Its not that easy...

Living with a mental illness isn’t easy. From mood swings to eating disorders, it could cause a very uncomfortable life style. I was diagnosed with depression about two years ago after an incident that I very much regret. It takes a great toll on me knowing I put people I care about in danger because of my mental illness. It’s hard to keep myself going most days without a little push and motivation from my boyfriend, but he helps as much as he can. I am getting professional help, but I still find it difficult to ask for help, because of the way I was raised.



Getting support can be difficult for someone with a mental illness. “Barriers to receiving adequate support occurred through the loss of supportive others, either recent or past” (Chernomas, Clarke & Marchinko, 2008). Some of these loses could include a death of a loved one or an end to a love relationship. With the loss of support, women had to fend for themselves, often giving up custody of their child if they had one. Already living in poverty, with no support or help of any kind, these women end up living a lonely life. “Lack of safe, affordable, housing, where women felt comfortable to establish roots in a community, proved to be a barrier to maintaining a support system for some…” (Chernomas, Clarke & Marchinko, 2008). I found it very hard to get use to a new setting after moving in the summer of 2010. I was already dealing with depression, and now getting new symptoms of OCD. I’m privileged though to not be living in poverty and have a supporting boyfriend to help me through the rough times.



Getting past these barriers are the first step of getting help. Once seeking help from a professional may cause more barriers because of gender. An article from the Canadian Women’s Health Network (2009) states that “… research shows not paying attention to gender differences, or ‘gender neutrality’, leads to errors, which in turn leads to missed opportunities, misuse of resources and poor outcomes”. So why then does our health care system continue to gender as a problem? In the same article says “research also indicates that women in North America are prescribed twice as many psychotropic (mood altering) drugs compared with men” (Canadian Women’s Health Network, 2009). Could this be because women are more alert to what is happening around them? Because women are seen as those who give birth to and raise children, they gain alertness to their surroundings more so than men.



Many things could cause someone to have a mental illness. It could come from genetics or just past experiences, but living with them isn’t easy. They face many challenges like finding adequate support and living their lives normally. Health care systems need to make people feel more comfortable coming forward with problems such as depression or addictions. They also need to look for all options when treating a patient instead of jumping to prescription drugs. Most mental illnesses you can’t see from a simple glance either. Judging a book by its cover is never a good solution when it comes to someone who may not be acting “normal”. You never know who they really are till you sit down and talk with them for a while, to hear their whole story. You never know, you may just learn something about yourself.



Reference list



Chernoma W. M., Clarke D. E., Marchinka S. (2008). Relationship-bases support for women living with serious mental illness. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 29,437-453. doi:10.1080/01612840801981108



Canadian Women’s Health Network. (2009). Mind the (gender) gap… in Canada’s new mental health framework. Retrieved from http://www.cwhn.ca/en/node/41606



~Joelle