My name is mental illness. I reside in a lot of people. I can change your emotions, thinking, or behavior. I can make it so you have a problem functioning in social life, work, or family activities. I try my best to keep you from seeking treatment. I like it when you’re ashamed.
Between Feb. 1 and Feb. 13, 2023, 30.7% of adults in the District of Columbia reported symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. I don’t discriminate. I love children too; 10.49% of D.C. youth had at least one major depressive episode in 2020.
It is a myth to say people with mental health problems are violent and unpredictable. The fact is people with mental health problems are no more likely to be violent than anyone else. Life is not over with a mental illness. You can still live your life with me, but you have to get the treatment and medication you need to have a happy, fulfilling life.
You may hear voices as a symptom of some mental health problems, but not everyone who hears voices is mentally ill. Hearing voices is a common event called “an auditory hallucination”. One in 10 people will experience it at some time in their lives. People who hear voices experience them differently, from how often they hear them to what they sound like or say. People may hear voices because of traumatic life experiences that can be linked to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, stress, worry, sleep deprivation, extreme hunger, recreational drugs, side effects of prescription drugs, mental illness, my family members, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or severe depression. Schizophrenia was first officially recognized 100 years ago, bipolar has been recognized since 1850, and the first case of depression was recorded by a Greek physician in the 5th century B.C.
mixing up this pot of life, with some tough
ingredients
when I wasn’t looking, a whole bottle of abuse
fell in
that gives the taste of trauma
I was doing good at the beginning of the
recipe
but I tried a new flavor
this recipe has been passed down
from generation to generation
sauteed in stigma, to give it a lil kick
always fighting for sanity, that didn’t feel like
mine
I was that girl, that was seduced by suicide
coming from a neighborhood
rich with drugs
but poor with people
questioning life, becoming a mother to be
happy
stirring up mental illness inside me
wandering around thirsty and hungry
seduced by nothing you could see
breaking down from memories
inside me
so I threw out the recipe
and followed the one G gave to me
