Wednesday, April 12, 2006
mental illness is a funny thing...(forgive the fact that i have not strayed from this topic in a while...it is pretty much all i have to write about)
most people don't understand mental illness and with good reason...for a long time it simply was not discussed and now there are so many medicines to keep it under control there most probably feel thereis no need to...
then there are the people who feel that mental illness isn't really an illness at all...the people (who sadly are people of faith) who maintain that depression is a result of a person's lack of faith...
yet my mother's problem is different...at this point, she is not depressed at all...she is high on life...happy as a clam...she is planning programs and buying 32 pairs of shoes at one time...and to the average onlooker she may seem completely normal...or just like your average slightly-cooky old lady...the only people who realize what is going on are the people who are closest to her...
we know her to be frugal so we are alarmed at her spending over $400 on shoes for herself...we know her to be neat and clean and very concerned with the appearance of her home so it freaks us out that there are papers and clothes strewn all over her apartment...and, as sad as this sounds, we know her to not get too excited or happy about much of anything and so it even freaks us out that she is giddy and so upbeat...
i understand that all of this sounds strange to someone who has never experienced it...or to someone who doesn't know my mother well enough to realize that this is abnormal behavior...my friends don't really know what to say to me...i think that they think i'm bothered for no reason...that this isn't such a big deal...for this reason, i'm trying not to even talk about the situation with them...yet that goes against my very nature...i have an overwhelming need to talk about things...especially these type of things...which is perhaps why i am typing away right now about the subject...
on the upside, this has also been a time of bonding for my sisters and i...we talk almost every day so we can keep each other updated on what's going on...for once we all seem to be on the same page about things...they are the only ones that can truly understand the situation...
the mental hospital may be on the agenda in the near future...i hope this can be avoided...
most people don't understand mental illness and with good reason...for a long time it simply was not discussed and now there are so many medicines to keep it under control there most probably feel thereis no need to...
then there are the people who feel that mental illness isn't really an illness at all...the people (who sadly are people of faith) who maintain that depression is a result of a person's lack of faith...
yet my mother's problem is different...at this point, she is not depressed at all...she is high on life...happy as a clam...she is planning programs and buying 32 pairs of shoes at one time...and to the average onlooker she may seem completely normal...or just like your average slightly-cooky old lady...the only people who realize what is going on are the people who are closest to her...
we know her to be frugal so we are alarmed at her spending over $400 on shoes for herself...we know her to be neat and clean and very concerned with the appearance of her home so it freaks us out that there are papers and clothes strewn all over her apartment...and, as sad as this sounds, we know her to not get too excited or happy about much of anything and so it even freaks us out that she is giddy and so upbeat...
i understand that all of this sounds strange to someone who has never experienced it...or to someone who doesn't know my mother well enough to realize that this is abnormal behavior...my friends don't really know what to say to me...i think that they think i'm bothered for no reason...that this isn't such a big deal...for this reason, i'm trying not to even talk about the situation with them...yet that goes against my very nature...i have an overwhelming need to talk about things...especially these type of things...which is perhaps why i am typing away right now about the subject...
on the upside, this has also been a time of bonding for my sisters and i...we talk almost every day so we can keep each other updated on what's going on...for once we all seem to be on the same page about things...they are the only ones that can truly understand the situation...
the mental hospital may be on the agenda in the near future...i hope this can be avoided...
// posted by ruth @ 8:24 AM 
