Have you ever thought of our lives like the branches of a tree? All of us reaching towards the sun but all in different directions crossing over each other even but striving to get our own dosage of the light. Others can often shade your view but in time you can get all that you require.
The life we live as family and friends of those with mental illness is a daily roller-coaster ride. One moment things are calm and seemingly good, the next moment you are on a downward spiral chaos. You learn over the years what the triggers are and how to minimize them at all cost. That is not always possible. The Bipolar Mind for example is constantly evolving. My son was diagnosed at age 6 and we had him on various cocktails of medications to stabilize him but that was never perfect. The problem with the medications is that they are not themselves. Sometimes the cocktail creates a shell of the person you know. I honestly don’t know what the right plan is for this illness but there truly has got to be a balance. I want my creative, highly intelligent son, not the over-medicated zombie he is on medication but I also struggle with watching him ride this roller-coaster of emotions, lies and fantasy. He lives in a world in his head that is not easily explained to those who have never experienced it first hand.
As a parent you want life to be easy for your children and for them to have anything they put their mind to. We tell them that if they want something in life they just have to set goals and shoot for the stars. The problem with a mental illness is that the mind doesn’t know limits and when they can’t achieve what they strive for immediately they get overwhelmed and then spiral. To the outsider they can seem so normal and well adjusted when in actuality they are battling their own thoughts constantly. Living a positive life helps but it is not the complete answer. I sit by and watch and hope that one day a cure for this disorder will be found. The fear of self-medication with drugs and alcohol is a fear I live daily. I have the thought that I will get that terrible phone call one day that something horrible has happened.
Threats of suicide, irrational rages, lies and over-exaggerated thoughts. One minute loving life and the next thinking everything sucks and everyone is out to get them. How do we know what is real and fantasy if they don’t even really know themselves? Do we just walk away and let them fight this battle alone or do we allow them to run our lives with their lies and passive aggressive comments that leave you feeling you aren’t doing something right?
When you love a person with mental illness you have to accept them as they are and guide them to fight daily but not to use their illness as crutch and to never become the victim of it. We all have our battles to fight, it is up to us whether we continue to fight or just give in to the battle and lay down and let it defeat us. I will never stop fighting but I will also never allow this battle to take over my life.
When you stop worrying about how others think of you and just live a happy positive life that you can be proud of, the rest falls into place. Be what your heart and conscience tells you. That doesn’t mean go out and be immoral, it means to think positivity when making your choices. Love yourself for the person you have inside not what those percieve you to be by reputation. If you don’t like how others see you, change the view. 🙂
How does Anxiety in Our Society effect our day to day lives? I think about this often with both my children having anxiety based disabilities. We have so much going on in our lives that I see that we allow anxiety to become a greater impact than it really should.
Kids have higher anxiety in school because our system is setup to make everyone the same instead of the individuals they are. With larger class sizes, teachers are forced to streamline course outlines and this just leaves those who don’t learn in that particular way struggling and in return their anxiety levels are increased and then the potential of anxiety based disorders is increased. We have seen a rise in suicide and attempted suicides year over year. Depression and Anxiety are serious and should not be taken lightly. Our children need to be supplied with the tools necessary to manage these times without feeling it is unmanageable and choose to end their lives as what they believe is their only option. Why aren’t coping skills and stress relief techniques part of curriculum also?
We focus so much on academics and extracurriculars that our children become overwhelmed with, what they feel, is expected from them and what they can actually achieve. We as a society need to work more on focusing on the individuals ànd stop judging based on what the majority believes to be the “norm”. What would the world be like if we were all doctors,or lawyers,or astronauts, etc? There is a place for us all and that doesn’t make any of us necessarily “better” than others. We all have our strengths and our purpose. By judging those that aren’t like us we are creativity a society in which those who are creative and musical may feel they aren’t as important as say a doctor who saves ànd patient. When in reality medicine is a science and is not perfect either.
I want a world where we all are free of anxiety and we are able to support one another no matter what we choose as our path. Our children need to accept one another and learn to start working together to build a world where they accept each other for their individual strengths and stop seeing their weaknesses as character flaws. If we teach our children to see one another as our equals and just because one is great in math and the other loves art doesn’t make either better or worse. We are just all as different as our fingerprint. We need to accept that and learn to live in a positive manner where we fight off anxiety because we know that with a clear mind and low stress level we can tackle obstacles and address them in the manner in which is right for us.
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