I never thought I would turn into “that” person. “That” person, being the people I remember
from childhood who would talk about the aches, pains, and arthritis. It seemed as if “that” person would spend
countless conversations explaining their ailments and how they indeed hurt
worse than another poor soul whose name gets dragged into the
conversation. To my horror last week I
was talking with someone and without even being aware of it I brought up my
joint pain!! I wasn’t at the doctor or
at the massage therapist’s office, there was not a real valid reason I was
discussing this! After I ran to the
bathroom and splashed my face with water screaming for myself to wake up from
this horrid dream, ;) I quickly changed the topic. I mean come on Travis, as you age you can’t
turn into “that” person! J
Of course I use this tongue in cheek self-deprecating story
with some humor. But my experience led
me to think about something deeper, which is when something consumes our lives
and is a constant force its hard not to allow what ever consumes us to occupy
all of our thoughts, conversation, and awareness. I mean when something is powerful, at times
maybe debilitating, it’s almost impossible to allow one’s thoughts to
get past it. Perhaps that is why so many
people become “that” person, they have a need to take conversations to their
pain because honestly it’s hard to see an existence or remember an existence
outside of the present trouble?
Truth is it would be unnatural for individuals not to talk
about what consumes them. It would be unhealthy
for someone to keep something so powerful bottled up inside. Of course by now you know I am leading down a
path that encompasses many more issues than joint pain. I am also talking about the pains of anxiety,
depression, bipolar disorder, addictions, and the list goes on and on. I think one of the kindest things we could do
for someone is to allow him or her to express their pain. I believe in this so much that have given the
majority of my life to a career that invites people to come to a non judgmental
presence and allows them to discuss concerns that many people around them have
long told them to “just get over.” Let
me let you in on a secret, you don’t “just get over” an illness. Could you imagine telling someone who is
suffering heart disease to “just get over it”?
You may or may not know that October is depression awareness
month. Unfortunately this is still one
of the least talked about illnesses. I
mean we seem to accept that people who have rheumatoid arthritis or a disease
like cancer need treatment. I don’t
think many of us would accept that anyone who has these illnesses should remain
in darkness ashamed and that they should just hope to get better on their
own! So why is depression or mental
illness any different? It is an illness,
plain and simple. According to sources
over 80% of individuals who suffer from symptoms of clinical depression do not
receive treatment? Along side
pharmaceutical intervention social support and therapy can be effective in
treatment. As someone who has suffered
from depression and also has family who suffers from this illness I can say
that there is help and hope.
Sue
Monk Kidd makes the statement in her book, "The Invention of Wings," "There
is no suffering on earth that doesn't crave a benevolent witness." Is there someone in your life who needs you
to be a benevolent witness? If you think
you or someone you know may be suffering from depression there are some great
resources out there. One great place to
start for information and resources is http://mentalhealthscreening.org
