Understanding Mental Illness: Strengthening Life’s Purpose

 For the first time in her life, Tonye felt a sense of satisfaction. She had just published her first novel despite all of the constraints that made this feat seem impossible. Who would have guessed that the “Tonye Cole” had any writing bone in her body. She had never really had any direction or purpose for her life, she had always lived life without any care for tomorrow but after going through the process of recovery from mental illness, she just knew she had to give her life a sense of direction in order not to fall back into a bad mental state again. She could clearly recollect how unmotivated and hollow she had been during those dark days. How she could no longer concentrate on anything and how the motivation to live was no longer there. At that time, she had just lost the most important person in her life, her husband. She had so much grief in her and she felt so drained and tired of life. She had five children to cater for without any means of income and not even a single shred of hope. Those days had been really dark for her, even her doctor had diagnosed her of having hypertension, saying she needed a lot of rest and sleep. But, how could she explain to him that, that diagnosis was the exact physical representation of her mental health and that everyday was more like a chore to her.

She couldn’t thank God enough for her mother who had encouraged her to seek professional help and had walked the entire recovery process with her. She felt lucky to have someone that could understand her misery and not make her feel any less. Another important factor that had helped her healing process was the fact that her church welfare decided to put her children under the church scholarship scheme as a sort of help to her and that alone was like a soothing balm to her as it went a long way in reducing all of her worries. In all of this, what made her the most happy was the fact that she found her purpose in spite of the pain. The group therapies she had helped her meet people who helped her discover what she really wanted for herself and how to stay happy. She got to find calmness and serenity in writing. She found out that she had the ability to make others feel happy and at peace with her words and this made her understand that happiness was a choice and even though bad experiences occur, they shouldn’t define us.

The truth is anyone can suffer from mental illness; a young molested child, a grieving parent, a frustrated breadwinner, even a jilted bride. But, one important factor is; “How we can overcome “. In the case of Tonye, she understood that she needed to get better for her sake and for the sake of those dependent on her and that was why she seeked for help. The group sessions and therapies she had, taught her to find purpose in the midst of pain. She got to meet with other people facing similar challenges to hers and found strength in their encouragement. However, everyone is different. People heal and react differently. Some of the signs shown by people with mental illness are: extreme moods, reduced ability to concentrate, detachment from reality, changes in appetite and sleep, substance abuse, suicidality, social withdrawal, low motivation and many more. We have a responsibility to ourselves to learn and understand the concept of mental illness and how we can help.

Most times, we have friends and even families that go through experiences that cause a dent to their mental health and it is our responsibility to help the person seek professional help and to also support the individual through the process of recovery. Some medications and therapies have been made available for people with mental illness, although recovery is very much personal as the time frame differs with each person.

   In conclusion, having sound mental health is very beneficial to us as individuals. It enables us live as calmly and as happily as possible. We should learn to stay active and maintain good social connection, always having quality sleep and managing stress well. There is so much life has to offer and for that we need to be mentally healthy.

Written by Team DELTA of the SIMBIHealth Advocacy project.