Mental illness stresses families
By David Riley/Daily News staff
GHS
Posted Sep 06, 2008 @ 11:27 PM
Editor's note: This is part 2 of a weekly series on the stigma of mental illness.
Mental illness cost Melissa almost everything she had, including custody of her 11-year-old daughter.
Living in and out of homeless shelters in Connecticut, she was ready to give up a year ago. It was her adult son who helped her find another chance at rebuilding her life in Massachusetts.
But not all of Melissa's family has been able or willing to maintain ties with her. Aside from a sister, Melissa said most of her relatives no longer speak to her.
Family, she said, also is where some of her struggles with depression and post-traumatic stress began.
"It's good to have a good upbringing," said Melissa, a client at Programs for People, a Framingham nonprofit that helps the mentally ill recover and succeed. "I didn't."
Melissa and three other clients at Programs for People spoke with the Daily News recently about their illnesses and recovery. They also discussed their firsthand experiences with misunderstanding, fear and suspicion of mental illness that they and others face in many aspects of their lives.
"I think the public, they don't understand mental illness, and they don't want to," Melissa said.
Melissa's story illustrates the complex role of family in mental illness. She believes her upbringing contributed to her disease, and family relationships have strained or broken during her battle. Yet it was also a son who helped point her toward recovery and a daughter who motivates her today.
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How true, how true....mental illness not only affects the person, but the entire family as well. Sad is the family that doesn't take the time to become educated about the diseases of the brain, because their loved is the one that looses out. I teach Family to Family classes in our area, and the response has been good.
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