Minute For Mission CBPC May 6, 2007

Usually when someone gets to the pulpit for a Minute for Mission it’s time to ask you for money for a worthy cause. This is a Minute for Mission, but I want you to know right away I’m not here today to ask for your money! Instead, for this mission, all we really want you to do, is to be understanding of people who have mental illnesses. It may not seem like a big task, but it would mean so much to those with this illness and to their families. I know. I am part of one of those families.

My brother Bob has had a severe mental illness since he was in his early 20s. He never showed signs of it before that time, but once it hit, it debilitated him severely. He was in graduate school at the time…he had graduated from college with top honors…summa cum laude. But from that time on, he has not been able to hold a job, and needs assistance to keep up with the daily routines of living. He and our family have experienced first-hand the struggles of trying to get help through an often failing mental health system. I can tell you it has been one of the most difficult things my family has endured.

Here are some Mental Illness Facts

First, Mental illness is an illness. It is like any other illness that people have – diabetes, cancer, heart disease – only this illness is in the brain. Most often it is caused from a chemical imbalance. It can strike a person at any time of their life.

It is a no-fault illness, meaning that the victim didn’t cause it nor did others in their family.

Mental illness is not mental retardation. Many mentally ill people are more intelligent than you or I, yet cannot take care of themselves. To families this still doesn’t make sense, but it is reality.

And I’d like to clear up the information about violence and mental illness. I know when violent people are in the news, there is a fear that everyone who is mentally ill is violent. This is not true. When violence has been a part of someone’s nature to start with, then it could become a problem if they are mentally ill. But, we should not equate mental illness with crime, with shame, or with fear. It is an illness, just like all others. And like all others, people need medical care and understanding from others.

There are different types of mental illness, each with different degrees of severity: schizophrenia, depression, Alzheimer’s, and Bipolar disorder are but some, but there are many others. Though many people are helped with their mental illnesses by medication so that they can function normally in life, many others are not so fortunate.

One of the greatest problems is the terrible stigma associated with the mentally ill. Twenty years ago I wouldn’t have thought of sharing this information with you. I remember being away from home, with many questions about my brother’s situation and around no one I felt would understand. We don’t make fun of someone when they have cancer, but terms like crazy or whacko seem to get used all the time. I didn’t know until recently that cancer at one time also had an awful stigma, and many people didn’t share the diagnosis out of shame or fear. We need to also change the stigma for mental illness, so people can get the help and care they need. The biggest step is often just seeking help – and we need to create the right attitude that encourages people to find help through counselors, pastors, psychiatrists, and psychologists, especially before the problem becomes worse.

What can you do?

1) If you have a mentally ill loved one, come to NAMI (The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill – Carolina Beach Presbyterian Church has a chapter that meets here at the church once/month). This is a confidential support group that will help you. Together we learn about mental illness, the system, medications, etc. and we advocate by writing letters to law makers – for example, right now in NC, while other diseases and disorders are covered physically by health insurance, most insurance companies do not provide mental health coverage.

2) Help reduce the stigma of mental illness so that more people can be helped. When people talk about others like they would in gossip circles, or make jokes about the “lunatics” or “crazies” it not only hurts the people they are talking about, it hurts people that mental illness may hit in the future. Sure, right now we may be fine. But no one knows who will be hit…it could be any one of us here. The negative stigma of mental illness often prevents some people from seeking the help they need for depression or other problems. We all need to know there’s no reason to be ashamed and it’s OK to get help. And there is help, so please try to make the illness an “illness” and not a crime or funny problem.

3) The third thing you can do is when you do know a friend who has problems, please don’t abandon your friend because of this illness. Even when they act differently or seem to shut out the world, what they need is your support and encouragement – your friendship – this is one of the keys to their recovery. Isn’t that part of showing “Christian love” -- (I Corinthians 13: 7 – 8a): “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”

4) And one of the most important things you can do is to pray for victims and their families. There are many people, many stories, and much suffering beyond what you will ever hear.

Vivian Hare