So many challenges but so much hope

One of the things we all have to remember while we are caring for someone with serious mental illness is that we can never give up hope. As long as we are still trying there is a reason to hope for a breakthrough. As long as we keep talking and asking, there is hope that our systems will change and the lives of our loved ones can get better.

I was watching the Schizophrenia Awareness Event that the BC Schizophrenia Society hosted. I could only watch for a while because emotions got the better of me, but I was so encouraged that Jim Cuddy wrote a song, and a playwright is creating a one-person monologue on what it is like to have a child with serious mental illness. From the perspective of having her husband be diagnosed with Alzheimers at the same time that her son became ill with Schizophrenia, and the similarities with the diseases and the polar opposite reaction from the healthcare field and society.

They received flowers galore with sympathy for her husband's illness. Our health care system made sure that he was in a space where he received all of the medications and help he needed because he "didn't have awareness of his illness".

Alternatively, when our kids get ill, people back away. Stigma, myths, and media misinformation make people believe scary things about your child and perhaps your family. Our health care system believes that even though one of the symptoms of severe mental illness is Anosognosia, "lack of awareness that they are ill", they have the right to refuse medications, become homeless, live in poverty, and it is nearly impossible to get timely help. When our brains become ill with something like Schizophrenia, it is imperative to get help as soon as possible. The longer the brain is left without intervention, the less likely it is to be able to recover.

There is no cure for Schizophrenia, but we know that medications can help our loved ones return to a better life. Not normal, or what we would consider their pre-illness expectations, but much better than their life would be without treatment.

As loved ones, we need to keep advocating and try to change a system where having a mental illness means you aren't worth caring for. We need to ensure that others are educated on what the reality is and how much help we really need.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could house all of our mentally ill who are currently living on the streets? It breaks my heart knowing that there are Moms out there wondering where their loved ones are. But we all still hold on to HOPE!