Mental illness is still one of our great taboo subjects. Our language is filled with pejoratives about mental illness: “crazy, insane, loony.” But there is little serious discussion. Yet almost all of us are touched by mental illness in some way, through our own life or the lives of loved ones. In this sensitive service, we will explore the difficult subject of mental illness with compassion.
The sermon title certainly applies to me! Two of the people I’ve loved most in my life have some form of bipolar disorder: mixed mood in one case, “bipolar 2” in the other. My fear that I couldn’t handle that stopped me from marrying one of them, but then my first son developed “bipolar 2”. They are among the most loving, lovable, creative two men I’ve ever known. My life lesson? It is pointless to fear mental illness because it is inescapatable. It is so intrinsic to the human condition.
A parent, friend, sister, or partner. I am all of these to someone who carries with them, every day, depression and/or anxiety. I have been a part of counseling, therapy, partial hospitalization, residential placement and enough school meetings than any person should ever have to participate in.
I have studied, researched, and attended seminars on mental illness. Marched for suicide awareness and keep a couple of social network pages close by.
You see, I am like you. Either you are in it deep or you know of someone who is. Someone who is struggling. We all hear stories. Some of us are the stories on replay each day. Rinse and repeat. Or… we may get several good days in a row!
My young adult son has multiple diagnoses and his mental health is part of his co-morbid diagnoses. (Secondary.) Anyway, after finally graduating from high school, the net drops and there are no longer any supports in place. So I moved here (to CU) figuring this would be a small enough town and great community for him to navigate. He would take a class or two at school, make friends, and maybe even volunteer or work a part-time job.
We’ve been here six months. It’s not been easy. A lot of highs and lows. Some days he cannot get out of bed. One day he went on an interview! That’s a win. However, was too anxious to accept the volunteer position. Plan B. We say Plan B a lot around here. We also say, radical acceptance. We also make sure there is a lot of active listening.
So now my once small and young anxious/depressed 7 year child is 21 with a whole new world of worries to work through.
And I just want the dark monster to stay as far away from him as possible. Just until I can help him get to where he can be…
And yes, as a single parent, it can be lonely. So we must take care of ourselves too.