October 28, 2011
This just in from NAMI:
Today in America:
- One in four adults—about 57.7 million Americans—experience a mental health disorder in a given year.
- Despite effective treatments, there are long delays between the first onset of symptoms and when people seek and receive treatment.
- Fewer than one-third of adults and one-half of children with a diagnosable mental illness receive mental health services in a given year.
- In the United States, the annual economic cost of mental illness is estimated to be $79 billion. Approximately $63 billion reflects the loss of productivity as a result of illnesses.
However, there is hope...
With proper care and treatment, 70 to 90 percent of persons with mental illnesses experience a significant reduction of symptoms and an improved quality of life.
October 26, 2011
Survival Skills!
Part 1
It could be that people think that what I went through with Stew was detrimental, but I disagree. I developed Life Skills during that time that could only help me in the future. Oh sure, it wasn’t all fun and games, and we had our moments of sheer terror when the demons wanted us dead, but there were learning moments too.
For example, I learned that I could do without the expensive stuff I’d been moving around for years. I sold anything that was worth anything so I could pay rent – the silver, the crystal, the Wedgewood. Unfortunately, that meant I kept the stuff that wasn’t worth anything, but every learning experience can’t be perfect. Anyway, if any of the cheap stuff broke it wouldn’t matter.
I learned how to get money for my jewelry. Maybe this is a widely held skill set, but I’d never had any idea what to do. There are these places called pawn shops, and if you go to one, they’ll give you cash money for your stuff! It’s the coolest thing ever!
Perhaps I’d led a sheltered life until then. I’d never had to sell anything to get extra money, and I’d never had to wonder what to do for the weekend when there wasn’t enough money to get food. So I was spoiled.
I learned more about how banks operate. There’s a reporting system wherein all banks know what sort of trouble you’ve gotten into with other banks. So if you say, have no money and your bank closes your account because you’ve taken too long to clear it up (since you spent all your money on food and meds), opening another account at another bank may not happen. This lesson was so painful that I now have multiple accounts at multiple banks, just in case.
I learned that if you don’t pay the electric bill they’ll come knock on your door before they turn the electric off, and if you give them money, you’re good to go. This is useful to know, isn’t it?
I learned that not having a phone is not a bad thing. The world is peaceful and quiet when there’s no phone to answer.
I learned to sleep wherever and whenever I could. In the car, often, though I’d usually pull over and park before falling asleep. I’d miss appointments because, instead of getting out of the car, I’d sit there and fall asleep, and wake up when the appointment should have been over, and I learned that missing the appointment was no big deal.
I learned that if your car is repossessed (as opposed to just being possessed), you will get a bill for twice what the car was worth, and that even when you beg them to just take the damned thing away it will take six months.
I learned to accept help when it was offered, which was really hard for me, since I’m very stubborn that way. Even better, I learned to ask for help when it was necessary. This was even harder, since asking for help meant I was a useless human, and I had enough issues. And I learned that when you ask for help, sometimes people come through, and sometimes they don’t, and it’s all good.
