hope

I heard from a speaker tonight that really rocked my world. She was diagnosed medically with Schizoaffective Disorder and she was sane. She could keep a job, could independently stay on her medication, and had a very fulfilling normal life. I have never heard of a complete success story of a mentally ill patient. 

She was so badly mentally ill that without her meds she is completely psychotic. She had dramatic hallucinations and had been hospitalized many, many times. She had gone thru several misdiagnoses in her life and about 14 years ago finally started taking the right pills for her mental illness. She now goes around sharing her story about what it is like to be mentally ill and hopes that her story will give others hope. The thought that the woman in front of me, someone who looked put together, had a sense of humor, and was working a normal 40 hour a week job, was cured of her illness thru medicine was overwhelming. I have never heard a success story before like hers.

When you live with someone who is mentally ill (as I did growing up) you learn how to cope with it, you learn how to survive around it and you usually learn not to talk about it. I think it's important to talk about it and it's important to hear other people's story's about what they are going thru in life with their families. It helps and it gives others hope. I am really grateful for this woman.

One of the questions she had posed on herself for years was- Does God want me to go on medication? Her answer was "I can't serve Him very well being psychotic. " We all laughed. I've been living with not very much hope for my dad and although I am still very cautious, this woman tonight gave me a huge sense of hope.