Mental Illness

Mental illness, when you hear those words, what comes into your mind? Straight-jackets? Slack-jawed people starring off into space with drool dripping from their mouths? The stigma of mental illness is what keeps a lot of people who you pass by in the supermarket, in the mall and who you work with from getting the help they need. People have depression. People have bipolar disorder. People have substance abuse problems (and a lot of times the substance abuse problems have arisen from the fact that these people have been trying to self-medicate their mental illnesses).

We do not treat people with heart disease, diabetes or hemophilia as if they are somehow to blame for their illness, why do we do so with mental illness? It is an illness, physiologically based and treated with medication(s) which work(s) on the brain. It is the stigma of taking the pills, of seeing the doctor(s) and of sometimes having to go into the hospital (just as one would if they were truly sick with diabetic ketoacidosis or if they were having an myocardial infarction) that keeps some people from getting the help they so desperately need. No one would not go into a hospital if they were having a heart attack, yet a person in the middle of a manic episode who is also in the middle of a full blown grip of alcoholism where s/he cannot stop drinking refuses to get treatment because of the stigma. And of course, her/his "friends" all agree that there is nothing wrong. Well, if this person has lost her/his home, significant other, and now her/his job, me thinks its time to go into the hospital. But, hey, stigma is a strong thing and for some reason it does not seem to be disappearing.

How many more people of "respectability" have to come out and say that they too have mental illness and have sought treatment? Patrick Kennedy comes to mind as does Patty Duke. A quick look on the Internet shows me that there are many people throughout history documented to have had mental illness, and yet they contributed greatly to this country, to the arts and even to sports (please click here for more information).

I have long believed that people with "mental illness" are actually more gifted than those "normies" out there. Disclosure here: I have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder for three years now, although I am sure I have had it since I was about 15. I also have an IQ that borders on the genius level. Once I was diagnosed correctly, my life really fell into place. I take my medication as directed, follow my doctors orders and my life is pretty normal, as "normal" goes that is. The problem is, I discovered long ago and research bears this out, most people who are diagnosed with a mental illness DO NOT take their medications as directed, DO NOT do as their doctor directs them to and there you have it. They remain "victims" of the illness, but "victims" by choice. No one is a victim who does not choose to be a victim.

I had been misdiagnosed for 15 years. Once I found out what my true diagnosis was, I was eager to try the proper medications. I did not want to do the group therapy my psychiatrist recommended, but he promised me that it would help. Although I really, really did not want to do the group therapy, I did go, and go, and go... for almost three years... and my psychiatrist was right. It did help. I took my medications as directed. That definitely helped. Another psychiatrist recently told a friend that he considers me "almost a colleague" in helping this friend. I think that speaks volumes in terms of my stability and control of my illness.

I hear families and friends of these people say, "But they are sick." Well, so was I. A person must decide for themselves that they do not like being "sick." I have talked to folks with mental illness. The ones who do not follow doctor's orders like being sick. That is the honest truth. On some level, the just like being the way they are. They are comfortable being the way they are. They do not know any other way and they do not want to even try, thus they do not. Honestly, I cannot understand it. As I stated earlier, this was not my attitude

Bottom line, a person is always more than just "a diabetic" or that "bipolar person." If you treat your diabetes, it ceases to be a problem. If you treat your bipolar disorder, it ceases to be a problem. It is only when you ignore these things that then they begin to define you and your life. Why would anyone choose that for themselves? I would love to understand, but I know I never will.