- bi-polar MacBeth art (by Wiktor Sadowski)
Is Autumn ‘Mental Illness Season’?
It seems like Autumn and Mental Illness come as a pair, sometimes. From what I’ve been able to observe, if one’s going to suffer with something mentally, it’ll usually be between September-Februrary. Seriously, have you noticed this? Think back. Let me know. Is it not enough sunlight? Too many emotionally taxing holidays? Too chilly? Something with barometric pressures? I don’t know. But, let’s get on the same page.
What is Good Health vs. Normal Health?
If you’re healthy and you get a cold once in a while, you’re normal. If you get colds more frequently, you’re “a bit sickly”…but still, mostly, normal. What about if instead of a headache, sore throat, breathing troubles, and cough, it is your brain that “gets a cold”?
There is no reason to believe that the brain (with regards to chemistry, function, nutrition, environmental influences, etc) won’t be susceptible to maladies too, just like other parts of the body are. Science shows us clear indicators of genetic components. So, one can be prone to bad knees, or tendonitis, or sympathetic nervous system brain issues that make one prone to panic attacks, etc.
Of course, when one’s brain is ill, things can go badly quickly. For instance, one may be one’s worst advocate to resume health or find healing, if it is thinking which is impaired. Somehow, the brain (or we could say the “mind”: feelings/emotions + reason/intellect) gets tossed to another category when we think of the frailties of human illness. Saying you “sprained your brain” isn’t met with the same sympathy as saying you sprained your back, am I right?
Do We Love the Mentally Ill?
It’s an “untouchable,” or at least uncomfortable, category where someone’s inherent worth, inclusion in community, or spiritual devotion can be called into question. “Aw, uncle Boss? Sure he did that, he’s been more nuts ever since his time in the military…”
It’s a category we may fear or avoid talking about. Lines separating sane and insane get drawn. Such determinations sideline love, undermine grace, and even harm the true gospel message. Being “crazy” means that some one is alone in a special way. The numbers of Homeless who have a history of severe mental illness is about 25% (2009 National Coalition for the Homeless study).
So, if someone has brittle bones, falls, and breaks both legs? He’ll probably get more compassion or understanding than someone prone to mental illness who undergoes a bout with mania ending in a spending spree. Am I right?
The facts tell us that mental illnesses happen, more “normally” than we may care to imagine. Yet, it is those who are ill in the brain who feel so isolated and rejected during their tough times, compared to people who suffer in other ways.
For my Disability Studies class, I’m reading and learning not just about physical, and mental development impairments (wheelchairs and special education folks), but also of brain illness (mental illness). These are all people of the margins. Truly.
Darkness is My Only Companion: A Christian Response to Mental Illness, by Kathryn Greene-McCreight (Brazos Press 2006), is one of my course texts. I highly recommend it. Kathryn manages her Bipolar disorder, is theologian (Yale), an associate Episcopal priest, and a captivating writer.
Depression is one of the most common brain chemistry issues. By the year 2020, depression will be the 2nd most common health problem in the world. Read the rest of the Fast Fact Statistics here.
Here are the Symptoms of Depression from Greene-McCreight’s book, page 170.
5 or more of these 13 symptoms over a 14 day period, or if these symptoms interfere with a person’s normal life is considered Mental Illness or in this case, specifically, Depression.
• Major changes in appetite or sleep patterns
• Uncharacteristic irritability, anger
• Feeling sad, crying more than usual
• Worries, anxieties
• Pessimism, feelings of failure
• Loss of energy, libido
• Unexplained physical aches and pains
• Hopelessness, guilt
• Inability to concentrate or make decisions
• Inability to carry out or care about personal hygiene (showering, brushing teeth, etc.)
• Lack of enjoyment in things formerly enjoyed
• No desire to socalize
• Recuring thoughts of death or suicide
Has this ever been you, or someone you know?
Probably.
See, it’s fairly “normal”.
What are some ideas for helping those with mental illness? Your input is vital for this conversation. Thank you for your contributions, and spreading the word.
Here’s a Resource: Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance
800-826-3632
In Part II of this series, I’ll cover the symptoms of Mania and Schizophrenia…and more is to come.
there have been times in life when I have had some of these symptoms mildly (pessimism, failure, lack of enjoyment, etc.). At one time when I was going through a lot of changes that were difficult (divorce, loss of job, taking on a new high stress job, etc) that I went to counseling. I liked the experience and began to feel better very soon after starting. For me Fall is a rather “up” time. I suffer with winter and hate being cold. It does not lead to depression but I sense that I am more on edge during those times.
Several years ago I had lap band surgery and lost over 100 pounds and have felt much, much better since that time. I suspect there was a biochemical effect of carrying a lot of extra weight as well as a change for the better at being lighter. Not a scientist though…..so just an opinion
Great questions! Thanks for posting about this topic. My father-in-law has struggled with bipolar for most of his life, from what I understand, and until recently, I’ve had trouble knowing how to “deal” with him. I’m wondering if mental illness is a taboo or uncomfortable topic because it’s not necessarily seen as something that happens to you, like cancer, that you don’t have a lot of control over. You know, like, if you’re depressed, get over it. Or cheer up. Or drink a Coke. I’ve been learning some things about sexual addiction lately, too, and I think the same is true in addiction circles. Like it’s OK to talk about being a former drug addict or alcoholic because those things are perceived as external, and you can just eliminate those things from your life whereas sexual addiction is seen as internal. Like, what’s wrong with you? I don’t want to talk about that because that makes you weird. OK, I’m rambling a bit. But I have found with my FIL that I have a better attitude toward him if I try to put myself in his place and think about situations from his perspective. Which isn’t too much of a stretch because my brain sometimes gets a cold in the form of depression too. I think there’s definitely something uplifting about color and so winter in its grayness may affect some people.