Mental Health and Me
1. psychological well-being and satisfactory adjustment to society and to the ordinary demands of life.
2. the field of medicine concerned with the maintenance or achievement of such well-being and adjustment.
Mental Health is a broad topic. Everyone has mental health. Some have good mental health, some have mostly good mental health, some have lousy mental health, and some have the worst mental health.
I have, as I stated before, situational depression, depression, dyslexia, and a hyperactive disorder.
The situation is the passing of Peter and all that comes with that. Before it was my worrying about Peter and his health. That has been going on since he had his first stroke at Disney World in Disney Hollywood studios in front of Sid Cahuenga's. That were we think it started. We don’t stand there anymore. I have drugs to even me out and they are working. Better living through chemistry.
The depression is something I have been dealing with most of my life. It came to a head during my time at the Yale School of Trauma…excuse me…Drama. I was suicidal when everything seemed to come tumbling on my head. I got help there. Both talk therapy and some mental health drugs to get me back to even. I managed to finish my master’s thesis and graduate.
After that it was an occasional bout with it. I got good at recognizing the symptoms.
There isn’t much I can do about being dyslexic. I have coping skills. I taught myself to read after trying it their way. Because I was such a good reader, I was listed as a lazy speller. No one realized what was going on with me until college where my freshman English teacher ran studies in dyslexia. He figured out after I turned in three essays in my class. I got tested and was found to be very dyslexic. Made parts of my life make new sense. Left and right have very little meaning to me. If I can think hard, I can sort it out. North, South, East, and West had no meaning until I move here with Peter. South is the shore. North is opposite from south. If I am facing North, East is to my right and West is to my left. Sunrises and Sunsets taught me that. North star can also sort me out.
ADHD is a new one but makes sense considering some of my behaviors. I had to take a lot of tests for me to be diagnosed. My case is mild, but it does, at times, effect my life. It is something my therapist and I are working on. Now I can recognize when I am falling into patterns I need to get out of. This is another disorder I am taking drugs for, and they have helped a lot.
I have no idea how long I am going to be on my medications. I know a couple are in the rest of my life category. Eventually I will stop some medications because I don’t need them anymore. I look forward to that day.
I encourage people to check in on their mental health. And for anyone really depressed, it is not weakness to ask for help.
We must stop the stigma of depression and other forms of not good mental health. One goes to a doctor when they are feeling ill for their body. How is that different than going to a doctor for your mind?
I am grateful for my mental health team.