Compassion vs. judgment

I was once doing a mental health evaluation with a person who had been diagnosed with a type of schizophrenia. When I asked what her treatment goals were, she said, "I know I have a mental illness. I want to learn how to live with it." This is not an easy task, especially with the economic climate our country is in and the lack of funding to treat people living with mental illnesses.

In times of financial crisis, communities look inward for strength and support. We rely upon our family, friends, neighbors, and sometimes people we don't even know to lend a hand in time of need. Individuals living with mental illness often find themselves isolated and alone because their family, friends, neighbors, and certainly people they don't know are not educated about mental illness and don't know HOW to help.

While the cases we hear about in the media would suggest otherwise, studies show persons with mental illness are not any more violent or aggressive than those without a mental illness. They have the same needs for acceptance, love, caring, support and compassion as anybody else and maybe even more so as it is often not readily offered or available. Many, many people who have been diagnosed with a severe and persistent mental illness have received treatment and gone on to become business owners, physicians, lawyers, executives and community leaders. Recovery from mental illness can happen, though it's much easier when judgment is replaced with compassion.