Friday, October 19, 2012

Peace After the Storm


This blog is an issue that doesn't seem to want to go away for those whom have mental illness. Not only do you suffer with the illness, lose hope, and may even barricade yourself in a safe place, you also have to put up with the shame of being a second class citizen in society. I would liken mental illness slander to racial slurs. There's not a doubt about that in my mind.

Once again I came up against this problem. People who don't know my diagnosis just simple assume I have every mental illness another person can think up. If you act this way then you have "X". If you act that way then you have "X". This is the best people can seem to do.

I don't want you to lose hope. I'm going to tell you something your probably already know. I'm going to tell you that people are cruel and doubly so on the internet. But still, don't lose hope. If you know God then you know that God wants you to live abundantly. That's a tall order for a lot of us. But we must take joy in what we can find.

It seems as though when you are mentally ill, everything collapses on you harder. The weight of the world, the burden of illness, the frustration of being misunderstood and form together as a weight around your neck. It becomes something that drags you down. The worst part is the isolation. When you do perk up with the courage to make a friend they seem to retreat hastily. The problem is not you. The problem is the other person.

Instead of hurting yourself further with shame and fierce fury, you should try to settle down before you act. This is something that I haven't quite learned to do in every situations. No sicknesses are easy to deal with-- especially when they attack the brain from different angles. 

I want to provide you with some things you can do to help you calm down before you respond to cruel people and play into their hands. Some people just want to goad the ill into being vulnerable and being in attack mode simply for their own sadistic pleasures. Here are some things I can think of to help you weather the storm that assaults your heart AFTER the storm has passed.

1.) Listen to your favorite song.
2.) Practice on slowing down your breathing and heart rate.
3.) Ignore the trespass if you can
4.) Pray or look to your higher power for healing for your heart and mind
5.) Talk to a loved one about the problem but try to remain calm if you can
6.) You can try apologizing but it usually doesn't work with these kind of people
7.) Share your story and use what you've learned from it in the future
8.) Educate people about mental illness and realize stigma and bias are two diseases that are worse than mental illness itself.

If you can think of any other methods to heal anger, hurt, and shame, please leave them in the comments section below. I think it's important that people with metal illnesses need to learn to care for one another. Some mentally ill people share similar circumstances and are more open to hearing and counseling people about their problems.

In this life we must each be our own biggest fans. No one is going to do it for us. Despite what was said to me, I do not believe that mental illness should be shut in a closet and ignored. That will never cure it and people who suggest that are actually heartlessly berating and belittling people with legitimate illnesses. Stay out in the light and open areas in life. Don't apologize for anything you are going through or experiencing. You have mental illness and you are suffering. If everyone understood this fact about the mentally ill then the world would be a much better place.

My best advice would be it's not really HOW but only WHEN a matter of bias and cruelty will meet you. Guard your heart well and see that you train your unique mind to operate levelly when caught in a volatile situation.

I am rooting for you! Sorry this blog was not as intellectual. I'm still finding out how to get rid of my negative emotions. They seem to be acting as a block on my literary style.

You can find peace on the other side of the storm.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Megan,

    Thanks so much for posting this... I loved it... sometimes it helps just to have someone else verbalise what you think you inherently know but don't know how to say :)

    I'm about to start blogging about my own bipolar journey and was hoping that you would allow me to post a link to your blog from mine?

    I know there are a lot of people close to me who will want as much info as they can get their hands on and allowing them to read such an open and honest account would really help I think :)

    ReplyDelete