What Maxine lost....

As I’ve read and written about mental illness, I’ve found myself thinking about the loss that spending years under the control of mental illness creates in a life. While I see my mental illness as somewhat debilitating, and I’m conscious of loss, I’m more aware of the losses experienced by my Mom.  There was absolutely NO area of her life that wasn’t touched by her illness.  As I have said before, Maxine was a talented artist.  Her illness didn’t contribute to her art.  It stole her art from her.  I know that Maxine missed it.  She was forever looking for ways to be creative.  At one point, she made these ‘shadow boxes’ which contained pictures and toys that she insisted told a story.  They were horrible.  She pasted small toys and pictures in these boxes.  They weren’t very neat or artistic in my opinion.  Besides which, when you compared these ‘shadow boxes’ to the artwork that she did before her mental illness took hold, it was shocking.  Maxine had been very talented.  Her artwork was beautiful.  But her mental illness robbed her of the ability to draw. I know that Maxine lived in a time when women didn't usually work, but I sometimes wonder what she could have accomplished if she had been able to use her talents.  And could treatment have restored her abilities to her?

I remember a male client who had this passion for design.  He watched HGTV a great deal, and when he opened up to me, he talked about how to (or not to) decorate a particular space.  He wasn't employed at the time that I worked with him.  He certainly wasn't using his skills in any paid capacity.  I believe his depression, and lack of confidence, kept him stuck.   He had a passion for design. And I believe that without the fact that he needed the medical benefits that he received by being unemployed to continue receiving needed medication, he might have been able to move forward and look for options for achieving his dreams. Wonder what he could have accomplished without the depression?  People with mental illnesses face high rates of unemployment. (Up to 90% for those with severe and chronic illnesses, such as schizophrenia according to NAMI.)  This results in high costs for disability payments. And a true lack of opportunity for those with mental illness to fit into the mainstream of society.

We have the capability of creating life.  We are able to accomplish.  To do what we enjoy. But that isn’t always the case with those dealing with mental illness.  It takes possibility away.  Unless you bring the possibility back with treatment and reasonable supportive services.  You have to provide the opportunity for people to achieve.  This article from Medscape has a thorough discussion about the problems of unemployment and underemployment for the mentally ill:  http://bit.ly/hoO1xM   It's a very interesting read.

What has mental illness taken from me?  My belief in my talents and my confidence.  But I'm grateful for what I do have.  That is the fact that I have tools to battle my mental illness.  And I can work on creating recovery in my life. As they say, today is the first day of the rest of my life.  I am ready to take that on.  What about you?