by Kate McLaughlin

This is a very helpful, practical article if you are caring for someone with a mental illness. It really gets to the heart of how you can understand, support and help, while also looking after your own health.

“If you have a family member or friend who’s been diagnosed with a mental illness, you’re probably wondering what you can do to help. Although new forms of therapy and medication make it possible for many individuals to lead full, independent lives, the support of family, friends and peers remains an essential element in the recovery process.”

…read more on supporting a loved one with a mental illness

Mental Health Best of the Web

Professor Cummins from Deakin University has been researching the well-being of different societal groups for the last 6 years. The studies measure the degree to which different people are satisfied with their lives.

In the most recent study (October 2007) 3,750 caregivers were asked questions about health, relationships, safety and community involvement. A caregiver was defined as someone who looks after a frail, disabled or mentally ill relative.

According to the study caregivers have the lowest level of well-being of any group in the community. Further, the rate of moderately depressed caregivers was found to be 56% (general population is 6%), while almost 40% exhibited severe or extremely severe depression. As you can imagine the typical caregiver suffers a high level of dissatisfaction with life. And this is even in the presence of mitigating factors like a high income or being in a relationship.

This is tragic stuff. It really highlights to me the importance of looking after yourself as a caregiver. Have boundaries, have breaks without feeling guilty, maintain some part of your life that is separate from the person you’re caring for, build a support network (formal or informal), or join a support network, and find somewhere to fit in a bit of fun.

As a caregiver you need to stop yourself falling in a heap. You need to be resilient to mental illness, and you are far more effective in giving care to another if you remain healthy yourself.

The Fair showcases a dozen non-profit organizations operating in the mental health space. They include the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, Active Minds, the National Alliance on Mental Illness and the Mental Health Research Association.

Apart from the resources being offered, an excellent reason to visit is a 25c donation from Revolution Health to each organization whose booth you enter.

The presentation of the Fair is also quite novel, and worth a look if only for that reason.

Thanks to my friend Therese at Beliefnet for pointing us to this resource.

I think you’ll agree that you can be mentally ill and fabulously talented at the same time.

Pablo Picasso
Weeping Woman, 1937
(Schizophrenia)

Caspar David Friedrich
Cloister Graveyard in the Snow, 1810
Destroyed during WWII
(Clinical Depression)

Jackson Pollock
Blue (Moby Dick), c. 1943
(Bipolar disorder)

Adolf Wolfli
Irren-Anstalt Band-Hain, 1910
(Schizophrenia)

Edward Dayes
The Fall of the Rebel Angels, 1798
(Bipolar disorder)

Edvard Munch
Evening on Karl Johan, 1892
(Bipolar disorder)

Henri de Toulouse Lautrec
La Toilette, 1896
(Clinical Depression)

Claude Monet
Le dejeuner (The Lunch), 1873
(Clinical Depression)

Vincent Van Gogh
Bench in a Wood, 1882
(Bipolar disorder)

Mark Rothko
Slow Swirl at the Edge of the Sea, 1944
(Bipolar disorder)

Claude Monet
Waterlillies, 1907
(Clinical Depression)

Pablo Picasso
Figures on a Beach, 1931
(Schizophrenia)

“HR Executives Rank Mental Illness #1 for Effect on Indirect Costs”
Innerworkings: A Look at Mental Health in Today’s Workplace Survey, May 2007

A 2006 study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry found that an employee with depression averaged 27.2 lost workdays per annum from absence or poor functioning on the job, and an employee with bipolar disorder averaged 65.5 days.

It is clear that mental illness has a huge impact on employers. It costs them billions of dollars each year from decreased productivity and lost work days.

In the “Innerworkings” survey nearly two-thirds of the Human Resources respondents estimated that at any given time, 3% or less of their employees suffer from a mental illness, and one-quarter said less than 1%.”

From the American Journal of Psychiatry study the number is actually closer to 8.2%. The Innerworkings respondents are well off the mark.

What effect does this have? Clearly CEOs and Human Resources Managers need to focus more of their attention on this immense need. It is in everyone’s best interests.

If you need to convince an employer about the problem then a good way to do it is to point to the bottom line. A tool reserved just for this purpose is the Productivity Impact Model developed by the HSM Group.

The purpose of the model, or calculator, is to give a realistic picture of how depression impacts on a company’s profitability. It takes just a few steps to calculate the amount of time and money lost, and the great thing is that the assumptions underlying the model are based on prior research studies. It’s not wild, ballpark guessing.

How does it work?

Using a company’s size, industry, location, and age / gender breakdown, it estimates the number of people in the company with depression. Then by taking a range of values for workdays missed, total wages and benefits, and additional medical costs, it provides output for days lost across the company over a year, total “replacement” costs to cater for those lost days, and total extra direct medical costs.

The output is persuasive, and it would surely get the ball rolling if placed in the right hands.

• I’ve learned how to say no. If you are good at something, like work, then people ask you to do more. It builds up over time. I’ve learnt to say no. I can’t. I have bipolar. Sorry.
• I don’t worry about what I’m going to wear, and I don’t have to keep track of my clothes cycle. I don’t care what I’m going to eat for dinner, whether I need a bigger television or a new car. If I didn’t have bipolar these things might continue to consume me as they once did.
• My marriage is far stronger today than it would have been if I didn’t have bipolar. Apparently 90% of marriages where one partner has bipolar end in divorce. That is truly tragic and saddening. My wife had lots of reasons to leave me when I was ill for prolonged periods, but she stayed even though she didn’t understand what was wrong with me. Her perseverance has been a blessing to our marriage.
• I have great relationships with my kids and time with them is invaluable. Unfortunately most Dads don’t spend more than a few minutes a day giving their kids undivided attention. Learning that I had bipolar was a good wake-up call. I now spend more time on things that are important to me.
• I’ve slowed down a lot. I stopped wearing a watch some years ago and haven’t missed it. Losing track of time rarely causes problems; if I’m 10 or 15 minutes late for the doctor, it doesn’t matter. He works to the same system anyway.
• I take my physical health more seriously than I used to. I’m frustrated by my lack of action on exercise, but I’m thinking about physical health every day, even when its hard to follow through with action.
• I’ve always been very open about having a mental illness, and I’ve actually never felt the stigma that is so widespread. I’m fortunate in that respect. When I converted to Christianity about 20 years ago I lost most of my good friends who had an issue with it. Since I’ve been telling people that I have bipolar I’ve gained at least the same number. Go figure.
• I’ve learned to be thankful for what I have and not yearn for what I don’t.
• The best thing must be the ability to empathize with others who are facing the same problems.
• I was once very guarded with what I said, often checking myself from saying anything that could offend or impact a person’s view of me. I’ve really lightened up and feel liberated. I’m rarely inappropriate (except when ill), but even if I am, I sense that nobody really cares.
• In the Bible, in Romans 5:3-4 it says:
  “We rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
• Being engaged with the world is good. I think more deeply about things like inequality, poverty, the environment and mental illness. (The downside of course is feeling let down by those in positions of power who continually fail us.)
• Life is absurd. My life is absurd. I’ve learned to laugh at both.

We have some friends who for many years had a very, very messy house. 3 young girls – cooking, dress-ups, paint, craft, clothes, toys – you know the rest. They would unashamedly invite friends over for meals, joking that they offered an important service to other parents. It helped their friends feel better about their own messy houses.

In a similar vein I found this in another blog:
“When you’re mentally ill you are constantly doing social work just by existing. I realize that often, when you’re crazy you actually need social services for yourself, but just by talking about yourself to people who aren’t feeling that great about themselves, you are able to instantly make them feel glad they aren’t you. That’s a great service to offer.”

A final word is that I definitely don’t have it all together, and I still have episodes now and then – although less severe – in both directions. I didn’t write this post to give a different impression, but just to put some ideas out there for looking at illness from a different angle.