Sunday, May 11, 2008 – The Styles section of yesterday’s edition of The New York Times ran an interesting article by Gabrielle Glaser entitled “‘Mad Pride’ Fights a Stigma.” In the article, Glaser highlights the fact that people with mental illnesses or “dangerous gifts” are speaking more and more openly about severe mental illness in an attempt to break down the stigma surrounding it.
I think this trend is a move in the right direction, although I do share the concerns of other doctors quoted in the article about the “medication is optional” belief in some Mad Pride groups. As Dr. E. Fuller Torrey, executive director of the Stanley Medical Research Institute in Chevy Chase, Md., was quoted as saying, “Would you be pro-choice with someone who has another brain disease, Alzheimer’s, who wants to walk outside in the snow without their shoes and socks?”
Still, I think that this growing openness is going to have a positive effect on de-stigmatizing mental illness and could perhaps even raise the bar for pharmaceutical companies and professionals who provide treatment.
I think you are right on the money. In our part of the country (Tennessee) stigma in church and the faith community is a major obstacle for people with bipolar to get around. I remember the “spiritual leader” of one church we went to asking my wife if she realized that all the difficulties in her life were due to her being out of the will of God.
Our support group (Hopeworks) is starting what we call the “church project” to combat stigma in faith communities in our area. The project is described below.
Few institutions offer such promise and at the same time pose so much threat to the mentally ill as the church. I have known many people whose relationship with the church has been an intergral part of their recovery. That is certainly true of us. Whatever we have or whatever we done we credit in large part to the grace of God.
The church though, is a human institution too, and like all human institutions has a problem with treating the mentally ill as somehow stigmatized and out of God’s will. Far too many people have walked away from church with the message that their illness is God’s punishment for their sins or that somehow they lack character or faith and just don’t try hard enough.
Hopeworks is starting a new project called simply “The Church Project”. The goal of this project is to present an option to the stigma that so often is applied to the mentally ill in the church. That project is described more in depth in the following letter. If you feel like your church can profit from exposure to the “Church Project” please feel free to contact us for more information.
Dear Sir;
Mental illness is by any measure a plague on this society. The National Institutes of Health tell us that 26.2 % of the people in this country suffer from a major mental illness. In the 16 counties of east Tennessee that means that 294,574 people suffer from one form of mental illness or another. Rather you know it or not the odds are great that you know someone on a personal level whose lives have been impacted by the ravages of these illnesses.
My wife and I recently started “Hopeworks” the Blount county chapter of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance. You can go to our website- hopeworkscommunity.com – for a more complete description of our story. Briefly though we started our group after Linda was diagnosed as having bipolar disorder and we found out there were basically no resources in this county or surrounding counties to help. We have been meeting twice a month since January and already have about 40 people involved in one way or another. We continue to get calls and our numbers seem destined to grow. We are in the process currently of starting our second group.
We owe much to our church and pastor: Blount Christian Church and Pastor Barry Clanton. They have given us a place to meet, but more importantly have supported us in their prayers and actions. They have welcomed us with open arms and in the process have become part of sharing God’s love and grace with many people who will probably never be members of that church.
There is a tremendous amount of confusion about mental illness. Some people believe that mental illness reveals a lack of character or morals. Some believe that it reveals a lack of motivation. They think people don’t try hard enough. Some people think the mentally ill are faking to have an excuse for their irresponsible behavior. Tragically some people believe that mental illness is an indication of sin and lack of favor in God’s eyes.
For many people with mental illness their greatest problem is not always their illness. Sometimes their greatest problem is other people and the stigma and judgements that these people apply to them. The mentally ill often learn to be wary around other people for fear of what “being found out” can mean. More than any thing else they need other people, but too often are left isolated and ashamed to reach out to those they need the most.
The church can offer much to the mentally ill. Above all they can teach that we are all creatures of God and none of us are defined by any illness or disability we may have. For many this has been the experience they have had of church. One lady with bipolar disorder that I know has made about 12 suicide attempts in the past 3 years. She told me one night, “If it wasn’t for Jesus Christ I would not be alive.” Her life is now reaching stability and her religious faith is a cornerstone of that recovery.
Our goal and hope is to help the church be the source of blessing for the mentally ill that God intended it to be for all of us. Our hope is to be a resource to you. Many people in churches suffer with mental illness or have family members that suffer. Too often, out of a sense of shame or fear, they try to hide the truth from others. They find themselves trapped in living a lie in the one place they should feel the safest in telling the truth. They find themselves more afraid of what the people they worship God with will think about them than anything else. I am sure you have probably seen this dynamic play out more often than you care to see. There can be no greater gift than the grace of God and it is, I believe, a tragedy when we let anything detract from that.
We are asking two things of you. First of all we would like, if you are open to it, to have a chance to meet with you personally and just describe in detail more about what “Hopeworks” is about and answer any questions that you may have. It may well be that you may find that we can be a positive resource for someone at your church and we would be thrilled and honored to do that. It would be entirely appropriate and okay with us if, before you talked with us, that you contacted Pastor Clanton at Blount Christian Church and asked him to tell you about his experience of “Hopeworks.” Not only has he supported us holding meetings at his church, but at one meeting he was the guest speaker talking about the subject of “finding hope in hurting times.”
Secondly, we are in the process of developing a program that we would like to offer to you. This program would be our effort to share both the facts and the human face of mental illness. The presentation would consist of three segments and last about an hour. The first part would be a brief video presentation about mental illness. We would talk about mental illness in adults, in children and in older adults. The second section would be a segment where one or more people from “Hopeworks” would share their testimony and tell what mental illness has meant in their life, how they have tried to put their lives back together again and the role of the church in that. The final section would be a question and answer period.
You may have many questions to ask before you are willing to consider allowing us to do this presentation at your church. That is fine. We are willing to help in any way we can. “Hopeworks” meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at Blount Christian Church in Maryville. You are more than welcome to visit any of our meetings. We have a website, as mentioned before-hopeworkscommunity.com- which also shares a lot of information about us. If you would like to know more about the materials used for the program we can do that also.
Please let us hear from you. In helping you we help ourselves. There is a saying that is used a lot at “Hopeworks.” “Hope doesn’t work unless we make it work.” I know that Jesus is my savior and without Him I don’t know if I would have made it through what I have made it through. Help us to help every church offer the opportunity of that message to everyone who comes through the doors.
God bless and thank you for your time.
Larry and Linda Drain
“Hopeworks”- the Blount County chapter of the DBSA
865.951.4252
hopeworkscommunity.com
depression and bipolar support alliance|mental illness awareness coalition|mental health association of east tennessee|meetup|tennessee suicide prevention network|nami
All rights reserved
The ability to effectively stand up for yourself or for things that you believe in is paramount to being able to live the kind of life that you want for yourself and your loved ones. For people whose life has been drastically altered by their experience with mood disorders it is of especially great importance. Rather it be from the stigma attached to the disorder or the difficulty in finding appropriate treatment the alternative to effective advocacy is to find yourself constantly in the position of being the victim of your circumstances and the systems you find yourself interacting with.
Substantial portions of the websites of the DBSA, NAMI, and similiar organizations are devoted to teaching you how to be an effective public advovate. I won’t try to duplicate what they have already said. Much gain can be had by spending some time looking at these websites and I want to really encourage you do that. I want to approach the subject from a little bit different angle.
The beginning of all advocacy is knowledge. To become an advocate for yourself you must become an expert on yourself. Know your disorder. Increase your knowledge base as much as you can. The only way to combat the misperceptions and assumptions of others is with the knowledge you have. To fight for yourself you must know what you are fighting for and what you are fighting against.
There are many levels of advocacy. One of the most important and most overlooked things you can do is to become an advocate on a personal level. Be part of the education of people in your life. You will meet many people whose ideas of mental illness are totally wrong, but they may never know that unless confronted with the reality of you. Personal advocacy begins with your family and friends, but extends into the community in which you live. You will find plenty of opportunities in your work place, your church, your school, and countless other places to say that judging people based on labels and the stigma attached to them is wrong. You will find many opportunities to say that people with a mental illness are as entitled to as effective a treatment for their problems as is anyone with a physical illness. You will find many opportunities to put to rest the assumption shared by so many that mental illness is really a character or personal failing or evidence of lack of motivation to do better. Always remember what you stand up for defines where you stand.
Being part of organizations like “Hopeworks” is another way to be an advocate. There is strength in numbers. People who make decisions are more likely to listen to more people rather than less. Share your thoughts and positions but support others in doing the same and find opportunities to stand with those who share your views and concerns. If you believe strongly and want to be heard try not to stand alone unless you have no other choice. Encourage any organization or group you belong to to take a stand on things important to you.
Encourage your organizations to network with other organizations that share the same concerns or opinions. “Hopeworks” for example, is linking up with other organizations that deal with the issue of suicide, because suicide is a vital area of concern to so many people with mood disorders. We will also support the work of such organizations as the Tennessee Health Care Campaign because of its tireless advocacy for adequate health care for all people regardless of who they are or what their needs are.
Not everything is possible, but anything you assume can’t be done almost certainly won’t be. Becoming an advocate is about more than what political choices you make. In the end what you choose to stand for defines the life you choose to live.
Choose well.