Some of you may recognize my dream, but I like to repost it every now and then to keep it alive and give it legs.
In celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr.:
I have a dream that one day I won’t hold my breath every time I tell a person that I suffer from bipolar disorder, that I won’t feel shameful in confessing my mental illness.
I have a dream that people won’t feel the need to applaud me for my courage on writing and speaking publicly about my disease, because the diagnosis of depression and bipolar disorder would be understood no differently than that of diabetes, arthritis, or dementia.
I have a dream that the research into genetics of mood disorders will continue to pinpoint specific genes that may predispose individuals and families to depression and bipolar disorder (like the gene G72/G30, located on chromosome 13q), just as specific genes associated with schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder have been located and identified.
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Excellent!!!! really made my heart tick. and happy to know that someone out there is so curious to cure depression.
Well said!
I dream that when my mood /energy allows I can find the courage to ask elected officials “What are you doing about mental health? With the same ease as what are you doing about cancer care, the roads,etc.
This is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO current, SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO needed and of course most folks who read this already felt this way…but if it changes even on opinion, one heart, one persons way of speaking/handling things It has done something that needed doing.
Amen!
This is beautiful. Do you mind if I repost it on my blog (with credit and a link of course)?
I think we share the same dream. Wouldn’t it all be so nice if it were more than just a dream.
I believe we shouldn’t call people ‘depressives’. Never heard that term here in Australia in general conversation. People are people and for people who suffer mental ill-health they are still people. Episodes of illness come and go and for some recovery is long or help to recover is not proactive. I suffer bi-polar and siblings suffer from a range of other mental ill-health but they are my brothers and sister and they have names and I am Myfanwy!
Please replace the term ‘depressives’ with those who suffer from mental ill- health.
This makes my heart so happy that people understand what is going on for people with mental illness (even if it is just that we have a place to talk to each other), at the same time it makes me so sad because it reminds me how far we still have to go.
The stigma for mental illness will probably always be with us until a cure is found. But since the mental illnesses mentioned are probably organic, a cure is a real possibility in the next decade or two. In fact, it is not a dream, but an inevitability.
Therese, thank you for this wonderful article.
Thank you for writing, and for posting. I fervently share your dreams! I’ve started to make performance art and video art along these lines, aiming to normalize, perhaps educate, and least express. If you want to take a look find me at impactplasticbag.blogspot.com.
I have a dream that we can help remove stigma by not using generalizations such as ‘depressives’ but say instead ‘that those who suffer from mental ill-health’.
Sorry for a total of three comments saying the same thing. I wasn’t sure they were posted……
However, my case still stands.
I agree.
This article was greatly needed.
I have mental illness. I have Bipolar. And thanks to the media and entertainment industry, people are scared to death to have much to do with me.
I have had people to stop talking to me in the past. So I keep to myself a lot.
The ADA has no teeth, and for those with mental illiness, its a JOKE!
I have even had religion right wingers tell me that my illness (when I am depresses, and thats a lot. I am type two, and I rapid cycle.) I am told that my depression is due to sin. And crap like that.
Thanks for this once again.
we all have dreams and sides of ourselves that coud be better. I had a good frind who killed herself when she couldn’t get help. She inherited her illness from her mother who killed herself when L. was a young girl. So much pain. Try to keep going even on the bad days because you are never alone and God loves you more than you will ever know.
I agree with Ken….It is inevetable that a cure will be found. As of now we can treat the symptoms with some success! 60 yrs ago there was nothing but life time misery,probably commited to an institution worse than a prison. Things have improved so much for those victims of this mortal curse.
Wow, compelling. ML King Jr is one of my main heroes, so to read his words but about depression, bipolar etc. is so uplifting. I have hope that one day, our brain disorders will be no more stigmatized.
Think of it this way: if there was a cure for depression and all other psychological ailments that plagues way too many of us, then that would mean a cure would cripple the mental health care system financially. It would also mean that the drug companies would be hit very, very hard financially with a cure at hand. Doctors and the drug companies want to treat those ailments with expensive medications and doctor visits, followups, etc. Psychologists, psychiatrists and therapists would simply have to close up shop if cures were at hand. Can’t have that now, nor could the drug companies deal with the fact of major revenue loss due to an actual cure. It’s the same situation with any other disease. It’s very sad but true. Doctors need to make big bucks merely treating the ailment, and the medications only treat the disease. THERE IS NEVER A CURE! So is there a reason to lose hope? Well, sadly the clouds are still incredibly intimidating high above us sufferer’s of mental illness, and it’s so hard to see even the tinniest break for a ray of sunshine to peek through.
Gosh!!!! This is soooo TRUE!!!!!!
“…It may be that the salvation of the world lies in the hands of the “maladjusted”
– Rev.,Dr. Martin Luther King,Jr.
The discrimination we suffer through is truly a symptom of our collective unbalance and need for healing by means of understanding in this country.Let the healing begin.
there have been so many influential as well as brilliant minds with mental illness. As far back as Abraham Lincoln with depression. Regardless of verbiage, I love this article which is full of hope! We have will have an opportunity to get on with our lives with quality life ahead. It is already happening, but you need to dig deep in the archives to find the studies making the most impact. Through tx we will be able to figure out the specific chromosomes, etc and then apply the appropriate meds so we can all live with a higher quality of life.