Mental Illness

[Andrew, Jr.]

Bringchange2mind.org is a website that is being endorsed by Glenn Close. Her sister was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in her 40's. Glenn Close is also producing psa's for tv, radio, and the print media. One of the statistics being said is that 1 in 6 people are mentally ill. I had no idea.

I thought this thread would be a great place to talk about mental illness.

Namaste,
Andrew

[Darth Denkay]

Hi Andrew,

I must say, I am a bit curious about your motivation to start this thread. From your post I can't tell what experience you have with mental illness - if any. For people who live with mental illness - themselves, with those they love, or in their line of work, it is a very personal thing, and not one which is necessarily easy to talk about. It's a discussion that needs to feel very safe. How do you conceptualize this thread?

Respectfully,

Wicket

Originally Posted by Andrew, Jr.

Bringchange2mind.org is a website that is being endorsed by Glenn Close. Her sister was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in her 40's. Glenn Close is also producing psa's for tv, radio, and the print media. One of the statistics being said is that 1 in 6 people are mentally ill. I had no idea.

I thought this thread would be a great place to talk about mental illness.

Namaste,
Andrew

[Andrew, Jr.]

I just saw some of the psa's that Glenn Close and her sister, Jessica (sp?) had done. I was very moved by them. Nobody should be ashamed of whatever it is they suffer from. The negative stigma should and needs to stop.

My motive really is to bring compassion to those who are suffering, and for those who care for those who are mentally ill. There is a guy at my Church who is close to 60 yo, and is Autistic, and Schizophrenic. He lives in a small apartment that the Church pays for. His family is all dead, and have left him with nothing (money, land, cars, etc.). There is a group of members who go and cook meals for him and clean his apartment, take him to the doctors, dentist, buy him clothes, and help him survive. Without anyone helping him, he would be homeless or dead.

Mental illness is personal. It is just something I feel strongly about. Anyone can join this thread. Nobody is holding a gun to anyone's head. I just thought it would be a connection for those of us in the bf community.

I think that pretty much summs up my motive. It is all about being accountable for our fellow human beings.

[friskyfemme]

I work with persons with physical, emotional,and mental disabilities. We, as a society, tend to turn away, ignore, or belittle those who represent our own fears. Those fears include: not be able to provide and protect for ouselves and our love ones, dying, and feeling that no one else knows or cares to know that we are suffering in some way. However, the truth is that most of us do care and would offer support and comfort to those who are suffering. We just need to get beyond our fears. The best way to reduce and/or eliminate fear is knowledge. Knowledge is gained by educating ourselves and others by sharing information, experiences, and expressing our feelings.
I have family members with ADHD, AAHD, Schizophernia, and Bipolar. I understand the reservations people have talking about these subjects but it is very helpful for everyone.

[Andrew, Jr.]

I have neurological disorders from a head injury since infancy. I am very slow. My biological family is ashamed of me because of this. All of my siblings are successful in my parents eyes. I am a disappointment. I can barely read and write, and am close to 50 yo. Instead of finding goodness in the qualities I have, they just find my faults.

Same goes with online people too. They have no clue as to what it is to walk in my shoes. I think if they could see me, and spend time with me, they would understand. I am harmless, and am a good person. I have never meant anything evil or nasty towards anyone. Ask Linus. I met him last month to smoke a cigar at Cross Street Cigar Shop then to Rope Walk for dinner. I had a ball!

What is in my mind never comes out. It is trapped. What you read and see, is just an ounce of my being.

[BellaOctober1]

This is going to sound twilight zone, but I have 2 sisters who both have severe personality disorders and have been diagnosed as bipolar.

Our Mother had severe problems, but back then there were too many labels cociety placed on women who asked for help, so she was never officially diagnosed. I am the oldest of us three sisters, and I can look back and easily say my mother had some major mental problems.

I heard about Glen Close and her sister through the media. She also has a site on Facebook. I take any opportunity I can to learn about Bipolar. I've had a real problem with patience, for both sisters, for any length of time, and I'd like to change that through understanding.

[friskyfemme]

Originally Posted by Andrew, Jr.

I have neurological disorders from a head injury since infancy. I am very slow. My biological family is ashamed of me because of this. All of my siblings are successful in my parents eyes. I am a disappointment. I can barely read and write, and am close to 50 yo. Instead of finding goodness in the qualities I have, they just find my faults.

Same goes with online people too. They have no clue as to what it is to walk in my shoes. I think if they could see me, and spend time with me, they would understand. I am harmless, and am a good person. I have never meant anything evil or nasty towards anyone. Ask Linus. I met him last month to smoke a cigar at Cross Street Cigar Shop then to Rope Walk for dinner. I had a ball!

What is in my mind never comes out. It is trapped. What you read and see, is just an ounce of my being.

My dear Sir,

Those who judge or belittle you... do so because they, themselves feel inadequate. It is truly their own disability. My brother lives wih a tramatic brain injury. He is now 49. He went over a bridge in his car when he 25 yrs old. When he was in coma (6wks), the doctors told us he would be a 'vegetable'. All of his siblings agreed that he should be removed from 'life support'. However, our mother said she could not allow it . My brother
came out of coma after suffering 2 major strokes as well. He was paralyzed on his left side (dominant side), unable to speak, walk, eat, or even breathe on his own. I was appalled that my mother would allow him to continue living with all of this wrong. I, then witnessed a miracle. All of my family rallied together (untl then we hardly saw each other) to help my brother reach his full potential. We were with him everyday. After 18mons of therapy, my brother began walking, talking, eating and breathing on his own. Not only did he heal, but so did his family. We were the ones who faced our fears of our own mortality and limitations. It was my brother that gave this to us, not intentionally, but just by being in our lives. He is not the brother I knew before the accident . He struggles each day to walk, to express verbally what he needs or wants. He has outbursts of yelling, pounding, and hitting when he becomes frustrated or agitated. He can't control himself. His medication changes frequently, most works the opposite on him than it is suppose to. He has taught me compassion, love, and thankfulness for all I have. When he comes to the phone and struggles just to say 'hello' and laughs when I ssay 'hello' back, my heart smiles.

I hope that you can see that those who don't support you, don't feel good about themselves. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive them. Pray that they can heal. This world's peace and love comes from everyone's ability to have it and share it.

[Darth Denkay]

Hi Friskyfemme,

I may be reading too much into this, but I wondered if you read my post as implying that I don't think it's okay to talk about this stuff, which is definitely not the case. I will say when I read the original post the tone didn't really sound serious to me, in my mind it came across more like a fluffy topic. When Andrew shared in the third post his/her own personal experiences that made a very big difference for me, changed the tone of the thread.

Believe me, I very much value talking, sharing regarding mental illness. I think I deal with it in about every possible way that I could. I live with clinical depression, diagnosed 21 years, and likely a life-time anti-depressant taker. I manage it well, medication always, therapy when needed. My mother also lives with depression, also well managed. My partner struggles with depression. And I work as a therapist (soon-to-be-psychologist. You are absolutely right - society does tend to ignore folks with any sort of disability - I think it's generally seen as a personal weakness. In particular I don't think some people take mental illness seriously - we could get over it if we really tried. We need safe places to share with other folks who get us and support us, and threads like this can certainly provide that.

-Wicket

Originally Posted by friskyfemme

I work with persons with physical, emotional,and mental disabilities. We, as a society, tend to turn away, ignore, or belittle those who represent our own fears. Those fears include: not be able to provide and protect for ouselves and our love ones, dying, and feeling that no one else knows or cares to know that we are suffering in some way. However, the truth is that most of us do care and would offer support and comfort to those who are suffering. We just need to get beyond our fears. The best way to reduce and/or eliminate fear is knowledge. Knowledge is gained by educating ourselves and others by sharing information, experiences, and expressing our feelings.
I have family members with ADHD, AAHD, Schizophernia, and Bipolar. I understand the reservations people have talking about these subjects but it is very helpful for everyone.

[Inuus]

I have worked in the mental health field for roughly 23 years. I have seen first hand how people with mental illness and/or mental challenges are treated. People with MI especially have stigmas and stereotypes others attach to their illnesses, making it often painful and difficult to talk about.
Education is the key so I am all for discussions on the subject, however I do understand why some do not feel comfortable with the topic.

[Andrew, Jr.]

Just for the record, I never belittle those who have mental illnesses. Never have and never will.

Andrew

[friskyfemme]

Originally Posted by WicketWWarrick

Hi Friskyfemme,

I may be reading too much into this, but I wondered if you read my post as implying that I don't think it's okay to talk about this stuff, which is definitely not the case. I will say when I read the original post the tone didn't really sound serious to me, in my mind it came across more like a fluffy topic. When Andrew shared in the third post his/her own personal experiences that made a very big difference for me, changed the tone of the thread.

Believe me, I very much value talking, sharing regarding mental illness. I think I deal with it in about every possible way that I could. I live with clinical depression, diagnosed 21 years, and likely a life-time anti-depressant taker. I manage it well, medication always, therapy when needed. My mother also lives with depression, also well managed. My partner struggles with depression. And I work as a therapist (soon-to-be-psychologist. You are absolutely right - society does tend to ignore folks with any sort of disability - I think it's generally seen as a personal weakness. In particular I don't think some people take mental illness seriously - we could get over it if we really tried. We need safe places to share with other folks who get us and support us, and threads like this can certainly provide that.

-Wicket

Wicket,
Please know I wasn't making any judgement on your post. I am just expressing my views/observations of the some people's reaction to anything they don't understand.
I do agree with you that most people (who don't live with a disability -mental, physical, emotional) don't generally have a clue the struggles the individual, that does, has each day with the simplest of tasks. It never goes away, the person with a disability just learns to adapt the best he/she can with the tools he/she has.

[Darth Denkay]

I just had a nice, long, detailed post all written and ready to go - when I hit submit the computer said no...

So I'm going to go with a bit shorter post and hope the computer cooperates.

The gist of my post is that it is very obvious how the already feels like a safe place. SO many have already posted very personal stuff - I really think this thread will be a wonderful source of support for many of us.

Not to exclude any of the other posters, but I did want to tell Jenn (JustLovelyJenn) that she was really brave to hit that submit button and put her story out here. You just took a very difficult, and very important, personal step.

[JustLovelyJenn]

Originally Posted by WicketWWarrick

I just had a nice, long, detailed post all written and ready to go - when I hit submit the computer said no...

So I'm going to go with a bit shorter post and hope the computer cooperates.

The gist of my post is that it is very obvious how the already feels like a safe place. SO many have already posted very personal stuff - I really think this thread will be a wonderful source of support for many of us.

Not to exclude any of the other posters, but I did want to tell Jenn (JustLovelyJenn) that she was really brave to hit that submit button and put her story out here. You just took a very difficult, and very important, personal step.

This made me cry. I really don't know why, but reading it... I just started to cry... Its not been very often in my life that anything I go through is acknowledged and accepted in such a warm manner. Thank you, so very much.

[Andrew, Jr.]

Holidays are hard for me. I struggle thru them. My depression is really bad this year. It is my 2nd year without my sister, JoAnn, and 30 some years without my brother, Jay. I find that life is very strange.

I think when you go thru life without your siblings you become different. You are much stronger than you ever realized. At the sametime, life changes - your reality changes. In fact, it is something I learned from Grief Share is that you create a new reality or a new routine. It is a coping means to survive the loss you endured. And there is nothing wrong with that.

[atomiczombie]

Originally Posted by Andrew, Jr.

Holidays are hard for me. I struggle thru them. My depression is really bad this year. It is my 2nd year without my sister, JoAnn, and 30 some years without my brother, Jay. I find that life is very strange.

I think when you go thru life without your siblings you become different. You are much stronger than you ever realized. At the sametime, life changes - your reality changes. In fact, it is something I learned from Grief Share is that you create a new reality or a new routine. It is a coping means to survive the loss you endured. And there is nothing wrong with that.

[atomiczombie]

I have struggled with clinical depression all my life. Lots of factors contributed to this, but my brain is definitely wired differently that most folks. I take a lot of medication because without it I am miserable and its hard to see the glass half full. In the past 2 years, since the fire happened (burning down my apartment in the middle of the night), I have suffered profoundly with panic disorder and agoraphobia. I have been on disability and living with my folks because I cannot live alone and care for myself. However, I am on a new med that seems to be helping a lot more, and I am getting better, slowly but surely. I am not out of the woods yet, but I am making progress and that gives me hope.

to all of you who struggle with mental illness too.

[ksrainbow]

I have just read many of the posts regarding mental illness. personally I too acknowledge and accept that I have depression and anxiety dx's. My close friends and all family members know...and a relief it is that being open to both helps to live each day as I come face to face with the dx's! the support and understanding is wonderful but EDUCATION is of the utmost purpose! that I can assist those who are not familar with mental illness and educate them (if they ask) is theraputic for me and leads to understanding. May we all gather support, comfort and guidance from each other and share our personal travels with those who choose to seek knowledge and acceptance!

ksrainbow

[Andrew, Jr.]

KSRainbow,

I really like your signature line. It pretty much summs up my feelings lately.

Andrew

[JustLovelyJenn]

So, I'm suffering from insomnia pretty bad lately. Running on 3 maybe 4 hours of sleep a night. My head just wont shut off. I have so many things filling the spaces, so much thought, I just cant stop it to go to sleep. I just keep waiting for the calm and it never comes. The thing is I don't understand why now, well... maybe I do. Things are finally going good for me, starting to. So this is when all the doubts kick in right? Cause it cant really last, something has to happen to take it all away. I don't want to feel that way this time.

All of it is because of me this time around the track. I am doing it for myself, not to please someone else, not because I am supposed to, not to give the impression of normalcy when I am screaming inside. I made these choices to bring around some good changes. I don't want to wait for it to all fall apart this time, I want it to keep getting better.

For the first time in my life I am living independently of someone else's desires and wants. Even though I am living with my parents, its my choice this time. A logical choice because I understand that my children, and my son in particular, will greatly benefit from their extra presence, and sharing my financial responsibilities with them will allow me to give my children opportunities I couldn't otherwise. I am in control of my life, and I am making healthy choices. THAT'S A BIG DEAL.

So why am I still feeling this way, why do I still hear that voice that says, your gonna fuck it up again? Why can't I be happy to be moving in the right direction? I'm working, and I love my job. I have a plan to go back to school and pursue the career I have always dreamed of. There is no reason for me to try and sabotage my own happiness. But, I feel myself starting to do it.