Heres what I always want to say at times like these - and never say: When youre mentally ill, nobody brings you a covered dish. Mental illnesses are scary, and hard to understand, and uncomfortable. No one knows what to do. If you want to help someone with a mental illness, stick around, even when its so much easier not to. And do something nice. Make them soup. Or brownies. Bear with them. And send a nice card. And another. And another. Even if they never say thank you. And call. Call them. And if they cant talk, call another time. And another. And be kind. Just be kind. As kind as you can. And know that you have no possible way to know what theyre dealing with. None. Nada. Zip. Because people with a mental illness arent having a bad day, and what theyre struggling with has nothing to do with bootstraps. They are ill. Very ill. With a life-threatening illness. They need the right doctors and the right medicines and the right therapy. And they need whatever else they need - privacy, love, understanding, patience - and for people to hope theyll get better, believe theyll get better, but understand that they might not. And if the time comes when the terror becomes too much and their lives become unrecognizable and they have no hope of recovery, when there is not kindness enough or love enough to anchor them to this earth, then lovingly and kindly let them seek peace. And know that you had no possible way to know what they were dealing with - but you did the very best you could. And so did they.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 20:12:10 +0000
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