After discussing with some very special friends of mine today about mental illness/health I’ve gone into deep thinking mode again.
I think every single one of us suffers mental illness at some point in our lives as life is just so hard and FULL of stresses that our minds simply can’t always cope with and it may breakdown. It’s no shame to go ask for help and there should NEVER be a stigma attached to mental health breakdown or mental illness. Unfortunately stigma does still happen but it is becoming less so which I think is such a good thing to be happening
Many mental illnesses are invisible and what we see on the outside of a person isn’t necessarily what is going on inside.
Having mental health issues within my own family, one of which was my own mother, she suffered tremendous mental torment for the most part of her life and her suffering has given me a great understanding that it isn’t always visible. Only we ourselves can know what is going on inside ones mind.
My Son suffers a lot of mental health issues, he was recently diagnosed after fighting for a a diagnosis for him for a long time with ADHD, he is also borderline schizophrenic, manic depression and bipolar. My mother was a paranoid schizophrenic and so was my husbands father, so really my son didn’t stand much of a chance with schizophrenia on both sides of his family.
It breaks my heart to know how my son suffers so much mental anguish and I feel powerless to help. But thankfully after getting the diagnosis he is on meds which I can see a marked improvement although he still suffers but just not to the degree he was suffering.
Someone at my work made me feel really sad one day, I was telling him about my sons diagnosis and he told me he doesn’t believe in ‘all that crap’ as he put it, they are just kids/adults who don’t like being told what to do and want an excuse to misbehave. Now I’m quite old school but I was flabbergasted, this man has no idea of the torment and anguish people with these illnesses go though purely because of pure ignorance.
I let it go and didn’t bother to argue with him because it wouldn’t have done any good but it got me to thinking that all this education on mental heath that the kids are getting these days is a really good thing. The youngsters seem to have much more of an understanding of it that us oldies because they are being educated.
Hopefully one day with the continued stress and education on mental health that the future generation don’t suffer so much.