Suffering a mental illness or living with one?

[Donte]

If you are older than ten years old then you’d probably remember a time when people were mentally ill.

I remember clearly that people were ‘sufferers’. Cancer victims, AIDS victims, diabetes sufferers etc.

In the not so far away past, not only in my country of origin,’but in Australia too and globally, an illness was looked upon as suffering claiming its victims, the patients.

Luckily, the last decade or so things have shifted drastically in most areas of illness management due to technological advances in medication, treatments, prognosis etc as the scientific progress has moved on making it possible for people to ‘live with an illness’. Instead of cancer sufferers or AIDS victims, nowadays we have people living with cancer or people living with HIV etc.

This is highly empowering for people who have been diagnosed with life-limiting and chronic illnesses. When you know that you won’t die ‘from it’ but rather ‘with it’ makes a huge difference to your outlook in life, your behavior, choices, planning for the future and setting goals to assist you with improving the day to day living and enhance the quality of life you have.

So now people are not suffering from mental illness, they live with mental illness. And that means they can thrive and enjoy life and be as creative and productive as they desire. Medication advances together with psychotherapy and counseling techniques and CBT and mindfulness, meditation, life coaching, group work etc allows individuals to manage their prognosis and have power in their hands.

With the arrival of NDIS and the inclusion of mental illness in the scheme, there are numerous supports in place for the individual who may pursue them and dare to dream! Dare to live again!

How’s the shift affecting you positively? Has your specific community caught up with the drastic improvements and shifts in terms of managing mental health and the way the responsibility now falls upon the person to make goals, dare to dream, plan and receive supports to make it happen? Are attitudes changing in your cultural or religious group? Are people in your circle more open to talk and access supports? Are you or someone you know LIVING with an illness or suffering it?

[Donte]

Living with depression and anxiety can be a double-edged sword! Those who live with both conditions can testify to this.

Depression makes me so tired 24/7. Anxiety keeps me awake all night. Depression makes me have no or minimal motivation. Anxiety makes me feel terrible for not doing anything.

Depression pulls me one way. Anxiety pulls me another.

Depression makes me not want to get out of bed or out of my home. Anxiety makes me freak out if I miss work or don’t go grocery shopping etc.

Anxiety stops me from having good relationships and friendships. I decline invitations. I do not have energy to do the basics. Depression makes me not care.

I have constant arguments with myself. It’s like two of me constantly disagreeing.

Depression makes me want to leave work early or not turn up. Anxiety tells me if I do I’ll lose my job.

Just because others may not be able to see a condition doesn’t make it less real.

[Donte]

As I was walking in the park with the dogs this morning I saw someone walking alone and talking to themselves. They seemed to have a whole dialogue or conversation while moving their arms and making gestures.

It reminded me of the numerous occasions I do exactly the same! I talk to myself; I answer back; I question; I provide answers.

Often I do this down the street, at the beach, in the park etc. It helps me process things, and helps me clear my mind. Even though I don’t hear voices or see things that are not there...

Am I mental?

Is this person I saw today a lunatic? Do we both need therapy? Why?

What exactly is a mental illness apart from a definition given by others; by those who do not display a certain behavior? Who defines yourself? You or the others?

To have a mental illness one has to firstly be aware of the others around them and their inability or disinterest in fitting in. So, being different and enjoying one’s uniqueness can be considered by the others as problematic.

All the prophets, gods, messiahs etc were considered lunatics by the masses. They were unstable; problematic; had to be removed from society or get killed.

But were they?

Why should one have to fit in to a group? Why should we abide by the rules of society? Why is that the normal? - Simply because of numbers! Because the group does it.

The message society gives in every culture is blend in or you are a problem!

Lately I’be been questioning the whole mental health illness issue.

Wondering if it is an issue for the individual. Or is it just a man-made issue that society has construct in its inability to understand and accept the uniqueness and individuality of people.

Every experience that a human being has is real. Be it hearing voices, seeing things that are not there etc. If someone experiences something, then that is real and is part of the human experience.

What do you think about this? And no, don’t worry, I haven’t stopped taking my medications....

[Donte]

Life is very strange and confusing and we'll never really understand it....and neither we have to.

[Donte]

People talk about depression like they know what it is, but most people don't.

You could be in the darkest of sorrows and feel like nothing you can do is gonna make things better, than, wherever you are in your life is merely a taste of what true depression is.

Go to that place if your life, I mean it, put yourself if the shoes you were wearing at that point in time. Now imagine that feeling... that feeling for your entire life is true depression. True depression is where there is LITERALLY nothing in this world that can make you happy, even winning the lotto won't make you smile, cause there's nothing in the world you want anymore. Nothing to make you satisfied, nothing to make you happy. True depression cannot be fixed or worked on like the depression most people experience. If you have kids, raise them properly, because the cause for true depression isn't a traumatizing event or losing something you love, it is all down to the development of a child's brain neurons during development. Keep them happy so they get used to that feeling for the rest of their lives. And feed therm the right stuff - the stomach is directly linked with the brain and mental illness can develop from poor nutrition and addiction to sugar, according to new research.