Columns

A lot of people with severe mental illness go a number of years in which they are stabilized and function at a fairly high level. However, these fairly good years are sometimes followed by a downturn.  

My wife and I have both had friends, also in treatment in the mental health treatment system, who, at some point, have become too ill to maintain the friendship.  

In some instances, a person seems, on some level, to just give up. In other instances, the consumer has resorted to street drugs as a futile attempt at coping with life's challenges. While, thirdly, someone's illness may simply get worse. In any of those instances, it sometimes seems as though such a person has lost his or her soul.  

Many persons who receive mental health treatment become friends with one another. We share the same plights, and we have an understanding of what we are all going through with being treated for mental illness, with being oppressed by society and with all of those other things that come in the package deal of being a mental health consumer.  

Exactly what factors go into the mental health consumer having a downturn, I am not clear about. Sometimes a downturn is preceded by such a person becoming increasingly unreasonable, more demanding, and having less communication skills.  

My wife and I have met people who could never get by in a "normal" context, and who require a sheltered situation. When someone has a downturn, it can also lead to his or her disappearance. The person may have died, may have needed to live in a locked situation, or may have become homeless.  

However, there are others who bounce back.  

There are individuals who have been determined to make a go of it in life, and to have some sort of purpose. When someone has an attainable goal, it seems more likely that they will have a better outcome. Even just the desire to have a goal, and the exploration of possibilities that comes with that, is better than nothing.  

Goals that are unattainable, when it becomes apparent that they won't be met, can cause a meltdown. Thus, if someone's goal is unreachable, the person ought to at least have an alternate plan. We should realize that we are acceptable people regardless of what we have or have not accomplished. 

When someone decides to voluntarily participate in his or her treatment it can lead to a better outcome.  

"Purpose" doesn't necessarily mean that someone will have a lofty career goal. Participation in social events with family or friends can be gratifying and can furnish something positive.  

Getting something good in life can often be the direct result of creating something positive. For example, if you have good computer skills, you could offer help to others with their computers. If you have good math skills, you could tutor people in math. I have heard of a program that involves tutoring people in reading. In some cases the recipient is an immigrant who needs better English skills, while in other instances, the recipient of tutoring could have some type of learning disability.  

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This is an additional note to rebuke Senator Rand Paul, who commented that most people collecting federal Disability Insurance are "gaming the system." He believes that anyone who is "able-bodied" should not be collecting disability payments.  

Senator Paul should try taking Olanzapine or Seroquel every day and try showing up for his job.  

In the approximate words of a deceased mental health activist with whom I was once friends, if you're going to take away the money, you are obliged to take away the label of mental illness. I might add to this that there simply are no jobs for many persons with a disabling level of mental illness that we could reasonably be hired-for and keep.  

While the senator's idea may make sense in the realm of the hypothetical, it is disconnected from real conditions as they actually are. I certainly hope Hillary Clinton will get her turn as President.