Why do I know about Mental Illness?

It just occurred to me that I haven't written anything explaining why I might have any useful knowledge about mental illness.  I am not a doctor or a psychologist, but I have been through a lot of life lessons.  Brace yourself.  I am going to be bluntly honest.  In this blog I am always going to be bluntly honest. 

I am not ashamed of my mental problems.  I refuse to be.  It is the negative stigma of mental illness which causes many, many people to refuse or even deny themselves treatment, not to mention treatment for their loved ones.  No one should needlessly suffer from mental illness.  It is a treatable disease.  Trying to hide it all due to social stigma seems anti-productive. 

On the other hand, I don't go running around telling the world that I'm mentally ill, like a child begging for attention.  If someone asks, or the subject comes up, I'll give you a straight answer, but I'm not going to make a freak show out of myself.  I'm a strong person who can stand on my own and deal with my issues.  This blog is a tool, which I hope will be useful to others who may not be so familiar with such things.  To serve that end, I feel it is important that I be very open and honest about my own problems.  So here goes:

1.  I have severe chronic depression.  At one point I was hospitalized as an inpatient and have also dealt to a degree with eating disorders.  Stress can kick me into hallucinations and hearing things.  The worst, however, at this point is my postpartem depression.  I've been pregnant four times. (producing 3 healthy kids) The first three months following the pregnancy are the hardest.  I can become extremely psychotic (out of touch with reality, having hallucinations, having personality changes and blackouts, etc.).  The depression itself lasts for at least three years and that is on top of my 'normal' state of being depressed. 

2. All of my life I've been gaining various skills which have helped me cope and deal with my depressive symptoms.  My problems are primarily based in my hormones.  No one abused me as a child.  To be honest, in spite of my depressive nature, I consider myself to have had one very awesomely blissful childhood thanks to two wonderful, loving parents.

3.  My husband has pretty severe anxiety, a trait which my son also inherited.  Both are prone to bouts of depression at times as well.  They are both by nature more pessimists than optimists, which can sometimes make life seem a little harder than it needs to be.

4.  All three of my kids have been hospitalized for depression.  Of course, there are a lot of labels associated with their problems including, but not limited to: bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, psychosis, anxiety, various phobias particularly those associated with school, etc.

5.  That means I've seen mental illness in many different forms from both sides of the story - as the person experiencing it, and as the loved one who is painfully watching a child or spouse fighting to keep their head above water.

5.  At this point you may be thinking this lady is a nut case!  She thinks her kids are all nut cases and has needlessly drugged and hospitalized them!  You're wrong if that's what you are thinkng.  If anything, I think I was in denial for far too long especially when it comes to my two older children.  For some nonsensical reason I convinced myself that my children could not possibly have the same problems - or even additional mental problems - when compared to me.  In my mind, I'd trumped all trumps.  None of my children were allowed to have issues.  Fortunately for all of us (as in our family) I was sharp enough to recognize the traits when they were blatantly flashing in my face before too much serious damage was done.  That is why this is so important.  Early detection, just recognizing the problems for what they are, can make all the difference in the world!

So there you have it.  I'm not claiming to be some mental health expert, I've just experienced it from both sides.  Maybe what I've experienced can help you.