The point of this article is actually the opposite of the headline, it’s a bit tongue and cheek. However, it is a legitimate problem. People see mental hospitals as being full of dangerous people, “them”, but in reality there are people all around us who are dealing with mental illness and could use the resources from a mental hospital that is nearby!
This article has a lot to say about supporting someone who is dealing with a serious illness, and not being able to “fix” things for them, but this last section really hit home for me in so many situations: Choosing inaction is an action. And it can be hard and brave because inaction will not…
We often underestimate how much we can help because we live in a society constantly looking for a quick solution to problems. Depression doesn’t have that, which leads us to feel helpless to solve the problem. That being said, there is nothing better when dealing with depression than knowing that someone (preferably multiple people) is going to be with you during the struggle. Everything seems overwhelming when you’re in the midst of depression; you need someone to make it just a little less so.
When I started on this, I didn’t realize I’d be doing these sessions in the wake of layoffs and the middle of a bunch of other changes impacting these folks. Suddenly the conversation about their career goals has turned into a conversation about the trauma of going through a layoff.
As I mentioned to someone recently, this was more emotional labor than I had anticipated.
I guess I feel a little bit better knowing this at least:
“To stay motivated as we encounter unprecedented levels of uncertainty in every aspect of our lives, we should understand that the human brain simply was not built for this. Knowing what your brain does well — and what it does surprisingly poorly — can give you a much clearer sense of the strategies you need to not just endure, but to thrive.”
On the other hand, it’s not like the uncertainty is just going to go away and I can get back to the levels my brain is OK with. So, what do we do?
In 2022 we could say the same thing about “sad” but I would argue that we see the same thing even more so with the word “anxious” or “having anxiety”.
Of course, with a war going on in Ukraine, two years’ worth of pandemic, political turmoil, and everything else we see when we tune into whatever news source we follow, almost everyone would consider themselves anxious, so how do we differentiate between being anxious about the state of the world, and the kind of anxiety where we are consistently dealing with panic attacks at the very thought of leaving the house?
We don’t have a different word for that. We only have anxiety, or panic, which again, just seem like normal reactions to what is going on around us.
On top of that, when I try and describe my anxiety to someone, even if I can get them to understand that it’s something more than just watching the news and feeling a bit nervous, I can’t really describe it. I don’t understand it. If I did, I might be able to just fix it and be better, but I don’t.
Whether or not you have a history of mental illness, talk to your children. Let them know that, while feelings like hopelessness, ennui, and irrational anger are normal in small doses, if they feel that way a lot of the time, they can get help. Let them know they never have to be ashamed of…
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