You broke your leg. An ambulance is called, they pin your leg, moon
boot, pain and 8 weeks later you walk normally. A miracle. Not so the
struggles with mental illness. Yet in these BB pages we are seemingly
bombarded by sufferers of mental illness w...
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You broke your leg. An ambulance is called, they pin your leg, moon
boot, pain and 8 weeks later you walk normally. A miracle. Not so the
struggles with mental illness. Yet in these BB pages we are seemingly
bombarded by sufferers of mental illness who draw no distinction between
the two. Person develops depression then a labyrinth of twists and turns
take hold from denial to even hospital admission and everything in
between. It is scary for many as they weave their way through the
unknown, add to that the deplorable health system and even misdiagnosis.
It is full on stress until things settle. It's like we really need a
monopoly board just for our help. eg partner is in denial go back 3
spaces to see your GP together. Take a chance- pursue a correct
diagnosis advance to GO. It is really difficult to accept that most
mental illnesses need to be managed for the rest of our lives rather
than seeking cure. "The rest of our lives" sheesh, that's like-
forever!!! crikey...how am I going to handle that? Well its really an
attitude/state of mind thing not unlike any other life changing event.
Marriage, becoming a parent, suffering grief. Add to that taking
medication regularly and accepting ups and downs as part of your routine
like waves ebb and waves flow. Sometimes we need to go through many
hurdles before we settle. Education plays a large part of this. The more
we learn about our illness the more expert we become until there is
little else to know except latest research news. If you don't read up on
your illness, your medications, share experiences with others including
BB and reject therapy then you are in for a bumpy ride with more
confusion and questions rather than knowing where you are at with it.
Knowledge is power. Power is confidence and confidence is essential to
endurance of your symptoms. Confidence and knowledge of your illness
also has a big benefit, it gives you that little more wisdom when those
bad times come around. You know the ones, when you want to walk away
from life as you know it...escape? This has happened to me a number of
times in recent years especially when having a fallout with my wife (she
has depression, I have depression bipolar 2 and dysthymia). I know, no
matter how bad I feel that a few hours later I'll feel better. A day
later you wonder what all the fuss was about and I'm almost back to
normal. So the closest thing to a miracle cure IMO is education. Keep
reading threads here on this site. Tony WK
A Bouquet for Pearls - share your appreciation for other members
