About the book
My intent has been to cover some important points about mental disorders,
mine in particular.
This is for those who suffer from mental disorders, and I encourage
them to heed this advice from someone who has been there. The following
is a letter to a friend I met just once. This is what I told him
and his wife:
I am manic-depressive bi-polar and have
fought a battle for 40 years. Determined that I would be cured some day,
I would never give in to it. Nevertheless, there is no cure for a
chemical imbalance of your mind or brain. Yet there are drugs today that
will make you think you are cured if you stay on medication. You
may have a better quality of life although the problem or problems will
still be there. How you maneuver in your environment, circle,
or family situation depends on YOU. You must find the answer, and
the answer is there. If you look and work hard enough, you will find that
you do have the answers to your problems.
Therapy, whether best in a hospital
or as an outpatient at a mental health center, is essential for a start.
This is to improve your mental health and solve some of the problems that
seem impossible to live with. You have to recognize there is a problem
and want to change your behavior and your life by getting it back into
a perspective that is real and manageable for both you and your family.
Begin the process by taking stock of yourself. Write down the highest times
or points in your life and just the opposite, the lowest points, too.
Don’t forget what happened in the middle of your life from the beginning
of your memory to the present.
Take a good look at what you have
done, where you have been, and what is going on in your life right now.
This can give you enough information to decide what you want to do and
where you want to go with your life. Where you are headed at present
is your choice. You can accomplish these goals by setting up short
and long term goals. If you are sincere and truthful with yourself,
you can be on your way to better mental health. Take stock of yourself,
your situation, and your feelings. Learn what you feel, and
determine if your feelings are controlling you or your life.
Feelings and decision making do not mix in most cases.
It takes facts to make some decisions, and feelings of the heart do not
enter the picture. Be aware that some feelings, like the grandson
or granddaughter on you knee, are uncontrollable feelings but they are
the ones that you can just plain enjoy. The point is to make reasonable
decisions for you and the family, for they depend on you.
If you can look at yourself in a mirror or see yourself in a
video, would you be pleased, displeased, or satisfied? I would settle
for satisfied if I knew I had done my best in life. Would you
be pleased with where you are in life at the present time? What would
you change about yourself or your situation?
I received treatment from the Veterans
Administration and, later, at mental health facilities. The help
is there if you are interested in helping yourself and others around you.
I mentioned in the first volume what it is really like to have a complete
mental breakdown. It is very difficult to live through this alone,
but, if you have family, it is closely related to alcohol or drug abuse.
I mean it affects the entire world around you and especially your family.
I cannot make you well, nor can anyone else make you well. However, in
the last 40 years new medications and practices have been discovered that
greatly improve life for those of us who have abnormal behavior.
It is not just taking a pill; therapy can make you aware of what is around
you and how you can live in this world. THERE IS HOPE!
About the Author
Born and rasied on the coast of South Carolina, but married a Church
of Christ Tennessean. One son and four Grand Children All in Church on
Sunday. Battled Mental Health problems for 40 years and learned to Cope.
Poor background individual who improved himself and helped those around
him. Hard church worker and devoted to good fellowship in the church.
Believer in the written WORD of God and The Church. Continues to fight
for better Mental Health and promote help for those who need the service
to overcome Nervious Disorders.
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