http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/britains...san-boyle.html

I don't know if anyone has posted this but it really cheered me up. It just goes to show how people like Susan really can dispell myths and encourage other to follow their dreams.

It is very easy to say she should never have entered the show. It is clear with right management and guidance she should be okay.

Well it's nice of them to say all that, but I'm still waiting for her to come out of this place she's in now and speak for herself. I'm still unsure that this whole thing hasn't been exagerated and she's not half so bad as she's made out to be.

Jeez! I wish people would stop banging on about her 'learning disability'. Her family have already said she has no such thing, surely they know her better than all these so called experts who have never/will never meet the woman.



[/rant]

Very good point.

The full statement by the Mencap spokesperson is at:
http://www.mencap.org.uk/news.asp?id=9948&detail=2

She says some things which I couldn't disagree with and others I would challenge.

Oh dear Simon will love this NOT, Mencap commenting on it, making it look like she is mental.... disability her brother denied this fact, and I take it he should know. He was more interested in the White House visit than her being retarded, as I say he said no way to that point.

Many babies are born with loss of oxygen it matters how long that was for, she did not come across with a disability that was great, she can learn and sing lyrics she finished school, and he said with exam passes, so just what disability are we talking about, other than her disability to cope with stress and losing the show?

This comment just points up how ignorant you are, what concerns me is how many more of you are out there?

Do you not understand that 'retarded' is an offensive term, you stupid person?

"Retarded" used to be used but is now out of fashion because it has become a word of abuse.

I think GG made an innocent error by using "retarded".

It seems that the phrase Mental Retardation is used to describe a wide variety of conditions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_retardation

It was not meant to offend, it was the word used when I was a kid, one I tell my kids not to use so I do apologise, it was used to describe people with Downs Syndrome on the whole which is why it is a word people rebelled against, so again sorry.

However I do stand by the rest, her own brother is saying she is okay and looking forward to the White House, well she has a tour she has to be on as well, and if sick should not be on either.

I work in the health industry by the way... which is why I have tried to say on here, being admitted voluntarily or sectioned under the mental health act is not some bad sore throat, it is serious, unelss someone is playing silly sods, which having seen Susan on the final is not what I think. I think she is mentally ill, be that having a mental breakdown or whatever, she is not fit right now, and her brother being the the TV spouting the WH and record deals is way out of order if you ask me.

If none of you thought she was on drugs or drink Saturday you were not seeing what this household saw, a woman on meltdown, was I shocked she was in a mental hospital come Sunday, yes and no, I did not think it would be in the press but I felt she would need help and fast.

When you send in the clowns you need a safety net, she never had one, the public out there lapped it up, I however did not, I was more and more peed off with every paper having her face on it for all the WRONG reasons, she is not a GREAT Singer she is a person who the show used, as a freak, Bring on the Clowns they did, her name was Susan, she was never the next Elaine Paige, she can sing, no doubt about it, but you all have to ask yourselves why she got through... HYPE... freakish woman with a cat, virgin, never been kissed which she promoted herself.... and the world and its dog tuned in... how sad can you get.

GG

The spokeswoman from Mencap stressed that 'learning difficulties' do not equate, necessarily, to mental health problems...so your rather harsh, may I say, suggestion that it will look like she is 'mental' is off base.

The 'retarded' you have made ammends for but I did find it's usage in the year 2009 disturbing...but I accept it was a mis-speak.

My personal jury is still out on whether she actually does have qualifiable 'learning difficulties' partly because of her brother's statements and partly because the grounds for it (her 'I'm a bit slow' comment) are potentially ambiguous; that said, the ability to pass some exams and learn lyrics do not necessarily preclude some kind of incapacity.

Her inability to cope with stress is something that can affect us all - as health care professionals will attest - we are all potentially just around the corner from stress overwhelming us only most people develop the necessary coping mechanisms and avoid 'crisis'...but it is far from abnormal and neither a sign of real underlying poor mental health or learning difficulties.

I have apologised, but the use of this word is a bit like the use of Samba which I am told she is called in her village, which is highly NOT to be recommended either is it in the year 2009!! with the notions of being a rasist?

She has been put in a private mental hospital, called the Priory whose OWN doctor has made comments today. Do you think her antics on stage were that of a sane woman on Saturday, given the fact she just lost, this is someone shy, lives at home with a cat and goes to church, then almost shows 19m people her knickers, would you say that was sane? as I would not.

Do I think she has mental health issues, yes I do, if not why is she where she is, the doctor said it is not a Spa or rest home, the police had to be called as well as doctors and the ambulance service to her hotel in London, were they all wrong, and who told them to take her to the Priory, do you know the cost per day for that place? she caused a scene I understand back stage after the show, so this was no surprise that she did at the hotel, but please think:

You go back you get tiddly, you get LOUD, you throw a punch, you argue, you go to BED... end of story,... however this was not what happened was is, or maybe it was who knows, but to call out whom they called out speaks volumes, they called a doctor, WHY... her doctor that they gave her last week? who knows, if so why were the police called, why was an ambulance called, because she had gone over the edge I would think...Susan has problems, they are not sleep problems as Piers was told to say, or exhaustion if that were the case half of Diversity would have been in there with her, with lack of sleep and exhaustion.. this was much more than that, it was mental issues, so my use of mental was not wrong you know I never said she was MENTAL as you made out, that for me means someone about to kill someone even themselves, but there is a fine line between even depression and mental you know, take it you have never been there or seen it then>?

I did point out I work within the health world and all I can say is she is in the best place for her, away from the press, the public and it would seem her own family as well who want to make money out of her circus show, which the show made it, unless you think she is the most outstanding singer ever I do not see how you cannot agree with that, she was the clown, with no safety net, shame on BGT.

During my working life (not in health care) I have seen people cope and not cope with stress. How a person responds to stress can be very unpredictable. I have seen individuals who were completely on top of their work in reasonably stressful conditions fall apart when the pressure increased a bit. Other people who were normally anxious and indecisive under moderate stress could suddenly get a firm grip on things when the pressure became really bad.

I suspect that the only way to know how someone will respond to stress is to subject them to it.

I made it clear that I think her mental-stress-bucket overflowed...what I said was that I don't think she showed any indication of having any 'real' underlying mental health issues. We all have the inclination towards overloading, as I believe she has done, it leads to nervous exhaustion and the need to rest and be cared for. The fact that a doctors was called and she was admitted to the Priory is a clear indication that she reached a stress-induced-crisis, which can be as a result of a slow build-up or rapid on-set. The fact that the police were in attendance may or may not be significant as with some areas it is common practice for the police to be called if there is even the slightest hint that the patient is unstable.

However, with the right therapy and proper intervention, nervous-exhaustion can be treated very successfully and within a reasonable time-frame and it certainly doesn't have to indicate any long-term or chronic mental health disorder.

I know all about the Priory having had two friends who have had spells in there.

You did rather harshly use the term 'mental'...but I guess in substance, however indicative, that's neither here nor there.

Funnily enough I discussed much of this with a CPN today and she was largely in agreement with the above viewpoint with the caveat, which I add for myself also, that neither [none] of us have medical/private access to Susan Boyle so all we can do, whether rightly or wrongly, is speculate.

Oh I have sooooooooooooooo been there.

Absolutely...there is a psychological stress-indicator theory known as 'The Bucket'...It states that we all have a stress-bucket inside us and it, in most lives, is always subject to the pouring in of some water (the stress) and if we don't all know when to or how to punch holes in our buckets, in order to allow a realease at times, then inevitably our bucket will overlow potentially leading to 'crisis'.

Some people have larger buckets and greater capacity and others smaller buckets and to make it even worse...our bucket-size isn't constant and changes throughout life and situations.

Oops, sorry for the witter...

I think Susan's bucket just didn't have enough holes in it at this point in time...at other times she might have coped just fine.

Is it not just possible, that because she said, 'I am a bit slow', and she's behaved possibly eccentrically, or had a lark with her little dance, that people have remembered this phrase, ' I am a bit slow', and are attributing anything she does as possible problems, when in fact she's behaving like an ordinary person would? Are people reading more into her behaviour than is actually there? And if so, and she is aware of that, wouldn't that stress a person out? I know I would be damned upset if that was the case and it was me.

You put someone on a world wide platform who is unstable what do you get?

However was she stable day ONE of the auditions is the question? if not why did they BGT let it go on, week after week, even last week she wanted to QUIT, why did she not QUIT then...

She was on something Saturday night, bit like Judi Garland on drugs and drink at her ending years, is that the right way to let someone perform to millions on a Saturday night, and have kids watch and wonder what she is taking.... as my kids, teenagers thought NOT, Gin was one theory from one aged 15 another thought drugs!! not good is it, and yet we then had the winners, what were they on, pure adrenelin, much safer.

Susan is not in some place for a sore throat, flu, she is in a mental institution albeit a private one and even their spokesperson has indicated they are NOT a rest home or spa...

I do not think she was fine day one my friend, and nor do many people out here, she was exploited, she was the freak in the circus show, if you cannot see that fine, but that is what she still is.. she is not some outstanding singer, she is a good singer, but got there due to her story.. ie her oddness and her oddness may be part of her mental health condition, and to parade her here and abroad is sadly what BGT has done and that could tip her over the edge, it can tip people over the edge who are completely and utterly sane, great with stress but cannot face it all, for Susan I imagine losing was the last straw, it certainly appeared to be Saturday and obviously Sunday when she caused so much concern in the hotel, thank god they called someone, or we may have found her on a roof about to jump off.

GG

Why is it that a singer, or any other artist, is employed to perform within a contract to an audience, yet Susan is spoken about as being 'paraded' as if she were a circus act. Sorry, don't get that one, those days are long gone. She might be a bit slow, but I feel she can make her own decisions, and if she is making her own decisions, she is not being paraded by anyone but performing as any other person might who is employed.

I never mentioned the word paraded, as for me that means the army.

It's only missing a 'd'

/Disclaimer: it just brought out the pedant in me **at self**

Ah to parade or be paraded!!! paraded means the army my love, to parade someone is not the army now is it... it is ONE person only. she is a pardody I think would be better... and not a good one right now for Cowell.

My brain hurts, lol.

Oh dear noorani I am sure Susan said the same last week as well you know!

So the word 'retarded' can't be used, but it's OK to call another member 'stupid' and 'ignorant'?

Mmmm.......let me ponder this one.

I know radio these days you have to tread lightly and think not twice but a hundred times before you utter a word, or type one for fear of being politically incorrect! can you imagine these days saying SAMBO... and yet that is her nickname by all accounts, my son uttered that word in school he would be expelled!!!!!!