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While I would recommend being open about one's own struggles as a way to fight stigma, which is usually due to ignorance, openness is not for everyone. Ultimately, each person has to decide for himself or herself what is right. I understand the reasons for keeping quiet about a diagnosis, especially some of the more misunderstood ones. Yet the only way we can hope to get rid of stigma is by education, and education begins with openness.
Amanda_HP
When cruising Facebook profiles, many times under "relationship status," you'll find someone wrote "it's complicated." As a matter of fact, you'll find the phrase on so many profiles, it's become sort of a joke. What's no laughing matter is that for many with a mental illness, relationships can be complicated.
As young people seeking help for our mental health issues, sometimes we face unique challenges. I occasionally get criticism from older people telling me that I am just taking myself too seriously. They say I don't really have a mental illness or addiction, but insist that I am just young or immature and I will grow out of it. This was especially troubling when it came to my alcoholism.
I am blessed with fantastic and supportive relationships in my family. When I was twelve years old and in the children's psychiatric hospital, my parents and siblings would visit whenever they could. They brought me chocolate and teddy bears, tears and promises that I would be home soon. But bipolar disorder, or any mental illness really, can either destroy relationships or enhance them. And that's okay. Let some relationships go, and make sure you keep the supportive relationships.
Thirteen years ago, I was a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner by day and the mother of a son newly diagnosed with ADHD by night. Despite my experience and education in the psychiatric field, I felt helpless as to how to help him manage and overcome his challenges. Little did I realize just how much ADHD would impact his life, my personal life and professional life. In the years to come, I would discover ADHD Coaching and see what a difference it made to help him overcome his struggles. I would learn that my husband and older son also struggled with the disorder and that I myself, although never officially diagnosed, had many ADD/ADHD tendencies, characteristics and traits.
All of the misconceptions about Dissociative Identity Disorder bother me because they create barriers to diagnosis, treatment, and support. But there’s one myth that bothers me for more personal and, up until today, private reasons. And that’s the assumption that child abuse causes Dissociative Identity Disorder.
[caption id="attachment_254" align="alignright" width="119" caption="Thomas Insel, NIMH"][/caption]
Let's hope so. Let's hope earlier detection is possible. Why? Because it's essential. At the NAMI Convention in Chicago a few weeks ago, Dr. Thomas Insel of NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health) said that more research dollars are spent on tooth decay than on mental illness. Really? Wow!
Abusers who have not yet turned to physical violence could be "time bombs" with fuses of unknown length. If your abuser feels that his "normal" verbally abusive techniques are not working, he will probably move into physical abuse to maintain his control.
Abuse escalates over time. Time spent in abusive situations and relationships cause you to feel beaten down and devastated - but it is never too late to get help.
This week I might see my ex-boyfriend, Grant. Everyone has an ex like Grant, you know, the guy you thought would be The One, who just turned out to be The One That Got Away.
Clearly, psychotherapy doesn't work for everyone. Some more than others. The bigger question, the real question, is why it works at all.
I wish I could control it a bit better but I refuse to beat myself up over it either.
:)
Seems like I will have to "pretend" to always be happy and cheery even though I don't feel like it, that too in my own house and close places. It's so exhausting and disappointing. I don't even know what to do next!