I have an
interesting perspective. I’ve seen the
issues in living with mental illness from both sides. As you know, I grew up with a mentally ill
family member. My Mom was mentally
ill. And she was undiagnosed and
untreated. For years, my Mom didn’t
bathe. She was angry and abusive. She called all of us names. She used to tell my Dad he was “queer”. Our life with Mom was stressful and
difficult. And in those days, mental
health treatment was definitely not that available. Or at least my family had no idea how to
force her to get help. As an adult, I have had my own experiences with
depression. I am medicated for my
depression. In addition, I have worked
in the mental health field in a variety of roles. For example, I have been a case manager in a
community- based treatment program and worked as an intake clerk for an
in-patient psychiatric facility. So, I
have some experience dealing with mental illness from a variety of
perspectives. I am clearly not a doctor.
What I write is not scholarly. It
is just based on my experiences and observations. I share what I have learned with you. I hope that you will share with me. And I enjoy hearing what YOU think about what
I am writing. If you desire to respond
to me, information on how to do so is contained in the “How do you contact me?”
section of the blog.
In this
article, I would like to discuss something about how to find support when you
are living with someone with a mental illness.
There are a variety of places that you can find support. Here are some of them:
- Support Groups. You can find support groups online or you can call a local mental health clinic. NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness) can direct you to available groups.
- Through a family program in an inpatient hospital program. If your loved one is hospitalized and you are included in the treatment process, you can find options for support through the family program staff.
- Outpatient therapy. (Life Coach/Counselor/Therapist)
- If your loved one is an addict or alcoholic, you can find support through AlAnon or NarAnon.
- Blogs and educational articles on mental illness.
When you
are dealing with a mentally ill friend/loved one, you will need support and education. It takes a great deal of patience and understanding
to deal with mental illness. And you
deserve the opportunity for support. If
there is anything that I can do for you, don’t hesitate to contact me. I would love to help you problem solve about
options. Finally, I
encourage you to keep reading my blog.
You may hear something that you need to hear. Or you may be able to share a story with me
that will light the way for someone else.
Welcome.
Blogs and
Websites:
This is
clearly a partial list. If you put the
relevant words into a search engine, you should pull up a list of articles and
blogs. I hope to hear from you. Looking forward to chatting…
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