Brighter times were ahead
Regardless, brighter times were ahead, even if I didn’t know it at the time.
While I was in the hospital, my psychiatrist finally found a combination of medication that worked.
For months, I had avoided anti-depressants because I was afraid of the side effects (thank you, hypochondria). Normally these things take weeks to start working, but miraculously, the anti-depressant I was prescribed started working within three days. Maybe that was because I had been on the same medication years ago.
Brighter times began shining near the end of my stay. My appetite increased tenfold, to the point at which I was eating constantly. I also noticed a few things:
- I was having actual conversations with my wife and my friends in the ward.
- I was able to shift my mind to positive things.
- My sleep dramatically improved.
On the day I left the hospital, I remember saying, tearfully, that I’d dedicate myself to improving the prognosis of people who have a mental illness. I meant that then, and I mean it now.
[su_pullquote align=”right”]Every single person I befriended in the ward was no different than anyone else outside those four walls.[/su_pullquote]
For some, mental illness is a flash in the pan—a temporary disruptor of life. For others, it might be more prolonged, but every single person I befriended in the ward was no different than anyone else outside those four walls. The only difference is that we were disrupted by our minds.
My roommate, an older gentleman who was probably in his late fifties, had survived an attempt to end his life. Many people who have near-death experiences re-emerge with a newfound worldview or vitality, and he was no different.
After arriving at the hospital, he reinvigorated his passion for Jesus Christ. The words he used, and the way he devoutly read his Bible until bedtime, illustrated a person who truly had come to believe in divine providence. It was his own specific brand of re-emergence.
As a survivor, he believed it was his duty to spread love through his newfound religion. I myself am not religious—although I do believe in a higher being and in fate—but I found his story so beautiful. He was discharged two days before me. I hope that he’s happy, wherever he is. His grin was beaming from his face as his friend took him home.
Others I have spoken with over the course of the past six months or so have told me their unique re-emergence stories. We are all different, so it’s natural that an experience with a crisis would affect us all in diverse ways. One of my friends has dedicated himself to the clinical study of mental health, so he can learn how to better treat patients. He uses his lived experience as a tool to bridge the gap between personal experience and clinical observation and treatment.
Another one of my close friends has chosen to express herself through art—using paint, photography and charcoal as mediums to allow her mind to blossom to new heights.
People often tell you to live life without regrets. One of the regrets I have after leaving the hospital was that I didn’t stay in contact with any of the friends I met there. I hope that they reached their goal, and I truly hope that every single one of them is happy. My friends, if you decipher who has written this article, please reach out and let me know that you’re alright.
Please, let there be progress
It would be wrong of me to paint an entirely rosy picture of how mental illness is treated by society. My experiences are mine alone, and everyone has experienced ‘the system’ in a different way.
There are huge flaws in most countries’ treatment of mental illness that need to be immediately fixed. My experience within the mental health system has taught me that patients all have within them the capacity to heal. However, I still believe that there are a number of shortfalls that need to be corrected (my non-exhaustive list):
- Mental health treatment should be fully funded and equally accessible to everyone, regardless of class, creed, gender, race or sex.
- Going forward, all medical professionals should be equipped with the tools to address a mental health crisis, and they should be taught that mental health is as important as physical health.
- People should be actively promoting safety, non-judgment and empathy to everyone. A more accepting society is one that doesn’t negatively judge you for your mental or physical illness.
- Educators should incorporate mental health as a major pillar of primary and secondary education.
- Governments should be constantly communicating with mental health organizations, hospitals, patients and caretakers, in order to address local, regional and national needs appropriately.
For those in crisis, there truly is hope
If you are still facing your own challenges, please remember that you do not owe anyone an explanation or rationalization for how you feel. Hopelessness is a state of mind that can be overcome. Any negative perception can be retrained. I fully believe that. Nobody has the right to negatively judge you.
If you are a family member of someone with mental health struggles, please be supportive. Sometimes, it’s not what you say, but what you do, that matters. Ask open-ended questions, never assume and never shame. Instead, offer your loved one some active listening, help them take their mind off of things, give them a hug or simply sit with them when they need it most.
This year, let’s make #WorldMentalHealthDay more than a single day.
It’s time to take this past social media.
«قراءة ذات صلة» ABOUT SUICIDE: Instead of killing the body, we must kill our harmful thoughts»
[su_panel background=”#f2f2f2″ color=”#000000″ border=”0px none #ffffff” shadow=”0px 0px 0px #ffffff”]The author requested to remain anonymous.
image 1 بيكساباي الماء بيكساباي 3 Hospital Reception by ILO in Asia and the Pacific via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) 4 بيكساباي ٥ بيكساباي 6 Sleepless by Georgie Pauwels via Flickr (CC BY 2.0) 7 بيكساباي 8 Tightrope by Josh Heald via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0) 9 Burnout! by Chaudhry Ahmed Hassan via Flickr (CC BY 2.0) 10 Field of Sun flowers by Russ Seidel via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) 11 بيكساباي
