My wife, Richelle, has been encouraging me to talk more about Mom, including here on the blog. I don’t talk about her that much because I have yet to find the words that can adequately express my childhood, but I grew up with a mother who wrestled with a condition called “Schizoaffective Disorder”. I can go into detail about how the disease affected her reasoning and capacity to deal with day to day life, maybe one day I will, but for now, it probably says much by simply indicating that she was aware she had a problem, she sought out help, and that it was episodic, and that those episodes could be heart rendering.
It’s scary talking about such subject matter, many are dealing with such issues in our lives, in our families, and feel forced to conceal such knowledge from others for fear of how it will reflect.
That’s why blogs that talk about mental illness are so important. They are few and far between. And some face insurmountable pressure to represent the views of one establishment or another.
I want to mention two blogs that are worthy of your RSS reader:
Furious Seasons: Ran by a journalist, and psych patient Philip Dawdy, Furious Seasons wrestles with the ongoing, terrible state of psychiatric care.
The Trouble With Spikol: Ran by executive editor of the Philadelphia Weekly, Liz Spikol documents her fight against her illness and her takes on all matters that strike her to write.
Of course I’m biased due to the experience of growing up with Mom, but both these blogs stand as the most courageous I have encountered on the Web.
You know you are dealing with these issues in your life somewhere. Subscribe. Read. Relate. Maybe even comment.
