Mental Health Certificates

    I would like to share an idea that I think is already happening in some ways, which is for there to be more programs that offer mental health certificates, peer counseling credentials, and other mental health degrees that can be earned by people who have learned about mental health through suffering and survival, such as through a lifetime of managing mental illness symptoms or trying to heal from trauma or grief. I think it is a well known fact that many people who have struggled with almost any kind of emotional pain do find their way into the social work field and medical field as helpers, and one of my therapists from a long time ago said that therapists were often called "wounded healers."  It is true, and maybe no one needs to say it, but I have gotten the impression that there are a lot of mentally ill people out there who take their medicine, sometimes post comments on website discussions, may or may not have a part time job or hobby, but have no real formal recognition of the mental work they have had to do and the conundrums they have had to figure out in order to survive.  I mean just a class, or a few classes, or a year long program that helps them meet other people, could help them end up with a great certificate or degree to feel good about and possibly to help them find another official opportunity to share their life and learning with others who might be just beginning to navigate the challenges of depression and anxiety or other disorders.  Some group outpatient programs might consider offering an education component like that, too, which also incentivizes continuing treatment. It is also an alternative to putting a diagnosis on a resume, which is another thing that people might consider more often. The fact is that patients themselves often do not realize what kind of accomplishment is mixed in with all the days of sleeping late, going places when you don't feel like it, and drinking extra coffee, and a certificate on the wall could really be a reminder that at least some people have some idea of their true success.

Some people get to go to McDonalds after the hospital

   Well everyone, for this post, I am going to share my favorite term that I learned from social work school, which I completed in 2016. The term is "disenfranchised grief." I think that one of the most talked about ideas right now is the idea of "privilege," which has to do with unrightful societal benefits.  That wasn't really the idea that most resonated in my soul, but when I stumbled upon the term "disenfranchised grief" in an article about people who have had to go to jail, I felt that years of thinking had finally found a representation in another context.  The term has also been used in other articles, and I think it was first thought of by someone named Doka in 1989.  It was weird for it to be just a sidebar that I gleaned from reading about other topics, because to me it almost epitomizes what I think is a core struggle for all kinds people, including everyone who is hurt by things like privilege.

   Disenfranchised grief refers to the uncomforted mourning of people who have losses and suffering that the people around them and the rest of the society either do not care about or do not understand.  I think almost everyone can relate, but for some people, it is a defining feature of their whole lives or of certain major experiences.  People with addictions often have loss upon loss and not only have no sympathy, but take a lot of blame for their problems which happened from a spiral that at some point, they had little control to prevent. Legal troubles and going to jail or being in the military and having family life disrupted can be situations that are disenfranchised, or even "anti-franchised," though people in the military are often called heroes and there might be some support that others might not have.

   Really, anyone in any situation can find their pain deemed irrelevant by other people when it is never mentioned in church sermons, or never mentioned in the media, and when personally no friends seem to truly be there for them.

   I think that even with this concept that almost anyone can probably relate to on some level, there are people who seek out those who need consolation, and a lot of people can eventually find someone who cares and understands. I think that is what social work and mental health services are really about, and I remember getting training for a Crisis Line and the leader told us that what counts as a crisis is different for different people.  I mean that is so simple and yet it is so foundational if people really want to show any kind of compassion for anyone else in the world.

   I wanted to share it on my blog early on, because I think even the existence of a term like that reverses some of the damage and offers "franchise" both to all the neglected losses, and to the additional heartbreak of disenfranchised grief itself.

Mental Health Blog Intro

   Well everyone, I am starting a new blog about mental health.  It is crazy to think that this could become the main way I share my ideas and stories about living with mental illness, because I have a lot to say and have had some crazy experiences and some experiences just being crazy. You really aren't supposed to refer to people as crazy, and some would say don't call yourself that either, but I have always been pretty happy to be in that category.

   I remember when I was in elementary school, we had field day each year right before school was out, and the fifth graders always did a certain relay called "the String Man," which involved choosing one person from your team to stand at the end of the field and then everyone took turns running to put oversized crazy clothes on them, like a hat and a tie and a giant coat, and for the finale, a ping pong ball in the mouth. Even though I was a little scared of the ping pong ball requirement, I always wanted to be the String Man, and when I was finally in fifth grade, my dream came true and my group let me be the String Man.  It was an honor to be the crazy person in front of everyone, and I mostly feel the same way about my mental illness now.  Different people have had different experiences with losing their minds, and mental illness is often a path of continual heartbreak and humiliation.  So I do not want to come across in any insensitive way or make light of people's pain.  But I genuinely have always thought mentally ill people were cool and interesting, and I am overjoyed and thankful beyond any capability of expressing it to live almost my whole life with a mind that makes mood rings shoot sparks and that keeps reality from dominating every conversation like I do when I am manic.
  I am a fool and a weirdo, and sometimes an outcast, and sometimes a spectacle, but every day I generate more prayer and ideas, more material for comedy in heaven, more potential friendship for others who suffer, and most importantly, most nobly, and most spiritually... carbon dioxide. Just staying alive is literally a lifetime achievement accomplished every day. Reality is different for mentally ill people, and not just because of delusions.  During a depression, microwaving a bag of popcorn can become a heroic act of strength, and for someone with social anxiety, looking out the window can be a triumph. Our suffering is a mystery to some of the sanest, smartest people there are, and as we endure our hardship while being so often misunderstood, there are opportunities for great wisdom found in mental spaces that most people will never have access to.  Some of those spaces happen to be hell on earth for years at a time, so let's not paint a picture that is too optimistic.  But let's do paint some pictures and eat some good food and keep on going just in case we have a day where we find that we are the people responsible for telling the people who judge us that they are raving lunatics.