Stigma Within Stigma

Stigma.  It's everywhere and it affects everyone. Mental illness still in the 21st century is clouded by stigma. There are people suffering in silence because they believe asking for help is a sign of weakness. Imagine having your head filled to the brim with despair and disorder and having no where to go. The removal of stigma around mental illness has come such a long way in the last 20 years but we still have so much further to go.  

Amongst the mentally ill there is still stigma. I've lost count of how many times I have said to myself that I need to keep my mouth shut, need to buck up and deal with it. This is something that I have been dealing with personally for 11 years. Yet I still tell myself the same thing that I hate hearing from others.  Things that I would never say to anyone else. 

Self harm has a whole different level of stigma.  It's a stigma within a stigma.  Even those who suffer from a Mental Illness, who engage in activities that many think are outlandish, ideas that stray from the norm, see people who self harm as some kind of person to be revered.  There have been many conversations that I have been involved in, in an inpatient facility where other patients have struggled to see the need and desire behind the action of harming oneself. 

Society sees people drinking to excess, and almost turn a blind eye.  It's seen as people blowing off steam, almost a societal norm.  They are seen as coping mechanisms, nothing more.  People who drink to excess every weekend are 'ok'. However they are doing the same thing that people who self harm are doing.  Hiding the pain, replacing it with something else.  Yet people who physically harm their flesh are seen as monsters, attention seeking and sometimes just plain stupid. 

Self harming is a coping mechanism. It's a dysfunctional one, I will admit, but it is one nonetheless.  However with so much stigma around it, people are covering it up, pretending it doesn't exist.  Why NEED to talk about this.  We NEED to say it's ok to tell someone that you aren't coping.  We NEED to treat the symptom not the behaviour.  A person who self harms is not a monster, they are simply reaching for help when their words don't work.

Generalisations Can be Harmful to Stigma: Psychiatric Hosptials

After BB posted the link to the article of a person's account of their friends stay in a psychiatric hospital, it got me thinking. If you would like to read the article then it can be found here.
 

I really struggled with the gross over generalisations that were made in this article.  Things that could easily be seem as scare mongering.  Imagine being a person whose psychiatrist has suggested you have some time in a psychiatric ward and you read this article. It's likely to make you shy away from even thinking of the prospect.  Being inside a psychiatric facility isn't easy, it's far from it but that is because you are working on issues that are plaguing your mind, stripping yourself bare and starting again. A psychiatric facility is sometimes the only safe place that you can do that.
 

I get the impression from the article that the writer's friend was in a private facility. Something that I have no experience with.  There were somethings in the article that did ring true for a public hospital but they were still gross generalisations.  I have seen patients who looked like walking zombies.  These patients were violent when not medicated. I have also seen these patients months down the track, once the medication is settled and they are a completely different person. They have gone from a person with delusions, suicidal behaviour, someone who couldn't function in society, to someone who you could sit down and have a conversation with. They are someone who can string words together. They are the good outcome of the psychiatric facility. 
 

Comparing the modern day facilities to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is just the tip of the iceberg.  While some nurses and doctors really shouldn't be in the profession anymore as their passion is gone, this is no reflection on the end result that a stay in a psychiatric ward strives for.  The author saw a glimpse in a persons journey.  She had no idea how far they had come or how far they had to go. 
 

The comments of the writer about her friend being 'normal' except for needing to be in a psychiatric facility are extremely harmful for the fight of stigma removal. Everyone is 'normal' until they suffer from life event that renders them helpless.  There is no shame in needing to be hospitalised. 
 

‘Everybody hates being here. People talk about killing themselves, not because they want to die but because they want to get out of the hospital’, said my friend Julie.
 

I have no idea on the amount of times that I have been admitted but I would say it would be over 20 times.  Some of these stays have been for a month at a time.  Not once have I seen a patient express these words.  I do wonder if they have been twisted. It was a common thread amongst depressed patients that they just wanted to get 'so that they could kill themselves' and so the hospital kept them in. It was not the hospital itself causing these thoughts, but the depression. They were already suicidal before coming into hospital and saw the people who were trying to help them as one more road block to their desire to be gone from this world.
 

The author of this article has no medical training, and yet commented on the medications that her friend was allowed to take.  The Drs and Nurses in a psychiatric facility want things to run as smoothly as possible.  They are not there to make your life difficult (even though it may seem like it when you are being admitted) but to keep you and the other patients safe.  They will give you the medication that will fit your medical needs. Just because one med worked for another, does not mean that it will work for you. 
 

This whole article just did not sit right with me, especially being from the friend of a friend in a psychiatric facility's perspective.  She was an outsider looking in.  She had no idea the issues that the other women were facing, or why they looked scared and unsure.  It can be pretty daunting to go into a strange place, even without suffering a mental illness. Add to the mix anxiety and you are bound to get a few people who look like a deer caught in headlights.  It may have come across more realistic if the friend had written it.  Seeing a glimpse of a ward, during visiting hours is not the same as staying in the ward.
 

The article has really done nothing to help the stigma that people feel about the 'looney bin'.  It saddens me that in 2013, we are still facing such close minded views. Views of those people who are looking from the outside, and get to go home to their cookie cutter life at the end of the day, not realising the damage that their words have done. 

Silver Linings Playbook

I went to see Silver Linings Playbook today.  I just couldn't let it go without sharing it with you.  It was a beautifully orchestrated movie. A movie that spoke to me in ways that I don't think a movie has ever done.  I felt part of the story, I found myself immersed in the story line, hoping for the same things the characters did.
 

I'm a bit of a sucker for movies and books about mental illness so I knew that this was a movie that was going to be on my 'must see' list.  I am always anxious to see just how a director has portrayed the mental illness, how 'real' it feels.  I don't like comedies about mental illness. They make me feel disgusted that so far into the 21st century we are dealing with 'making fun' of things that people everywhere, everyday struggle with. I can assure you that they don't think it's a laughing matter.
 

Silver Linings Playbook was the first movie that I have ever seen that really portrayed mental illness in a respectful way.  The director made you fall in love with the characters, despite their 'damage'.  I could really relate to the characters, they were real people, people who you could imagine living next to you, people that you've met. In fact Pat Jnr reminded me of some of the patients I have encountered during my inpatient stays. 
 

The talk of medication was something that I myself have done countless times with other patients. You scope each other out, figure out who is the 'crazier' one.  It's always the other person.  Which kind of adds to your own delusion.  The struggles of the family were also raw and gut wrenching.  The family were doing everything they could to help their son, and nothing seemed to work.  Robert De Niro was  a surprising addition as Pat Snr. I teared up right along with him when he poured his heart out to his confused son. 
 

Even if you don't have a mental illness yourself, I think you will be touched by this story.  A love story with a twist.  A story where you find yourself sitting on the edge of your seat, hoping he gets the girl.  This movie really offers insight into the lives of the people who both suffer from mental illness and those who love them.  The acting was superb and really gave life to the story. Nothing was over acted, it made you feel that things were that much more real. 
 

If you haven't already, I really suggest you go and see this movie. It will stay with you, it will make you think and it will make you feel. Take your tissues though, because it will touch you in ways that you didn't thing were possible. 

Here's the trailer, just in case you weren't convinced 

 

What not to say to someone who self harms

After reading the post Kate from Kate Says Stuff wrote about 5 things you shouldn't say to someone who is depressed it got me thinking about things that have been said to me why well meaning people.  Not about depression, but about self harm and being in hospital. 
 

Here is my list of things to not say to someone who has just self harmed and/or has found themselves in hospitial.
 

1. Why would you do that to yourself, there are people out there who have it worse than you.
This is one of my biggest pet hates around depression and mental illness.  People are always quick to remark that there is always someone out there who has it worse.  Do they not think that we are aware of that...sometimes there is nothing we can do, its all about a chemical imbalance.  Everyone has different levels of being able to cope. What may seem small to you, could be insurmountable to another person.  Don't judge them, they have enough guilt as it is.
 

2. You did this to yourself, so you don't deserve to be treated with respect.
This is more aimed at medical professionals and I use the term 'professionals' loosely.  There has been many times when I have be stitched or stapled without anesthetic. Or they have done it so soon after administering it, that it doesn't have a chance to work before they start stitching.  Contrary to small minded belief, self harmers do actually feel pain.  A small minded Dr refusing to use anesthetic is not the same as an act of self harm. 
 

3. People who self harm are people to be feared.
The key word in the term is SELF harm. We don't set out to directly harm others, we may indirectly hurt loved ones emotionally, but very rarely does an act of SELF harm involve another person.  I was removed from UNI housing as the UNI was afraid for the safety of other students.  Another example of how far small minded stigma spreads.
 

4. Why are you in the 'looney bin' it's full of 'crazy' people.
To put things a bit simply...in order to want to harm yourself to 'feel better' you have to kind of be a little bit crazy. Also, the other people in hospital are no different from your friend, they are lost like them. Their medication might have stopped working, or they fell into old habits and they found themselves at rock bottom again.  Hospital is a place to gather yourself, you won't be instantly better, but it helps to get yourself back on your own two feet.
 

5. I won't visit them or call them because they might want to be alone.
Don't make this assumption.  Hospital is a lonely place, the days seem to tick by so slowly.  There isn't much to do other than to be lost in your own thoughts.  At least not in the public wards I have been in.  Make a phone call. Sometimes even a 5 minute conversation can make someone feel like there is people out there who care about them.  Why is it that when someone is in hospital for a medical issue, people have no issue in going for a visit but as soon as someone is in the 'looney bin' then they are something that is to be feared.  Step outside your comfort zone and make someone feel a bit special.
 

What can you do to make your friend feel better?
The truth is there might not be much, but just being there, judge free can be enough.  Lending a listening ear and letting them know that they aren't alone.  

The importance of sleep

Any parent will be able to recite to you the effects of sleep deprivation.  Whether it's a long term issue or one night after months of being a perfect sleeper, we've all felt it.  The term walking zombie comes to mind.
 

Sleep is so important to good mental health.  Of course it's always easier said than done.  When you have sole care of a small child, you can't just pop a sleeping pill and hope for the best.  At least not without knowing how well it works first.  The trouble with not being able to sleep is that for me it's often too late to even contemplate taking medication...I have enough trouble getting out of bed in the morning as it is.
 

A few years ago, before Devil Spawn came along, I couldn't sleep...for 5 days straight.  I laid in bed, closed my eyes and nothing happened....for 5 days.  I had been taken off all sedative medication and had no access to any.  I even tried alcohol and nothing happened.  My brain just refused to switch off. I was at a loss as to what to do.  On the 3rd night I went to A&E. After waiting for hours, I was told to go home, I was nothing but a drug chaser. If I was a drug chaser then I would have already slept...you know because I would have drugs.  Rinse and repeat for the next night.  Both nights I had to wait to see the psych team. Both nights I was accused of being a drug chaser. Both nights I was given nothing.  By this stage it was up to day 4.
 

I had called the Crisis Team, they told me to go to A&E, it was fruitless. I was at a loss as to what I could do.  My brain was refusing to switch off. My eyes burned from being open for 4 days. I was very close to snapping. I covered an entire wall in my room with paper and wrote ramblings, that spanned the whole wall. A kind of brain splatter on my wall. None of it made sense.  Still I couldn't sleep.
 

I had a small amount of hope (or I was a glutton for punishment) and went to the A&E again.  It was now day 5. I din't have much faith, but I needed sleep and I was willing to do anything at this point.  Anything legal that is.  I was in luck...the registrar who was on duty that night was someone who knew my history...something that the other doctor could have easily checked and seen that I have never had an issue with drugs.  He couldn't believe that I had been ignored so long.  He wanted to admit me, I just wanted to sleep, something that we all know doesn't happen too comfortably in a hospital bed.  He had no hesitation in giving me a wafer type medication to help me sleep. A wafer is a medication that dissolves as soon as it hits your tongue.  An easy way to avoid giving me a script, which is what the other doctor was apparently trying to avoid.
 

After 5 days, I sleep deeply and long.  I felt refreshed and like I had control over my body again. 
 

Snore Australia states the effects of chronic sleep deprivation as "feeling tired, irritability, slurred speech, blurred vision, memory loss, inability to concentrate, episodes of confusion, hallucinations, nausea, impotence and reduced sexual drive. "  They also state that extreme sleep deprivation can lead to psychosis.  Unfortunately the only way to 'fix' sleep deprivation is to sleep.  Something that can be easier said than done, especially when you add small children into the mix.
 

The website How Did You Sleep says that the importance for sleep to mental health is paramount. "Sleep allows the brain to take in new information and strengthen our memories.  The quality of your sleep can have a significant impact on your mood, energy level and ability to concentrate.  It can affect your work, cause relationship problems and make it difficult to complete simple tasks.  Sleep can also affect our mental wellbeing, immune system, and other health-related issues. It is crucial to our health that we learn to sleep well."
 

Do you have trouble with sleep? What do you do each night to ensure that you get a good nights sleep?
 

Linking up with Jess for #IBOT

Epidemic

*The following post may be triggering to those who are struggling with self harm thoughts. Please make sure you are feeling safe before reading.*

If you or someone you know is contemplating hurting themselves please get in contact with a GP, go to your closes ED or give the wonderful people at Lifeline a call.

On 60 minutes on Sunday, they did a story on Self Harm. I will admit that I was apprehensive about it and didn't actually watch it until it was available online. After I knew that other people had watched it.  After I knew whether they had portrayed it in an understanding light.  I just knew that I wasn't in the right frame of mind to deal with it, if it was anything else.
 

I've made no secret of the fact that I have self harmed in the past.  It is something that I deal with on a constant basis. It is something that I will probably deal with for the rest of my life.  Was it easy to stop? No. Not at all.
 

Self harm has been toted as 'attention seeking' among other derogatory things.  Things like that do nothing for the shame and guilt that someone who self harms or has self harmed feels.  The worst comments I have received have actually been from 'professionals'. The pearlers have been when presenting to the local Emergency Departmet with injuries that needed medical attention ranging from 'so', 'you know you're doing it the wrong way' to when presenting with self harm thoughts and not actions 'just come back when you've done it'.  Emergency Departments are the first port of call for mental health patients and really need to be trained in ways to deal with these patients. Psychiatrist Professor Graham Martin talks about it during his interview.
 

"I hear of therapists running away. I hear of people in hospital running away. Nursing staff who can’t face up to somebody who has cut themselves deliberately. Because they’re not important, and they did it to themselves, and they’re just attention seeking. I don’t believe any of that. I think when somebody goes to these lengths, they need help."
 

One of the most common questions asked of someone who self harms I think is "What made you think to pick up something to hurt yourself with".  There is no one moment when you think oh yep this is what I am going to do. It is something done out of desperation, of feeling like there is nothing else that will work.  When I started I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would still be struggling with urges 10 years later.  That 10 years later, whenever things get shit, it is my first port of call.  One of the girls interviewed for the story I think sums it up perfectly.
 

" I don’t remember why I chose self-harm. The chaos and the feelings that were all trapped inside my head got to a point where I needed something."
 

I was quite impressed with the way that the story was portrayed in such a sensitive way.  It didn't poke fun or minimise the behaviour in anyway. I just hope that this story was able to reach a few people, to help them understand.

60 Minutes Story

FFS Friday 19 October 2012

 At first thought I didn't think I had enough for a FFS Friday but after some deep thoughts while washing my locks I realised that there were a few things that pissed me off this week. Well they do say that all of our best thinking is done while in the shower and on the toilet ;)
 

For the duration that I have been living at Funny Farm my shower has been shite.  I just thought there was a water saver head and put it in the too hard basket.  I got DP to have a look at it last weekend.  There was no water saver head. The pressure is just shite.  Now I am forever going to have to stand under the shower for an eternity to wash my locks FFS.
 

This week while having a child free day I was enjoying some television that was in cartoon when this little snippet turned up. http://www.2dayfm.com.au/entertainment/the_dirt/blog/video-guys-gone-skitzo/20121015-hf6h.html  Using a mental illness to describe something is NEVER cool. Ever.  There is a theasurus for a reason. Use it! FFS
 

DS has turned into a know it all.  He will ask me a question then say 'No'. Don't ask me the question if you already know the answer kid FFS.
 

On Wednesday a couple of friends and I took our kids down to the beach for the day.  We went early to get as much time as possible at the beach.  Turned out it was high tide so there was no beach.  FFS
I got all "I'm more fit that I think I am' and decided to walk from the beach to DP's work.  In the stinking heat. Pushing 20+kg worth of toddler and pram. Mostly up a hill.  I think I saw my life flashing before my eyes a few times. About half way I was dying of thirst and busting to go to the toilet at the same time.  The rest of the way felt like an eternity FFS.
 

I forgot to put sunscreen on both DS and I. We both got burnt.  I remembered to put sunscreen on DS on Thursday morning before going to Mum's Group but forgot about myself. I got reburnt. I feel like a giant lobster FFS

For the first time in weeks I was asleep, soundly before midnight AND got to sleep in until 730am.  I got 10 hours worth of solid sleep for the first time in I have no idea how long.  I also woke up this morning feeling more tired than I have in weeks. It isn't supposed to work like that FFS.
 

I do my online grocery order on a Thursday afternoon.  The only spots that were left were the dearest spots.  I kept forgettting about it so I could only get night time spots.  It really is a first world problem FFS.
 

What's pissed you off this week? Leave your FFS in the comments then head on over to Dear Baby G and read all about other peoples FFS Fridays.

Self Harm Awareness Day

March the 1st, is Self Injury Awareness day. Everyone knows someone who self harms or has self harmed in the past. Show your support and wear or draw an orange ribbon to show your awareness. Self harm isn't a joke, it's a coping mechanism and can be a symptom of other mental health problems. Smile at someone, it could make their day.

The website Responsibility defines the act of self harm as: 'behavior of deliberately causing oneself pain or injury.' 

Today is a day set aside to raise awareness of self harm.  Self harm is such a taboo subject that spreading awareness of this struggle that many people face every single day. Self harm isn't a failed suicide attempt.    

Facing up to an Emergency Department after an episode of self harm borders on terrifying.  You never quite know the reception you are going to receive.  It could be revulsion, scorn or if you are lucky compassion.  An article in the European Journal of Emergency Medicine states 

'Staff in the emergency departments of hospitals are reported as being negative or ambivalent toward suicidal or self-harming individuals. According to the literature, these patients are subjected to stigmatization and lack of empathy. This phenomenon has been linked to a decreased quality of care offered to these individuals and to missing an important opportunity to prevent further suicidal behavior or repetition of deliberate self-harm'

If this is how 'professionals' treat people who self harm...then the general uneducated public can only be thought to be worse.

For me self harm is like an addiction.  It's like any coping mechanism that we develop, we fall back to it when familiar obstacles present themselves.  The hard part is replacing these behaviours with something positive.  Something that gives the same 'rush' because for me that is what is was.  It made me feel when everything else was numb.

If you or someone you know self harms please get help.  It might not provide an instant cure but it's the first step in releasing the grip that self harm has.

This was such a great support for me as a teen: http://self-injury.net/

Check out these websites for more info:

Lifeline

Beyond Blue

Kids Help Line

If you have self harmed please seek medical treatment at your nearest Emergency Department.

A little compassion ploise

One of the major things that stopped me from going to classes at the gym was that I didn't want to be the fat chick struggling through the class while all the gym bunnies breezed through it.  How I was wrong.  You know what? I am glad that I am wrong...at least at my gym anyway.

There is one woman who goes to most of the classes I go to and to me she is so inspirational.  Not because she is a size 8 gym bunny but because she is overweight and is actively doing something about it.  She has been doing double classes, struggling through them but still coming back anyway.  By her own admission she still has a lot of weight to lose but I admire her for getting out there and doing it.  She can't always do all of the exercises but she does them to her level and that's the most important.  We all have to start somewhere.

What I am not happy about is comments that other gym goers have made about this woman giving it a go.  One in particular that got my back up was 'she can't even do things properly. Why does she bother?'  She is probably 'bothering' for the same reason that everyone starts exercising, because she wants to be a healthier version of herself.  There is a bit of a 'culture' surrounding the gym scene that it is only for skinny, fit people and this persons comments just help to cement this misconception.

Just as I said thin people exercise too, this goes both ways...unhealthy, unfit, overweight people use the gym too.  There just needs to be a bit more support for everyone who gets out there and 'just fucking does it'. 

Isn't love all that matters

Image from here

I was reading through my Facebook feed earlier in the week and stumbled across a very worrisome article about chair of Beyond Blue, Jeff Kennet.  His words that worried me so much.... “Happy heterosexual marriages are the best environment for the mental health of children.” Read more here....

I really thought that we were living in the 21st century...obviously I was wrong.

Beyond Blue has distanced themselves from the comments made by Jeff Kennet.  With good reason.  

His comments really were a kick in the guts of progress and also to those families who aren't doing things by the 'norm'.  Plenty of kids have turned out a-ok in single parent families because they are loved...who is to say that someone's sexual orientation makes them incapable of love?

Even Centrestink now recognise same sex couples as what they are...couples.  You really are behind the times if you are more backward thinking than centrestink.

Dunnet's comments make the implication that children in heterosexual relationships have good mental health.  I can tell you that most of the people I know with a mental illness came from a two parent heterosexual family.  

I'm not saying that one family dynamic or another is more likely to create unstable mental health, just that all a child needs is to know that they are loved and they have a safe place to come home to.  

All of the cool people have guest posters

Today is a guest post from one of my bestest friends.  She also has a mental illness....but don't let that make you think she's crazy...meet her first :D.  I hope you love her as much as I done :)

The Random Ramblings of an Insane-o

Stigma – Shame, Disgrace, Dishonour

The shame or disgrace attached to something regarded as socially unacceptable.

I thought I would start this post with a dictionary meaning of stigma.  As I am creating this post in Microsoft Word, I thought I would just use the in-built dictionary.  Being familiar with Microsoft Word, I thought I would use the shortcut keys CTRL + F7 to bring up the meaning for me, instead of using the Google search page to find out the associated meaning.  For those of you who are familiar with Word, you would know that CTRL + F7 brings up the thesaurus first.  I was shocked to see three words come up recommended as a substitute for stigma. Shame, disgrace, dishonour.  These three words are much harsher than the more commonly used word, stigma, to describe the negative view that tends to follow around the many, many people in today’s world affected by a mental illness.

I guess this just angered me even more.  Statistics have proven that in your lifetime, if you are not affected by a mental illness personally, you will at least have someone in your life, be it a relative or friend, who sadly is.  Yet mental illness is looked upon as shameful, disgraceful, dishonourable and socially unacceptable.  I think the biggest thing is that so many people are afraid of what they do not understand and when you get enough people who do not understand, such a stigma is created.

It is slowly being proven that with education, the stigma can be lifted from mental illness.  Look at depression, for example.  Although it is still not fully understood, although some people still think back in the dark ages with the belief that people should just “snap out of it”, there are now more people seeking help for depression than ever before.  And personally, I see this as quite an achievement from 20 years ago.  Even if this is just the beginning and there is so much more work that needs to be done, even if there are still people with narrow-minded views, even if some people still cling onto the belief that mental illness is for “crazy” people, even then, it is good to see some progress, and I hold onto the hope that one day the stigma will no longer exist.

Because depression is so widely spread, and most of us know someone with depression, I believe that it will probably be the easiest mental illness to lift stigma from.   However, even this is proving to be a mammoth task, with so many people being afraid of what they don’t understand.  Which, then leaves me feeling even more concerned for the stigma ever lifting off other mental illnesses.  Serious mood disorders such as bipolar, personality disorders such as borderline personality disorder, and of course the very stigmatised disorders such as schizophrenia.

One day at work I was reminded of people’s narrow-minded views, when a colleague commented that schizophrenic patients should be put to sleep with a lead injection.  This made me so angry.  Why are mentally ill patients looked upon this way?  How would you feel if your son or daughter had schizophrenia and these narrow-minded people were in control of the world’s decisions and had the right to punish your son or daughter to death for being sick?  Yes, SICK, ILL, UNWELL. The fact of the matter is mental illness is exactly that, an ILLNESS.  What makes me the most angry is that people with cancer are given empathy and kind thoughts, people with heart conditions, people with normal streamline illnesses are treated with upmost respect and empathy, and yet once you add mentally ill to your patient cv, it seems you are not worthy of medical treatment, you are not worthy of kindness and empathy.  If you are depressed you simply need to “suck it up”, if you are schizophrenic you should be “put to your death” before you harm others.  It angers me that people have these views.  It angers me that I am made to feel pathetic and like I am using valuable health resources from people who “deserve it more than I do”.

Educate people, allow them to see what really happens.  Why hide the facts of mental illness?  Why only let them see the negative?  Every time a court case happens and a mentally ill person is “found not guilty by reason of mental defect” the media swarms all over it and alas, more negative publicity is shared with the ever impressionable public.  Yet, one would wonder, if mental illness was more socially accepted, if there was no shame, if there was no “stigma” attached to mental health would the mentally ill offender have sought help for their illness? Would their family have been more understanding and realised that something was wrong and that it was okay to seek help for their ILLNESS?  Could the crime that had been committed by the ILL patient been avoided had they received proper treatment BEFORE the crime was committed?

It is 2011.  We are no longer in the 1940’s.  As the world keeps turning there are more and more studies into mental illnesses.  So many new discoveries, so many new treatments, so many new warning signs revealed, and yet the media is yet to publish these.  The only media attention mental illness gets is the “NEGATIVE PUBLICITY” when a mentally ill patient is found not guilty of a crime, when they were not of sane mind when it was committed.  I really do not see the harm in educating the world about mental illness.  I do not see the harm in making it socially acceptable to be “SICK”.  I can not think of one reason why mentally ill patients should be treated any different to any other patient.  Before you hate on people for being “INSANE” enough to commit a crime, maybe you should work towards making it socially acceptable for them to get help, therefore, avoiding the crime altogether.

I guess as I have been coping with mental illness for as long as I can remember, I have grown up around people, who like me, are suffering.  And I am proof, that with proper help, mental illness can be managed.  And I often sit and wonder, in my random thoughts, about how different the world would be if everyone had the opportunity to get the help I have had.  I often wonder how if there was no stigma, how many people would reach out for help.  I often wonder how many suicides, how many horrible things might have been avoided if only getting help for the mentally ill was socially accepted and encouraged.  I know I am but one person, but if all of us “one person’s” formed an alliance, if everyone cared enough to open their hearts and realise that mental illness is an ILLNESS, maybe then, the world would be a better place.  Maybe then people won’t lose their brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts to suicide.  Maybe then people who need help for their ILLNESS would get the help that they need and finally, the narrow-mindedness of people in relation to mental illness would cease to exist, and the fool at work who suggested a lead injection for those with schizophrenia would be but one voice, drowned out by so many others, who truly do understand.

IF ONLY… 

Mad World

Tainted

Does having a mental illness cloud your judgement forever? Or does it just cloud people's judgement of you forever? Does it effect the way that they see your decision making skills? Is every decision you make tainted?

'Everyone' (whoever that is) says that 'aren't your mental illness', 'it doesn't define who you are' but it's hard when every decision you make they wonder if its the 'illness' thinking or if it's you.  Nothing you ever do will be free from that thought.  So while you spend years in therapy learning to distinguish the difference between you and your diagnosis, 'everyone' else still can't see the difference.

Some days I ask what the point in all that work is, if it's not going to change anything? If every time you feel sad, angry, hurt then it must be the 'illness' talking.  Everything is blown out of proportion or lack of.  Your reactions aren't simple reactions, they must be the 'illness' talking.  Your every reaction is a overreaction. You're just being 'crazy'

My thoughts have always been like this....it just took physical actions to bring them to the fore front.  Now everyone is always on the lookout for 'signs' that aren't there.