So, I have this amazing friend named Brandalyn. She's been a constant support and is an amazing mentor. I admire her with everything I have. Well, today she shared a speech with me that she gave to the rotary club. I share it here, with her permission of course. Please let me know what you think. I think we can use parts of it for the SNP CC mission statement.
Changing Minds Changing Lives
Brandalyn
In our society, we do not punish people with cancer. We do not tell paraplegics that they could walk if they really wanted to. We don’t humiliate people with heart disease or disparage those who suffer from other types physical maladies. We have laws to protect people from being discriminated against on the basis of race, creed, religion, sexual orientation, physical disability, age, and gender yet in our society there remains a pervasive form of discrimination; the stigmatization of mental illness.
Popular culture depicts those who live with mental illness as: ignorant, lazy, immoral, or dangerous individuals. In our colloquial language we use disparaging terms such as psycho, nut case, whack job and many other inappropriate labels. The black heart of any form of discrimination is fear and ignorance. These assumptions overlook an important reality. According the American Psychiatric Associate, in any one year period, as many as one in four or 50 million Americans have a clearly diagnosable mental illness. With appropriate treatment, as many as 8 in 10 psychiatric patients recover and enjoy the return of mental health.
Why is mental illness so prevalent? Certain individuals are born with a chemical or biological predisposition to certain types of psychiatric disorders. However, a biological predisposition alone does not guarantee that the individual will develop a psychiatric illness. Intervening environmental factors may preclude the development. Other individuals are born with no innate predisposition will develop a mental illness regardless of biological factors. Why?
We live in a world where one in every four girls are sexually abused before the age of fourteen and one in six boys are abused before the age of sixteen. One in every six women are the victims of attempted or completed rape. Domestic abuse exists in 30% of American households and 5.2 million people a year suffer or witness a trauma so severe that they experience symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. (APA) These events may be the impetus for mental illness in individuals where no chemical or biological predisposition exists. The greatest tragedy brought on by the stigma of mental illness is that only one in five of these individuals seek treatment.
I have been a consumer of mental health services at GLCMH for two years now and I am, with the support of my therapist, my psychiatrist, and the various educational opportunities I have been involved with, working toward my recovery.
I was diagnosed in 2000 with mental illness and it has drastically changed my life. At that time, I was employed by a local engineering firm, where I held a position of responsibility. I was recently married and my husband, my two sons and I enjoyed a rather privileged lifestyle. My husband, although he was not employed, came from a propionate local family and we enjoyed many advantages. All of that changed when I fell ill.
I found very little support even less compassion. The people who I loved and those I called friends attempted to shame and humiliate me out of my illness. They considered the symptoms inappropriate behavior rather than an illness.
I have endured what I never could have imagined myself surviving, but I have. I have also come to believe that my mental illness itself is a gift. It has taught me to identify the people who truly love and support me. It has taught me to prioritize what is valuable and throughout this journey of self discovery I have learned that I am not alone, even when I feel lonely. There are many people with whom share the experience of living with mental illness and we are doing so with dignity and pride.
People who live with mental illness are extraordinary people with extraordinary challenges and yet, we are so much more than that. I am amazed by the many intelligent, articulate, talented individuals I have met, who share similar stories. As I mentioned, I consider my illness, itself, a gift because of the insight I have gained through the intense, extreme and sometimes painful introspection that comes with living with a psychological disability.
For now I’m just being told to embrace the paradox… What makes sense is embracing what doesn’t make sense. I hate to love what I do to myself and yet I love it, anyway. Part of why I cut is because I don’t have the words to give it a voice. If I had the right words or thoughts, I wouldn’t have the need. I don’t cut because I want to-- but because I have to…. My scars are never going to get any better and they’re never going to go away. I just wear my scars on the outside. And I’ve made peace with that. People will either accept me or they won’t… My mettle has been tested by one of the most difficult challenges of the human experience. It has shown me, as Hemingway says, how to grow strong at the broken places.
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