Hope for Mental Illness: Mental Health Myths and Facts

This post is a continuation of  my experiences with mental health myths and facts. All the myths I quote in these posts are taken verbatim from Mental Health Myths and Facts on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services at mentalhealth.gov.

Myth: There is no hope for people with mental health problems. Once a friend or family member develops mental health problems, he or she will never recover.

This is a myth I often succumb to, and for me this myth is somewhat true. For the foreseeable future, and likely for the rest of my life, I will have bipolar. When times are good, sometimes I think that maybe things will stay like this. Maybe I’ll stay balanced. Maybe I won’t fall into a depressive state or have another manic episode.

Unfortunately, I likely will continue to experience the symptoms of bipolar to varying degrees. I’ll likely have more manic episodes. I’ll likely have more manic episodes and mixed states. Medications I take can or have stopped working. There’s a better than average chance I’ll end up in the hospital again.

These things may all sound depressing, but despite the likelyhood of relapse, that doesn’t mean there won’t be times that are good. There will be. There will be long stretches of recovery. Even during manic and depressive episodes, good can still come.

Depressive episodes can teach me to be more empathetic. The techniques I use to help manage and recover from them often help me see the blessings in my life. The kindness shown to me, my material blessings, friends, family, and employment — all things I can use to share with others.

It’s harder to see the good in manic episodes. I often do things that are embarrassing or that make my life more difficult. I overshare about my personal life, talk too much, and often interrupt others when they are talking. I write emails and post on social media things I normally wouldn’t, and at times I engage in communication that I don’t remember later.

I wish I could say with certainty that I will fully recover from bipolar, but I know that it’s likelier I won’t. Still, sometimes there is some good that comes from manic episodes. If I can manage to stay focused on one thing at a time, I can often accomplish more than I normally would — especially cleaning and writing.

Learning strategies that have helped me to not over communicate and stay focused on one thing at a time when manic is somewhat a recovery in itself. Having strategies to mitigate and reduce the length of a bipolar episode make my ability to function “normally” in my personal and professional life have made me feel better about my bipolar.

While some mental illnesses can be chronic, many with mental health problems will recover completely or go through long stretches of functioning “normally.” Family and friends can help loved ones cope with and recover from mental illness in a wide variety of ways.

According to MentalHealth.gov, support from friends and family is paramount in helping someone struggling with mental health problems. I encourage you to read the whole article, “For Friends and Family Members,” but I’ll share some highlights below, starting with the benefits of learning about mental health and mental illness (bullet points taken from MentalHealth.gov):

• Improved recognition of early signs of mental health problems
• Earlier treatment
• Greater understanding and compassion

There are also many ways you can help support a friend or family member struggling with mental illness. Here are some ideas from MentalHealth.gov:

• Finding out if the person is getting the care that he or she needs and wants—if not, connect him or her to help
• Expressing your concern and support
• Reminding your friend or family member that help is available and that mental health problems can be treated
• Asking questions, listening to ideas, and being responsive when the topic of mental health problems come up
• Reassuring your friend or family member that you care about him or her
• Offering to help your friend or family member with everyday tasks
• Including your friend or family member in your plans—continue to invite him or her without being overbearing, even if your friend or family member resists your invitations
• Educating other people so they understand the facts about mental health problems and do not discriminate
• Treating people with mental health problems with respect, compassion, and empathy

There is all kinds of other good information on the “For Friends and Family Members" article on MentalHealth.gov, and again, I really encourage you to read the entire article. Obviously not all the advice is appropriate for everyone and your approach to supporting friends and family should be tailored to their needs.

I've been incredibly blessed with supportive friends and family during the times I've struggled with bipolar. Calls and cards from friends, visits in the hospital, and friends and family sharing their struggles with mental health have all helped me get through some tough times.

How about you? How have you or how do you want to support a friend or family member struggling with mental health issues? Or, how do you want to be supported when you're struggling with mental health problems?

Character Flaws and Mental Health: Myths and Facts

This post is a continuation of my experiences with mental health myths and facts. All the myths I quote in these posts are taken verbatim from Mental Health Myths and Facts on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services at mentalhealth.gov.

Myth: Personality weakness or character flaws cause mental health problems. People with mental health problems can snap out of it if they try hard enough.

Another common myth of mental illness is that if people just try harder they can overcome their mental illness. I see this one all the time. In fact, sometimes I believe this one myself. Sure, there are things in my control that can help me avoid or mitigate symptoms of bipolar, but I often blame myself for things I can't control. I think: if I just try harder, I won't feel depressed, or have a manic episode. I'm certainly not perfect, but sometimes it seems I'm doing everything right and I still cycle into a manic or depressive episode.


People saying: just take your pills, just go to therapy, just cheer up -- Definitely doesn't help. I take my pills. I go to therapy. I try to set up boundaries to keep when I cycle into a manic state. If there were a magic formula to make my symptoms of bipolar disappear, I'd've done my best to it and use it.


While some may not necessarily believe this myth, their actions make it seem that way. Mental illness is not caused by some defect of character or lack of effort. There's a fine line between supporting a friend or family member, and making her and him feel she or he is not trying hard enough.


Attitudes supporting this myth occur intentionally and accidentally. Clearly, telling someone to, "just get over it," would be crossing the line. Telling someone, "it's all in your head," is also crossing that line. While those things are obvious, there are more subtle ways you may make people think you believe this myth.


Telling a story about how you felt sad or anxious once but then did something about it and are now recovered probably won't be helpful -- especially if you don't have a mental illness yourself. Giving advice and how that person should deal with her or his mental illness may also make them feel like you think they are not trying hard enough.


The tough thing about this myth is that sometimes people succumb to it with the best intentions. They want to help. They want to see their friends or family members recover, so they offer advice they think will help them recover.


I'm not saying all advice is bad and that all those who offer advice believe that people with mental illness are victims of their own making. Some advice can be good and helpful, but I'd encourage those who feel the need to give advice to wait until they are asked for advice.


There are, however, some instances where giving advice is necessary whether the person is asking or not. You are not falling prey to the myth when you give advice to someone who is clearly in distress or, especially, if you feel they are in danger of hurting themselves or someone else.


I read a story about a young woman who was frustrated that her friends would give her advice about dealing with her anxiety. She wrote how she only wanted to cope with and talk about her anxiety with her therapist. A lot of what she said rang true, but I also got the feeling that she was being stubborn and possibly missing out on good advice.


She said that her friends would tell her to take deep breaths when she was losing control of her emotions and nearing a state of panic. She would not take deep breaths because she knew it wouldn't work. While she might not realize it, her friends were giving her good advice. If she was starting to hyperventilate from anxiety, she should be taking slow, deep breaths. It may not make her feel better right away, but there's a good chance it would keep her symptoms from getting worse.


But here's the rub: she'd probably received too much unsolicited advice, so when she heard good advice, she tuned it out. This is not uncommon for those who feel others are judging them for their mental illness. Mental health has both environmental and biological factors, so many people diagnosed with a mental illness will be dealing with the symptoms of that illness for their entire lives. No amount of advice, medications, or therapy is going to make those symptoms go away forever.


So, be careful with giving advice. Don't make people feel like you're judging them and that they are somehow to blame for their mental illness. And those experiencing mental health issues: be gracious. Ask for advice on occasion, and try not to get offended by unsolicited advice. Usually, someone just wants to help.


If you do feel like giving some advice for maintaining or improving mental health, what is it? I'm soliciting your opinion: What is something you do to stay mentally healthy?

Job Stress: Mental Health Myths and Facts

This post is a continuation of  my experiences with mental health myths and facts. All the myths I quote in these posts are taken verbatim from Mental Health Myths and Facts on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services at mentalhealth.gov.

This one is tough for me to write about, so I'll going share some practical tips for managing workplace stress first, and my own thoughts and experiences at the end.

Myth: People with mental health needs, even those who are managing their mental illness, cannot tolerate the stress of holding down a job.

You've likely said or heard someone say, "I'm taking a mental health day." Any job, from doctor to fry cook, can help or hurt our mental health. Difficult coworkers, supervisors, or expectations we put on ourselves can lead to too much stress and diminished mental health. For those with mental illness, these things can be even more difficult. Part of ending the stigma surrounding mental illness should make a "mental health day" just as valid as a sick day for a cold, headache, or stomach bug.

While mental illness can interfere with employment, people with mental illness are no worse at their jobs than other workers. Studies from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) show that workers with mental illness are as productive as other workers. In fact, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal, those prone to anxiety can actually have an advantage in workplace performance.

There are many things you can do for yourself, and many things you can do for others, to help manage workplace stress. Keeping stress at a manageable level improves the environment not just for people with mental illness, but for all employees. When there's too much stress, the quality of work suffers. When there's not enough stress, employees can become lethargic and unmotivated.

Supervisors should help employees manage workplace stress, and employees should advocate for themselves when they are feeling overwhelmed -- especially when they are unable to work or their performance is suffering due to symptoms of mental illness.

Tips for Managing Workplace Stress:

• For employees:
• Take deep breaths
• Talk to your supervisor when you're feeling overwhelmed
• Focus on one thing at a time
• Resolve conflicts
• If possible, avoid people who are usually negative or stress you out

• For employers, supervisors, and coworkers
• Be approachable and open when an employee says she or he is overwhelmed
• Try to look for signs that an employee is struggling
• Show appreciation for employees' work, but try to tailor to individual needs
• If an employ needs accommodations due to a mental illness, don't be judgmental -- treat them like you would treat someone who needed time off or accommodations is physically sick or injured

Websites for more Detailed Strategies:

• Guide to Anxiety in the Workplace for HR
• This article gives workplace mental health statistics and practical advice for both supervisors and employees.
• Report: Anxiety Can Boost Work Performance
• This article summarizes the findings of the a Wall Street Journal Article mentioned above
• American Psychological Association: Coping with stress at work
• Practical strategies for dealing with work stress.

If you deal with anxiety at work, don't overwhelm yourself with all the strategies out there -- that can make you more anxious! Instead, pick one to three strategies and try them for a week or two. If they're helping, keep using them. If they're not helping or not helping enough, consider adding a strategy and/or stopping one you started with.

I suggest starting with deep breathing. It takes a lifetime to master, but has be shown to reduce stress for almost anyone.

If work stress is really affecting your mental health, consider the following:

• Find a therapist who can help you with coping strategies
• Talk to a coworker who will encourage you and not drag you into further negativity
• If you don't think your work environment will improve, start looking for a new job
• If you have a diagnosed mental illness and you and your doctor feel you cannot continue your job, consider taking disability.  Everyone who has paid social security taxes is eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), and some employers give disability insurance to supplement SSDI.

My experience with workplace mental health issues:

Mental illness was the primary or secondary factor in my resignation from two teaching positions. In both of those positions, I started feeling very stressed, and as a result my work and my personal life started to suffer.

The positions felt like they were spiraling out of control because I was feeling both overwhelmed while at the same time suffering from symptoms of bipolar disorder -- "cycling" as we call it in bipolar parlance. As things got more difficult, my mental health continued to deteriorate; increased anxiety, difficulty sleeping, and lack of focus all led to a decrease in performance. In the first instance, several factors led to my resignations.

I knew work was getting unmanageable, but I felt that if I changed jobs I would be letting the students down. I ended up resigning both positions and going to a brief treatment program for bipolar and anxiety (my two mental illness diagnoses are generalized anxiety disorder and bipolar I) after the first resignation, and having a full-blown manic episode right before the second resignation.

I felt awful for leaving both those positions -- especially because I left them abruptly and didn't give them much warning. I wish I could have, but even in retrospect I know I would have left both schools in limbo even longer as I waited to recover from the episodes. In both cases, it took month or more to recover from the episodes, and while I would have liked to give more notice to both the schools, even after I'd recovered I couldn't see myself being able to go back to those positions.

So back to the myth: Although holding down a job can be difficult for those with mental illness, it's not impossible. I'm now in my second year of substitute teaching, and things have been going well. I'm not symptom free every day, and some days symptoms interfere with my performance. I do, however have a number of teachers who contact me when they need a sub, and I haven't missed any work due to mental illness since the school year started.

Thanks for reading. If you have a coping strategy you use to manage your mental health at work, I'd love to hear about it. Comment below or on Facebook.

Violence and Mental Illness: Mental Health Myths and Facts

I'm continuing on writing about my experiences with myths and facts from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. You can read all of the myths and facts on the article, Mental Health Myths and Facts, from mentalhealth.gov. All the myths I quote in these posts are taken verbatim from that article.

Myth: People with mental illness are often violent and unpredictable
This myth is still prevalent. I see it spread often when there is an act of mass violence, and there's also some huge double standards involved. When there is an act of so-called Islamic terrorism, the mass shooting is by and large blamed on radical Islam, and mental illness is barely discussed. However, when the perpetrator of a mass killing is white, all of a sudden we want to blame mental illness, not the fact that the shooter was able to get access to an extremely deadly weapon. Could it be that some people are just plain violent and not mentally ill?

As the U.S Department of Health and Human Services points out, people with mental illnesses are no more likely than the general population to commit violent acts. In fact, they are actually more likely to be victims of violent crimes.

The idea that people with mental illness are prone to unpredictable and/or violent behavior is a major reason why people are afraid to share that they have a mental illness. No one wants to feel like people around them are uncomfortable or on edge because they think their going to do something strange or scary.

Probably the biggest reason I'm not more open about having a mental illness is that I don't want to be treated differently. If people think I might become unpredictable or violent, they're definitely going to treat me differently.

While mental illness can be uncomfortable and even scary at times, people with mental illnesses should still be treated like anyone else. It's important to know that by and large the behavior of people with mental illness is the same as that of those without mental illness. 

Running Poem: November

It's been a while since I've posted a running poem, so I thought I'd throw one up here. Although winter does not officially start until December, November kicks off winter weather here in Minnesota. We've already had several days of low temperatures below freezing, and several days when the high temperature didn't reach 40*.

While September and October are my favorite months for running -- cool temperatures, fall foliage, and trails clear of overgrowth -- November definitely is not my favorite. There will be a few nice days to run, but now there'll be more runs in the dark and in cold weather. So, here is my poem, "November."

November
November is the cloudiest month.
The leaves on the trees are gone,
their lack of foliage leaving them
as skeletons silhouetted by
a grey sky.

A return to long sleeves
and gloves
and running pants
on every run.

Running on the trail along the lake
dead leaves crunch underfoot--
a small, thin crust of ice
on the lake's surface.

Birds fly overhead
leaving for sunshine,
escaping the gloom
and the coming
of winter.

November says,
"The summer is long past
and the color of fall has ended.
Trees and flowers and plants
are past, and nothing will grow
until spring."

November is the cloudiest month.
Blue skies make only brief, short appearances.
The grey days grow shorter and shorter,
the darkness increasing
as winter approaches.

Children's Mental Health: Mental Health Myths and Facts

This post is a continuation of  my experiences with mental health myths and facts, All the myths I quote in these posts are taken verbatim from Mental Health Myths and Facts on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services at mentalhealth.gov.

Myth: Children don't experience mental health problems 
This myth is becoming less prevalent. Schools especially have created more awareness about signs of mental illness in children and about how to get those children resources. Probably the biggest mental illness issue we hear about in children is ADHD. When I was in elementary school, ADHD wasn't commonly diagnosed, but now it isn't uncommon to have several students in a class with this diagnosis. 


Now, many experts in the field believe that ADHD has been overdiagnosed or mistreated. Numerous scholarly journal articles and research studies suggest that pharmaceutical companies have had undue influence on ADHD diagnosis and treatment. This isn't a post about the overdiagnosis of ADHD, but I do want to suggest that often behavioral issues in children are a mental health issue and not a mental illness.

Just like adults, students experience anxiety, depression, and other emotional issues. And, just like adults, these problems could be mental health issues, or mental illness. If a child is experiencing persistent difficulty with emotions, consulting a physician or therapist is a good idea.

I remember experiencing frequent anxiety in childhood. Often I'd worry excessively, especially when I was alone. In middle school and high school I would frequently experience sleep problems because worry made it nearly impossible to shut off my brain and go to sleep at night.

While I don't think a diagnosis of a mental illness would have been appropriate for me as a child, I probably would have benefited from some kind of therapy. Going to therapy was definitely not as common or accepted when I was young. I think it's getting better today.

Children do experience mental health issues, and as adults in a children's lives, we are in a position to help those children when we see something wrong. Even asking a child if she or he would like to talk or saying something like, "it seems like you've been sad a lot lately," can go a long way. Be aware of when a child in your life may be experiencing a mental health issue, and be ready to offer some help.

Training Limbo

A rare Minnesota winter half marathon - Securian Half Marathon

This is the time of year when training becomes a bit of a no-man's land. Fall marathon season is over for most people, save those running the NYC Marathon and a few others. Granted, that's tens of thousand or runners, but according to Running in the USA there are only two marathons in Minnesota between now and April. Also, in all of our border states there are only four marathons between now and April. Of those six marathons, three are indoors.

There are a few more half marathons in Minnesota between now and April --  seven by Running in the USA's count. Still, even with a good amount of 5k, 10k, and half marathon races, most people shut down their serious training until 12 - 20 weeks from a spring race. That leaves the months of November, December, and some or all of January as a sort of training limbo.

These are months when I sometimes struggle. I do best at getting in a good amount (sometimes too much) of running when I'm training for a race. Even when I don't have a set training plan, I usually get into a routine when I have a race coming up. I like to do a tempo type run, a 5k pace run, and a long run every week, and I usually have an idea of how many miles I'd like to run in a given week.

A big downside to the training limbo of November and December is its timing. Thanksgiving and Christmas. I love Thanksgiving, and I really love Thanksgiving food. Reducing training volume and falling into taking too many days off can mean really putting on pounds over the holidays. I definitely have a little room, but as I get older extra pounds get harder and harder to shed, and that extra weight can throw a wrench in the spring training cycle.

Last year I decided I'd put in a bunch of extra miles over Thanksgiving so I could feel better about eating more than normal. While I was down visiting my family, I did reasonably long runs each day. I think I logged over 10 miles three out of the four days we visiting. I'm planning on doing it again this Thanksgiving break.

One thing I got going for me this year is that I still have two unmet goals -- breaking 17 minutes in the 5k and setting an indoor mile PR. In less than two weeks I'm going to start some real workouts, so that should help keep up the motivation until I start training for the Lake Wobegon Trail Marathon.

Coming up I'll be writing more on mental health myths. For those who enjoy reading only about running, thanks for your patience with other types of posts.

Run well.