Sharing – ‘My Husband Was Hospitalized, I Didn’t Tell People Why’
Amy’s article, linked below, is an important reminder of how different it is when someone you love is hospitalized for mental health issues. She recounts all the shame she felt, let alone him, and how that led her not to tell anyone he was in the hospital.
“My husband and I have lived in the same Californian coastal community for more than two decades, and have a good circle of friends we can rely on. But when Dan went into the hospital, I didn’t know how to ask them for help.”
Imagine your spouse going into a hospital for surgery or an injury and having no help navigating that, and also trying to take care of a 12-year-old daughter without anyone else there to take care of a meal or two or transport your kid to school and other events. That’s the reality Amy, and many other families, find themselves in because we still live in a world where we aren’t supposed to admit to having mental health issues and where those are the kinds of secrets you keep within the immediate family only.
We have to change that. We should rally around Amy’s husband and their family, not ignore them. They should feel free to ask for help, knowing that the rest of us are not judging her husband or her but understanding that this could be any of us. The statistics on mental health issues show this clearly. It could be any of us. There are people in our families struggling too. Maybe they aren’t in a hospital right now, but they could use some help. The help they shouldn’t be ashamed to ask for.
https://www.newsweek.com/husband-hospitalized-psychiatric-hospital-1772909
