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Commentary by Pat Wick
To imagine is a particular trait of being human. That means we can try to imagine what’s it like being diagnosed with a brain-based, or mental, illness.
I’ve had some bumps in the road, but with a little bending at the knees, I’ve been able to keep myself on the path. I imagine a brain-based illness might be like being broadsided and thrown completely off the path. Getting back on would be more difficult and staying there would require greater effort.
I’ve had moments of being disoriented. But those moments have gone as quickly as they came. It is not pleasant to imagine those moments turning into hours, days or weeks.
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I have been seized by a jolt of panic so intense it left my heart racing before I could recall what the thought was that preceded the panic. If that panic or anxiety persisted I can imagine how desperate I would feel and how hard it would be to focus.
When I first left my home, parents and five siblings, I lived alone in another state. There were suddenly many hours I spent alone with anxious thoughts and feelings. I remember being bored to bewilderment and painfully aware of my social inadequacies once outside the comfort and familiarity of my large family and small hometown. But I have never been broadsided.
Today, recovery from a mental illness is more a possibility that ever. According to a 1993 National Institute of Mental Health Study, the treatment success rates for treating mental illness is high, compared with some other medical illnesses. Those rates of recovery are: 80 percent for bipolar disorder, 65 percent for major depression, 60 percent for schizophrenia, as compared to 45 percent for heart disease.
The increase in recovery is due to there being more and better medications, more depth to treatment and therapy, and more sources for support.
Having a mind at all surely puts every one of us in the path of a mental illness. Who will stumble and fall from the path into depression, delusion or denial of the reality of needing help, is unknown.
What goes on in our brain cannot be easily seen and is not well understood. I can think of great stresses, tragic events that would steer anyone of us toward the edge, the slippery part of the path. If you can’t imagine it, your denial is better than mine.
So, this is the task of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, to improve the lives of individuals and families impacted by brain based illnesses — and to educate and improve awareness in the rest of us.
NAMI is listed in the local telephone directory and has a resource library that is open to the public five days a week. They offer training, support groups, and makes presentations to the public like the one on Tuesday night at the Sierra Vista library. Called “In Our Own Voice,” it is a consumer recovery education presentation to reach those who might benefit from their services and to increase the publics’ awareness of the reality of recovery.
“We are everyday people with higher hurdles,” said a local man during that presentation. He has been diagnosed with bipolar and post traumatic stress disorders.
He’s a big guy and says guys of most every size resist asking for help, admitting they can’t cope or even question the whys of their own unexplained or self-destructive behaviors. Self-medicating with alcohol is more acceptable than mental illness in our society, he says.
Today he has hobbies, rides a motorcycle, goes fishing and works with others — distracting himself from his own problems in healthier ways.
A local woman who also spoke at the NAMI presentation, was diagnosed in her teens, but went untreated for more than 15 years. She talked about recovery and the reward of helping others with theirs. “We help people weed out what’s going on with them and get past those bumps in the road.”
She is grateful for her own recovery and in being free from abusing drugs for the past six years. “Every day is an adventure. I hope I grow to be better than I am now, that my life gets better.”
While acceptance from some is hard to come by, she cherishes the recovery of relationships with her oldest son and a daughter who was taken away from her when times were hard. There might still be bad days, but she knows tomorrow will be better.
Both spoke on the importance of acceptance — of themselves, as being important to recovery.
Supporting recovery is also the goal of The Comfort Zone at 1201 E. Fry Blvd., Suite 3-B. It is a consumer-run center that offers peer support and a self-help program that is dedicated to promoting wellness and recovery for adults with behavioral health conditions. For information on The Comfort Zone, call 459-2624.
There is hope. There is help for recovery and to learn better, healthier coping skills. When treatment is received, hope returns and dreams can be realized. To want a better way of life is a particular human trait also.
Several readers have responded to this column and the stories others have shared. I do believe that all our lives are impacted by someone with a brain based illness. Take a deeper look at the lives around you. It won’t require imagination.
WHERE TO CALL: May is National Mental Health Month. For information on the national non-profit, NAMI, go to www.nami.org. The local chapter’s phone number is 459-3228.
PAT WICK is assistant general manager of the Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Daily Review. She can be reached at 458-9440, Ext. 604, or by e-mail at pat.wick@wickcommunications.com. Her column appears on Friday.
Dee Dee wrote on Feb 13, 2008 5:26 PM:
Can you tell me how old you are and can you tell me what the doctors say now that the hardware is out?
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