MONDAY, MAY 16, 2022, MENTAL HEALTH MONTH - DAY 1

 MONDAY, MAY 16, 2022, MENTAL HEALTH MONTH

From the President’s Declaration of Mental Health Month (in 2021):

“" Mental health is essential to our overall health, and the importance of attending to mental health has become even more pronounced during the COVID–19 pandemic, which has not only negatively impacted many people's mental health but has also created barriers to treatment…. Millions of adults and children across America experience mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Nearly one in five Americans live with a mental health condition. Those living with mental health conditions are our family, friends, classmates, neighbors, and coworkers.”

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Personally, I believe that all of us suffer at least a little with mental health sometime in our lives.

Scenario 1:  Your favorite team is ahead by nine points in the Superbowl with 30 seconds to go.  The other team has a great long pass play and scores and gets an extra point.  But now, with 14 seconds to go, your favorite team is still ahead by two points.  On the kickoff, your best kickoff return player fumbles the ball at the twelve-yard line, and the other team recovers the fumble and kicks a field goal, and wins.  

You get depressed.  You go out for a long walk.  You kick stones.  You mentally curse the kickoff return player for fumbling.  You were sure there was a penalty that wasn’t called on that kickoff play where your team would have had the ball.  You berate the officials for missing the call.  For the next three days, you are still upset.  If anybody at work says “Hey did you see the Super Bowl Game”, you instantly go into sulking.  

Your mental image is shot.

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Scenario 2: You have applied for a different position with a different company.  Your interview was great.  The recruiter says great things about you.  “You’d be fantastic for our company”.  The salary is great, and the benefits are great.

But, you don’t get the job and you find out a “worthless” (in your opinion) internal candidate who is related to the boss, got the position.

You again are upset and depressed.  “I’d be ideal for that job”.  

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Scenario 3: Nothing is going well.  Your husband of eighteen years has been cheating sexually with one of your friends.  He also has abused you and yelled at you.  Your back is “killing you” from an old injury. Your teenage daughter is raped and is pregnant.  You have an accident (your fault) in your car and your insurance won’t cover it.  You go to the closet where a gun is hidden away and you pull it out and chamber a bullet.  It won’t take long, just a few seconds, and BOOM - you will be out of your misery.

Your mental health is in the pits!!!

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Scenario 4:  Your spouse died of cancer at age 38.  You pleaded with God, you prayed, and you expected a miracle.  You LOVED your spouse - you doted on her.  You were sweethearts from college - and God let you down.  Bah humbug.  God is just a bad plaything - an illusion - a fake.  Now, three years later, you hold all of the hurt inside but many times you cry yourself to sleep. (I’m thinking this will become my Saturday story for the next few weeks).

Life is worthless - there is nothing to live for.  Your mental health is rotten

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“According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood. Although the terms are often used interchangeably, poor mental health and mental illness are not the same things. A person can experience poor mental health and not be diagnosed with a mental illness. Likewise, a person diagnosed with a mental illness can experience periods of physical, mental, and social well-being."

Humans can adapt.  We can hide our hurts or emotional, psychological, and social well-being behind a mask.  We’ve learned to smile, laugh, and even seem jovial - but we are hurting inside.

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In the next few days, I’ll be writing on some aspects of mental health and how to face the tough days when it seems like everything goes wrong.

Some of the early ideas:

Calm your mind and body:

Decrease tension

Enjoy alone time

Socialize

Get professional help

Get creative

Change your scenery

(And, Karen adds - I’ve been there.  It is a dark pit full of fear and illusions that aren’t real.  Although ending my life did flash through my brain, it never quite overwhelmed me.)

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From a recent news article:

“Ashley Judd and her family wanted the world to hear from them how Naomi Judd died.

The younger Judd appeared in an interview with Diane Sawyer, which aired on Thursday on "Good Morning America." She said her family had agreed that she shared the cause of death of her mother.

"She used a weapon," Ashley Judd said. "A firearm. So that's the piece of information we are very uncomfortable sharing."

She and her sister Wynonna Judd announced on April 30 that they had lost their mother "to the disease of mental illness." She was 76.

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LOVE WINS - love yourself, love your neighbor, love your family, let LOVE rule in your life and let LOVE WIN!!

Karen

May 16, 2022