My first experiences with mental health conditions are the reasons that I co-founded The Youth Mental Health Project. I believe that by changing the way we talk about and how we act with regard to our children’s mental health, we can create better outcomes for ourselves, our children, and future generations. That is why the International Bipolar Foundation’s #SayitForward campaign is key to change.
I cringe anytime I hear someone talking about finding "the cure." It’s the same feeling that strikes me when someone walks into my office, where we help people with mental health problems, proclaiming how they just want to “fix” their loved one.
“The key to keeping your balance is to know when you’ve lost it.” I don’t know who said that, but knowing I had lost my balance in life was the turning point in learning to live with bipolar disorder and multiple sclerosis. Unknown to me as an undergraduate nearly a half-century ago, I had both incurable neurological diseases. Most disorders have obvious symptoms, but mine were hidden working like a computer virus destroying a marriage, a career, and ultimately leaving me living alone, in poverty, and planning suicide.
As the grocery store aisles fill with candy and pumpkins begin appearing on suburban doorsteps, my mind turns to the ghosts and goblins of the month of October. Not the ones that hit the streets on Halloween. These are the ones that consume the minds of many who suffer from depression and seasonal affective disorder as night falls fast, as the leaves begin to fall, and the cool winds of winter are beating at the door of our lives.
In 1949, Mental Health America named May as Mental Health Month. The purpose of the observance is to bring about awareness and spread the word that mental health is something everyone should care about. Awareness to other groups within that community has since grown with the first Thursday in May designated as National Children’s Mental Health Day.
In honor of Mental Illness Awareness week we interviewed Mental Health Advocate and motivational speaker Emily Wu Truong. Emily shares with us about her struggles with depression and anxiety, and how they led her to the work that she does now. Also in this issue, is the latest mental health column from Christine F. Anderson about fear and bipolar disorder.
Each year millions of Americans face the reality of living with mental illness. Since 1949, Mental Health Awareness Month has been observed in May; it reaches millions of Americans through the media, local events, and screenings. It gives Americans an opportunity to replace stigma with hope by bringing much-needed understanding and education to others.
World Diabetes Day, World Cancer Day, and even World Egg Day. And now, drum roll please, World Bipolar Day (WBD). WBD is a day to bring about awareness of bipolar disorder. It is the brainchild of Dr. Pichet Udomratn, a member of the Asian Network of Bipolar Disorder (ANBD), who collaborated with International Bipolar Foundation (IBPF) and International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD) to bring his idea to fruition. Now each year, WBD will be celebrated on March 30, the birthday of Vincent Van Gogh, who was posthumously diagnosed as probably having bipolar disorder.
I was diagnosed Bipolar I in 1987 and I spent 23 years in denial, became medication compliant in 2008, and finally accepted my disease in 2010. I have been in recovery since 2011.
I have experienced all three stages of my topic and I would like to discuss with you and tell you from first-hand experience what each one of them feels and looks like.
At a recent summer BBQ, I sat quietly at a picnic table while the other mothers bragged about their children. “Tommy scored the winning goal in the lacrosse playoffs,” beamed Sally. “Jessica was accepted to all five of her top college choices, and is going to Stanford,” boasted Lucinda. “Greg won the debate contest, Carla got perfect SAT’s, Matthew landed a job at Deloitte"…the list of accomplishments was endless.
