Exceptional A perspective on mental illness - hopefully educational Understanding Mental Illness by patcelaw

How many people who suffer from mental illness will take their own lives because people condemn them and  they are left to silently suffer? Even people in the church condemn them and say things like, if you were truly a Christian you would not have to seek help from a psychiatrist or therapist to help them cope. Then there is the stigma that runs through society that as a Christian a mentally ill person would never have a brain that malfunctions. The brain is like any other part of our body and can break from time to time. Having a mental illness myself, I can assure you that I am no less a Christian than the average person sitting in the pews of our churches. I may well be a stronger believer than many in the church.  I am of the belief that all of us could be a hair width away from becoming mentally ill. There are circumstances that happen to cause a break from reality. There could be a genetic link that was not known, there could a traumatic event in life. No one wants to have to be hospitalized for this kind of illness, I can assure you. I have been hospitalized many times and it is not a fun place to be, as you lose many of your freedoms. You cannot have certain items on your person. No cell phone, no belt or tie, not even shoelaces. You cannot keep any sharp items with you not even a soft dental flosser. Unless and until you have experienced the setting of a mental hospital, can you truly understand what those who have been treated in that setting, experience. We get frustrated with having to ask to use all of hygiene items. We have to look at our image in a polished metal which does not give a clear enough image to even put on makeup or fix our hair. When we are in the mental hospital we are restricted on the times we can call someone and the times we can have personal visits from friends, pastors and even relatives. We have a personal ID number by which people from the outside must have to even call us. Again, I ask how many people who have a these illnesses, may take their own life because people do not understand and condemn them, so they suffer in silence with mental illness? So I am begging each of you, if you know someone who suffers from such an illness, to you surround them with love and support so they can feel loved and not condemned to a life of suffering in silence. Recognized Author Notes Having recently been hospitalized for a mental disorder called bi-polar. Bi polar is a chemical imbalance in my brain and I have no real control of it other than taking medicine for it. The medicines can be very damaging to our liver and kidneys, so we often go off the meds. I had been stable for over two years and then suddenly like turning on a light switch, I became very depressed and sought help. I chose the artwork to show that when in the mental hospital we see our image blurred and dim as in the photo and we are in a state of confusion much like the scribbled lines in the art. Am I sane? I feel I am most of the time, but there are times when I get sick and seek help.

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