I’m trying to put together an outline and make myself available to talk to Churches, Civic Groups, etc… from an everyday layman’s perspective. No big words… pie charts… no statistics… etc. Just me and my story.
And my goal is this: I want people to understand that a Mental Health problem is nothing to be ashamed about… so it doesn’t need to be kept hidden in the shadows. It is a chemical imbalance which is treatable with the right combination of meds and monitoring.
My wife OWN (‘Ol Weird Nancy), along with millions of others, has been battling cancer. She didn’t ask for that ailment. I wear glasses. Some people have had heart attacks… wear hearing aids… are diabetics… etc. Again… none of them asked for those ailments, but they seek treatment without stigma.
I want folks to look at Mental Health the same way. It’s nothing they did wrong… it is sometimes hereditary… and it can be treated. I want to put a face on it… especially for people that have known me. That was the biggest success of my little book. No one could believe that it happened to me. I showed that it can, and does, strike anyone. It doesn’t respect gender, race, social class, nationality, etc…
So the story I want to share is simple:
My name is ThOm. I am a suicide survivor. And I am the face of Mental Health. Let me come and share my story with you.
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It took a Christian doctor explaining the chemical imbalance part and that it was not because of sin, for me to get the correct help.
WOW!! This is so true and really touched my heart. I am someone who have been surrounded by mental illness. Sometimes I feel the stigma is rising up there with gay marriage. We are not people to be ignored or shunned. Mental health issues affects lots of people…..we need to take a stand and make it more acceptable!
In my work as a Paratransit bus driver, I have worked with people with a wide variety of physical and mental disabilities. I have come to the conclusion that mental illness is the worst affliction of all. Our brain is the very center of what we are. However, like our heart, lungs, kidneys, etc., it is an organ in a human body and it can be sick — like any of the other organs. Unfortunately, when our brain is ill, it reflects directly in how we appear to others, and that is something that directly affects how others perceive us.
Those with a lack of experience in recognizing mental illness may not readily understand why a person so afflicted is behaving in the manner that they are, and form an inaccurate judgment about that person. I have been there and done that. Being able to recognize mental illness, and understand it’s affect on the way a person presents their self to the world, can prevent a great deal of prejudice and misunderstanding.
Good health is truly a blessing from God, and a healthy mind is the greatest blessing of all. We must all seek knowledge of mental illness, and learn how to recognize it, so that when we are confronted by it, we do not behave in a manner which is unkind to those who are doing battle with the worst physical disease of all. MENTAL illness IS a PHYSICAL illness.