What Is It Like To Have a Mental Illness?
What Is It Like To Have a Mental
Illness?
Empathy is defined as "feeling concern and understanding for another person's situation and feelings."
However, it can be difficult to empathize with our ill
relatives because we would have to have their mental illness to
truly "walk a mile in their shoes".
To bridge this difficulty, we present information
geared towards the families of individuals suffering from major
mental illness. We hope that it will help you better
understand the challenges facing your loved ones.
We currently have sections on Bipolar Disorder and
Schizophrenia, and we are working on sections for the other major
mental illnesses.
In addition, we just learned
about the PhotoVoice program,
where those diagnosed with illnesses can use photographs & essays to
express how they feel about the stigma associated with mental illness.
What is it Like to Have Bipolar Disorder
(also known as Manic Depression)?
Bipolar Disorder - also known as Manic Depression is a brain disorder
that affects 1.2% of the American population. In this
illness a person’s mood can alternate between the "poles" -
mania (highs) and depression (lows) that don't necessarily
have anything to do with what's going on in their life.
This change in mood or "mood swing" can last for hours, days,
weeks or months.
These swings can severely disrupt a person's life.
While manic, a person can have incredible energy - but can also
be extremely angry and argumentative and can get into severe
financial problems due to impaired judgment. While
depressed, a person can have difficulty functioning at all, and they can be at risk of suicide.
The following links provide background information not only
about the illness and treatments, but also on the family and
societal impact. In addition, they show that early
diagnosis and treatment can allow patients to recover and
lead productive lives.
Bipolar Community - is an excellent page on
HealthyPlace.com (which bills itself as America's Mental Health
Channel). Good discussion of bipolar disorder
symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment. It includes the
diagnostic criteria used to classify different types of Bipolar
Disorder, as well as a Frequently Asked Questions page on how to
explain Bipolar Disorder to other people.
In addition, the site includes several audio and video
programs about bipolar disorder in adults, adolescents, and
children.
"Living
with Manic Depression"
- a 49-minute audio recording of an NPR "Talk of the
Nation" interview with NPR's Jacki Lyden and psychiatrist
Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison. Ms. Lyden
talks about growing up with a mother diagnosed with
bipolar disorder, while Dr. Jamison discusses how her bipolar
disorder has affected her personal and professional life.
The audio is in Real Player
format.
"Dark
Glasses and Kaleidoscopes: Living with Manic Depression"
- a 33-minute on-line video about bipolar disorder (also known
as manic depression). It includes interviews with
people in recovery from bipolar disorder, and dramatizations of
how the illness impacts both the ill individual and their
family. Note that this video starts a bit slow, but gets
better as it goes along. The video is in
Real Player
format.
Things Fall
Apart - Shani Silverstein's essay about life with bipolar
disorder - from the diagnosis during her teens to her experiences as
a life as a married woman with children.
What is
it Like to Have Schizophrenia?
Schizophrenia is a brain disorder that creates delusions,
hallucinations, and disordered thinking and speech. It
typically develops in young adults during their teens
and 20's. It afflicts 1% of the American population, and
is
one of the top ten causes of disability
in developed countries worldwide.
Having said that, many individuals diagnosed with
schizophrenia are able to successfully manage their illness and
lead good lives. The following links provide background
information not only about the illness and treatments, but also
on the family and societal impact - and that with early
diagnosis and treatment there is considerable hope for
recovery.
-
Overview of Schizophrenia
- an excellent page on
HealthyPlace.com (which bills itself as "America's Mental
Health Channel"). Good, thorough discussion of schizophrenia
symptoms, diagnosis, and effective treatment methods (the
latter involves combining medications with patient/family
education on communication techniques and stress
management).
-
Stories about living with
Schizophrenia -
this page features Personal Schizophrenia Stories - some
written by and about people living with schizophrenia - others written
by relatives of individuals with that illness. The
stories are alternately poignant, heart-breaking, and
inspiring. Be sure to read the one about the young
lady who auditioned for "American Idol" and actually
left
judge Simon Cowell speechless!.
- Reaching Out
- this
excellent on-line video was produced by the
Schizophrenia Society of Canada.
It intertwines two stories - a dramatization about a high
school student developing schizophrenic symptoms - and a
series of interviews with adults who have learned to successfully manage their illness.
The film's purpose is to educate students (and adults)
about the early warning signs of schizophrenia; the
importance of early diagnosis and treatment; and that there
is hope for recovery and a full, productive life.
The video is approximately 22 minutes long
(QuickTime Format), and the web page includes
instructional material for teachers.
- The Janssen Schizophrenia Simulator is a
virtual reality
machine
that uses a computer, video goggles and headphones (see
picture below) to simulate the frightening delusions
and auditory and visual hallucinations associated with untreated
schizophrenia.
NAMI-Finger Lakes sponsored Simulator
showings in Ithaca in the Fall of 2006, and we compiled the
following documents and sound files as publicity for the
event.
For those who prefer MP3 files:
MP3 audio of "The Sites and Sounds of
Schizophrenia" (4.8MB)
MP3
audio of "A Trip To The Pharmacy"
(2MB)
New Stories about the Simulator: