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Mental Health Mondays is my freshwoman foray into the world of hosting a blog link-up. Mental Health has been an interest/concern/passion of mine for most of my adult life. One of the gifts I received at the onset of puberty was a tendency towards depression. I call it a gift, because without having dealt with depression for nearly 40 years now, I would have become a much different person.
I'm not advocating that everyone go out and get them a bottle of depression at the corner pharmacy. It is also a very frustrating condition. Sometimes I get angry that I will probably have to take meds for this the rest of my life. Then I am very grateful that these medications exist and I don't have to suffer.
I am also not off my rocker, a sandwich short of a picnic or not playing with all of my marbles. I don't own a rocker (although I'd like to); my picnics are never short of food and I do not discriminate between my marbles.
But don't call me normal, either. That is also a dirty word at our house. Differences can be celebrated.
Many people tend to treat someone with a mental illness as "less than human". For four years, I worked with adults who had MR/DD (mental retardation and/or developmental disabilities) in a residential/teaching facility. Most people out and about were at least kind, but some people's behavior was just...bad. I've seen people move to the opposite side of an aisle in a store, get up and move to a different table in a restaurant, and make inappropriate comments.
I even heard of one hospital ER staff making a comment, "Why don't they take 'them' to the vet where they belong?" I cannot attest the veracity of that statement, but unfortunately it would not surprise me. And it's probably a good thing I wasn't there. One thing that job changed in me was an increased willingness to jump into the middle of confrontational situations. If I had been there, the so-called medical professional would have been a patient in their own ER and I would probably be online from the prison library.
And a Humongous (I spell-checked) Mental Health Mondays Hug to Michael Garcia from Houston, a waiter who refused to serve a man who was making extremely rude comments about a family whose little boy has Down's Syndrome.
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"RULES"
1. Please put this button in your post:
First of all, your writing is very engaging and holds my interest from the very first sentence! You are funny, too, in getting your point across, but not in a hurtful way. As I read, I thought of that waiter and I am glad you mentioned him. My heroes are the day-to-day people who see evil and have the courage to stand up against it, instead of stand there and wail that "someboooody should dooooo something about thaaaat!" ugh!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the visit and comment, J. I appreciate your words too! I go all "Mama Bear" sometimes.
ReplyDeleteAdorable bag on your blog today!
LuAnn, this is such a great idea for a meme! I'm not sure how often/if you read my blog, but talking about my own depression is something that I've done on several occasions over on Sanity's Overrated. So having a chance to talk about it, maybe get some of my own issues out in the open, once a week, is the best "therapy between therapy" that I could have.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks, also, for being an advocate. You totally rock!
Thanks so much, Amber. It is near and dear to my heart, to be sure. Not only is there my depression, but a son's sensory processing differences, and my work with adults who have MR/DD.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm a new follower and subscriber to your blog. So, while I have not visited lots in the past, I will be going back again...and again...:O)