoTFMH0001 and is the first of the End Of Terror’s Famous Mental Healthers #EoTFMH Series.

We would love to have your input on as we don’t have a great extended database in this particular area. It isn’t something we are pleased to reveal about people but I think if you’ve been through the system yourself, you’ll agree that one of the few things you can take comfort in knowing is that someone else has been through a similar situation. Not every anonymous patient is known to the public at large. I personally have drawn inspiration in knowing that some of the TV stars, musicians or great people in history whom I admire, have had similar battles with ‘Mental Health’. If you might know a famous mental healther that you think we can cover in this section, please email us: EoTFMH@endofterror.org

Back to Mr Paul Merton… I think if you watch the video above you will blatantly see that he is a totally bonkers. I say that in the nicest possible way. Paul Merton is an absolute hero of British humour. I can’t think of any comedian in history who can be compared to him in terms of style.  He is well known for his regular appearances as a team captain on the popular BBC panel game Have I Got News for You, as a regular panellist onRadio 4‘s Just a Minute and as one of Comedy Store‘s Comedy Store Players. I am a fan of Have I Got News For You, and it is Merton’s sharp wit and off-the-ball remarks on this show which really make the whole series. Balanced against Ian Hislop’s dry satire, Merton’s laddishness touches the nation’s hearts and he brings what is essentially a current affairs show of a serious nature to every man’s television set. Whether its his woodwork O-Level that he harps on about or just the sheer wackiness of his bizarre thinking, Merton is a born entertainer and he appeals because of this to the common man. I know he has done other series’ on TV and its great that his talent is so recognised these days. There was a decent run on BBC2 about his comedy influences (all in black & white) and a great piece of television came with his travel series, an excerpt from his visit to China being shown above. I thought it was great that he managed to get away from that stinking ‘Have I Got New For You’ Studio’ for a change and it really showed the man in a different light, a man of the world, with some interesting philosophies that transcended his funny personality but also simultaneously incorporated it.

Paul Merton makes the list as he suffers from severe depression. He has given public interviews about this and it is common knowledge although he doesn’t seem to be baited in any way by it, even in the harsh environment of Have I Got News For You. It can be traumatic how the public deal with you when you have spent time in the Mental Hospital. That ‘lunatic’ brand is not an easy thing to shake off, especially at a time when you are recuperating from the rather nasty time you might have had during your hospitalisation. Shortly prior to becoming a household name on Have I Got News For You, Paul Merton booked himself in for six weeks at the Maudsley Psychiatric Hospital which he put down to overwork caused by overexcitement at getting where he’d wanted to be all along, all aggravated by anti-malarial pills. He  was hallucinating conversations with friends, and became convinced he was a target for the Freemasons.

Whatever his troubles with mental health, I feel that Paul Merton is a great inspiration to us all and he has gone on to prove that a successful life and career can develop in the post-mental hospital life of an inpatient.

We hope that Paul Merton is pleased to be branded with his #EoTFMH tag.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Merton


frontier psychiatrist

Frontier Psychiatrist

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8BWBn26bX0]

I suppose that this is the classic psychiatry track… The Avalanches are a great Australian trip hop style band who heavily rely on sampling and are most adept at using it in their work. This is perhaps their most successful and popular song and is a most amusing listen with a decent video too…

Is Dexter ill, Is Dexter ill, Is Dexter ill
Is Dexter ill today, Mr Kirk, Dexter’s in school
I’m afraid he’s not, Miss Fishpaw
Dexter’s truancy problem is way out of hand
The Baltimore County school board have decided to expel
Dexter from the entire public school system

Oh Mr Kirk, I’m as upset as you to learn of Dexter’s truancy
But surely, expulsion is not the answer!
I’m afraid expulsion is the only answer
It’s the opinion of the entire staff that Dexter is criminally insane

That boy needs therapy, psychosomatic,
That boy needs therapy, purely psychosomatic
That boy needs therapy
Lie down on the couch! What does that mean?
You’re a nut! You’re crazy in the coconut!
What does that mean? That boy needs therapy
I’m gonna kill you, that boy needs therapy
Grab a kazoo, let’s have a duel
Now when I count three
That, that, that, that, that boy.. boy needs therapy
He was white as a sheet
And he also made false teeth

Avalanches is above, business continues below
Did I ever tell you the story about
Cowboys! M-M-midgets, the indians and, Fron, Frontier Psychiatrist
I… I felt strangely hypnotised
I was in another world, a world of 20.000 girls
And milk! Rectangles, to an optometrist, the man with the golden eyeball
And tighten your buttocks, pour juice on your chin
I promise my girlfriend I’d, the violin, violin, violin …

Frontier Psychiatrist
Frontier, frontier, frontier, frontier
Frontier, frontier, frontier, frontier
Frontier, frontier, frontier, frontier

That boy needs therapy, psychosomatic
That boy needs therapy, purely psychosomatic
That boy needs therapy
Lie down on the couch, what does that mean?
You’re a nut! You’re crazy in the coconut!
What does that mean? That boy needs therapy
I’m gonna kill you, that boy needs therapy
Ranagazoo, let’s have a tune
Now when I count three
That, that, that, that, that boy.. boy needs therapy
He was white as a sheet
And he also made false teeth

Frontier Psychiatrist

Can you think of anything else that talks, other than a person?
A-a a-a-a-a, a bird? Yeah!
Sometimes a parrot talks
Hello hello hello hello
Ha ha ha ha ha !!!!
Yes, some birds are funny when they talk
Can you think of anything else?
Um, a record, record, record !

I’ll leave you to dissect and analyse the lyrics yourself… It is a great little anthem, whatever your views are on the antipsychiatry movement and the End Of Terror.

More from The Avalanches http://www.last.fm/music/The+Avalanches