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Mental illness. The words create emotions in many people. There are words lent to it like "Crazy. Unbalanced. Unstable. Unable. Lazy. Unmotivated to change. Can't find gratitude. Just need to get up and work harder."
Mental Illness is not a weakness. It is the strongest people who see something insurmountable and climb the peak anyway. Sometimes it takes away so much. Appetite. Self-love. Energy. Stability. Friends. Family. Ties to the community. Ability to work or be successful.
But it also gives something to those who struggle with it: Enormous strength. Understanding of other's pain and troubles. A compassionate heart. A creative mind. An ability to face truths that others would not be able to understand or survive as well.
It's important to those who suffer to make sure they know it's not their fault. And that you love them anyway. That even though they are going through a difficult time you won't abandon them. That they are still important even if they feel the exact opposite. That they are not alone. They can be understood. They can talk about it and not be pushed away in fear or disgust or anger.
A person who deals with depression; bipolar disorder; personality disorders; schizophrenia; anxiety disorders; eating disorder; PTSD and all other illnesses of the mind are people too. They have the same dreams, the same feelings, the same hopes in life and in love. They want to be accepted as people who have a biological disease no different from diabetes. It can be managed but still sometimes they fall...they falter in their steps...they find they are lost on the way to a life of fullness and peace. It is at these times when they are hardest to love that they need love the most.
There is courage in facing daily demons. There is strength in pursuing the best life you can in spite of those feelings of emptiness and sadness, anxiety and frustration. They deserve love too.
Next time you find out someone struggles with a mental illness check your pre-conceived notions at the door and go in with a blank slate and just listen to them. Do not judge. Do not make assumptions about what they are going through. Do not say you know what they are going through because every person is different. There are no blueprints and there is no right, or wrong, way to approach it. Just be open. Be loving. Be compassionate. It might mean a world of difference.
"If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain."
Emily Dickinson
