Columns

Television advertising and programming promote narcissism. Our culture is one that respects power, being able-bodied, not having "weakness," and other warped ideas of supposed human perfection that don't stand up to enlightened scrutiny. The concept that says, you are "unfit" if you need a medicine to survive, is a flawed concept.  

If you wanted to join the military, or become a firefighter, yes, I could see that you need to be a good physical and mental specimen. However, the reality is that we can contribute to society even if we do not live up to the Social Darwinist ideas of being a fit specimen.  

You might think that if we needed an artificial aid, and if we were stranded on an island, on a raft in the ocean, or in the desert, we would never make it. But is that idea connected to reality? No. Very few of us become stranded in the wilderness, there are probably no unknown islands left--and most of us do not need to be able to survive with nothing but a knife and a loincloth.  

We live in a society in which men are expected to be bodybuilders, and women are expected to be Victoria's Secret models. These social standards are harmful. If you look at mass media in recent times, they are promoting the idea than if you are a man, you need to be a "he man," and if you are a woman you need to maintain your "sexy" appearance.  

This brings us to people's ideas pertaining to having a psychiatric problem. When I was first mentally ill, the diagnosis affected my self-esteem, and it affected how people treated me if they had knowledge of my problem.  

As a teen, before I was diagnosed as mentally ill, I was brilliant in school. I took pride in this. Being told a few years later that my brain had a defect, did not compute. So apparently, some parts of my brain work well, while other parts work not so well. This has not been easy information to absorb.  

It took me years to get my self-esteem back. I eventually decided that I am "good enough" to respect myself. I decided that my self-respect and self-esteem could be hinged on how I handle the cards I've been dealt, and not on what characteristics nature has or hasn't given me. 

A psychiatrist told me that being mentally ill doesn't mean a person isn't intelligent, but that it affects "harnessing of intelligence." This idea probably holds true for most persons with mental illness.  

Finally, as I got older, I arrived at a state of acceptance. With acceptance came the ability to commit to medication "compliance" and it allowed me to grow more and to work with the reality of what I've got.  

A person can not correct their mistakes if their ego gets in the way too much. Being able to acknowledge, accept, and deal with the mental illness, in the absence of it affecting how I feel about myself, made me able to move on in life and to get increasingly well. 

If other people view me as a "sick person" that's their problem, and I do not need to buy into that perception. I am not a bodybuilder or an athlete, nor am I as smart as Albert Einstein was. However, I can respect myself as I am. I am good enough.