I wanted to share this. Until you are intimately aware of a mental illness, like depression or bipolar, it is not easy to understand just how crippling mental illnesses can be. What many may not know is that a mental illness is always connected to a physical illness of some type. Chemical imbalances are at the root of depression and bipolar. The point is that will depression there are no choices. When you reach a point where you are so deeply entrenched in depression that you only see nothing, it becomes difficult to see options are choices. When you are pulled too deeply into that void there is nothing left. Ego, sense of self, sense of others, everything dissolves. The only thing left is an empty void. There are no options when you reach that point. This is clearly something that Henry Rollins did not fully understand. What struck me about this was that it reflected my much older views of mental illness. Until I became intimately aware of the ramifications and difficulties that accompany such afflictions, I really did not see these health issues in their entirety. Speaking of music, there is a line from Joni Mitchells song Amelia that goes ...until you get there, yourself, you never really know. This goes a long way in describing how it feels to suffer from depression. I do think that one can comprehend mental illness without experiencing it. This is where education comes into play. But, in order to fully understand suicide, depression and bipolar, one has to delve into very dark terrain. And it can be very very dark. I am willing to give Henry Rollins credit for being proactive with his apology. I do believe it is sincere. It also shows that even enlightened people are not always versed on issues of mental health. I hope this opens a conversation about the subject. Clearly, Henry Rollins now gets it. At least, I hope he does. One has to be positive.
Posted on: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 03:40:56 +0000
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