Mental Health and Care. The Act of Caring and Education.

     Mental health is serious. Sometimes it can be “played off” as a joke, sometimes it can be sympathized with. Sometimes it can be meant with apathy like “why can’t I have a mental breakdown? It sure would make the day go by quicker.” Or “For real? They get a personal day because they’re having a bad day? I have bad days all the time! What’s the difference? It’s called life. Get over it.”

     One thing I’ve learned about mental health through personal experience is that it doesn’t go away if you turn your back. But just like with every other situation, you must be able to not only address it, but acknowledge it and move forward. Not ‘move forward’ in the sense of going about your life and that’s that. But taking steps forward to either resolve or attempt to make sense of others in differing mental states. And when you do that, I believe that you will get the sense and feeling that these are not mentally ill people, they are people too. They just have a mental illness. In some cases, I believe that people with mental or physical illnesses are stronger than people who are seen as “normal” because in order for them to get their thought across or go from point A to point B, they have to work infinitely more than the rest of society. And if they get that point across or they make it to that appointment, or they accomplish that task, then it’s more significant than anything else and can be seen as a major accomplishment because it’s not as easy for them. Since it isn’t as easy for them, the rest of us “normal” citizens need to at least recognize that and be willing to work with them in some way, shape or form. Sometimes, it’s just as easy as listening. Or helping. As much as we need a helping hand or an open heart or a listening ear, I’m sure that they need the same things even more so.

     Mental health issues have touched my life. Whether the person had mental issues or physical disabilities, I have witnessed it and it has touched me. I believe that there’s no room for personal baggage when dealing with people with mental or physical disabilities. That’s why when you approach and try to help someone with a disorder, you need to start every encounter with an open heart and a clean slate as much as humanly possible.

     I’ve had a couple of friends with bipolar disorder. One friend would get angry and throw things, cry, scream, sometimes run across campus and disappear. One friend would be super happy one minute and by the time I’d get to her house she’d be overwhelmed and not want to do anything. The first friend really liked arts and crafts. At the time, I lived one floor above her in our dorm, and I remember many late nights and all-nighters where we would sit on the floor of her dorm and paint or listen to music, or I would play guitar and make up songs because it would make her laugh. And sure it would be 4:30 in the morning and she was still painting intensely, but she was happy and being productive and that’s all that mattered. With the other friend, I would stay up with her on her porch while she smoked and talked and sure it would be 2 in the morning, but at least she had someone to talk to. And that’s all that mattered in that moment.

     I’ve had suicidal friends. One friend committed suicide my freshman year of college. He was a sophomore. I didn’t know about it until after the funeral when it was in the news, and it hurts me to this day. He was such a sensitive and smart person but he was lonely it seemed like. He was very insightful but it was all too much for him. I’d heard theories that he died from carbon monoxide poisoning in his car, others say he shot himself. I never liked to dwell on either theory. But it hurts to think that he even got to that point. I had a friend who attempted suicide a couple of times. She texted a friend and myself and we found her in her backyard drunk talking about how she couldn’t find some pills of hers that were supposed to slow down her heart. We had her committed to a behavioral center eventually where she tried to commit suicide at least once or twice more. These two friends didn’t have people to talk to. One survived and the other didn’t.

     When I was in middle school, I had a friend in a wheelchair. I wasn’t sure why she was in a wheelchair, but she was in one. Her assigned helpers barely helped at all. They were never there to take her to or from lunch, or in between classes, or even at the school dances. For some reason, I’d push her around to and from lunch, even try and dance with her next to the bleachers at school dances. If I hadn’t done that, I’m sure she would have been worse off, but every little bit helped.

     I believe that as a society, we need to acknowledge and address issues in the communities of mental health. I’m currently reading two books on mental health. One’s called “The Insanity Offense” by E. Fuller Torrey and the other’s called “Unhinged: The trouble with psychiatry–a doctor’s revelations about a profession in crisis” by Daniel Carlat. These two books will make me more capable of addressing some mental issues in the future with a bit more clarity than some people. In the Mission house, I hope to have some pro bono/freelance psychiatrists/psychologists and doctors come in and give classes on mental health and their fields of practice and study. It can give people a place to feel “normal”. A place to learn about friends and family members that might have certain disabilities and it can give those with disabilities the chance to learn more about themselves, if that is what they would like to do. It won’t be like a halfway house or an appointment where “you have this issue, you need to go here”. It’ll just be a place where the door’s open and if you’re interested in learning about this topic, you can. There will also be books in the library/shed on this topic and others so even if you don’t want to attend a class, you can still get information from somewhere on your own time.

     So maybe I won’t be able to cure any diseases or disabilities or anything like that. But addressing the stigmas and issues that people have with them is at least a step in the right direction.