Succeeding with Mental Illness

                  I just saw a post on NAMI San Fernando’s social media.  It struck me as something that really needs to be discussed.  The post simply said, “You can have a mental illness and still succeed.”  That is a powerful statement.  It is true. Mental illness often tells us that we are worthless or that we are not good enough, but the reality is there are people living their best lives with mental illness.  

                  People with mental illness have jobs, raise families, and are successful in the arts and on the playing field.  People with mental illness contribute to society often without anyone knowing they struggle with mental illness.  A simple Google search would yield tons of people living with mental illness.  We will look at some of those people later in this post.  

                  Let’s start with what it means to succeed with mental illness.  Each person defines success differently.  That definition is often fluid.  Success can be defined differently at various points in life.  On some days just getting out of bed can be defined as success.  I have had many of those days.  For me depression can at times prevent me from having the energy and the desire to function.  If I can manage to get up and do something as simple as brushing my teeth or showering, I have been successful.  This may seem like a simplified description of success, but the weight of mental illness is heavy and little steps take a lot of effort. 

                  As I mentioned people with mental illness have jobs.  Mental illness is an invisible illness.  You never know when you are interacting with someone who is living with mental illness.  The barista who made your coffee may be dealing with depression.  Your accountant may live with a paralyzing anxiety.  The teacher instilling knowledge in your children may fight bipolar disorder.  These are just a few examples.  People are often able to hide their mental illness from those who do not know them and maintain successful jobs.

                  I was a special education teacher for over 26 years.  I lived with depression and anxiety that whole time.  Still, I functioned.  My students never knew how much I struggled.  I hid my illness from most of my colleagues and administrators.  They did not need to know.  I was successful as a teacher despite fighting a mental illness.  I am proud of that fact.  Were there days when I couldn’t be in the classroom?  Of course.  But isn’t that true of any illness?  Most people take a day off when they have the flu.  Mental illness is no different.  There were days when I was in the classroom when I probably should have taken the day.  I persevered.  On the outside I was just like any other special education teacher.  Inside, my mind was telling me to give in, to go home and hide in bed.  Overall, I was a successful teacher.  I worked despite my mental illness.  I knew other teachers who did as well.  

                  Back to that Google search I mentioned.  I just did a search for successful people with mental illness.  Let’s look at some of the names that popped up.  

                  Carrie Fisher: actress with bipolar disorder

                  Jim Carrey: actor with depression

                  Buzz Aldrin: astronaut with depression and substance abuse disorder

                  Michael Phelps: attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

                  Demi Lovato: actress with bipolar disorder and bulimia

                  Billy Joel: musician with depression and substance abuse disorder

                  Britney Spears: musician with bipolar disorder and postnatal depression

                  Ludwig van Beethoven: composer with bipolar disorder

                  Charles Schultz: cartoonist with clinical depression

                  Dolly Parton: musician with clinical depression

                  Ernest Hemingway: author with clinical depression

                  Georgia O’Keefe: artist with clinical depression

                  Sylvia Plath: poet and author with clinical depression

                  Herschel Walker: athlete with dissociative identity disorder

                  Abraham Lincoln: US president with depression

                  Winston Churchill: world leader with bipolar disorder

                  Michelle Obama: US First Lady with low-grade depression

                  

 

                  This is just a sampling of the names I found.  Every day people go to work with mental illness.  People do hard things with mental illness.  People wake up and function despite the pain of their illness.  They do not let their mental illness define them.  Notice in my list I used the word “with”. People are not their diagnosis.  Mental illness is something we have.  It is not who we are.  It does not define us.  

                  As a society we need to do a better job of reducing the stigma surrounding mental illness.  We need to recognize that mental illness can strike anyone.  When we live with mental illness, we have our struggles, but we also have our successes.  

                  I have described success in the workforce, arts, and playing field.  Those are not the only measures of success.  As I mentioned just getting out of bed can be a success at times.  Talking back to negative thoughts, fighting back against suicidal thoughts are both successes.  They are not easy to do.  I can attest to the difficulty of these two.  It takes strength.  Anyone who has ever fought these thoughts knows it is not easy.  These individuals are success stories.  Fighting anxiety is another difficult task.  People can be paralyzed by their anxiety.  When they interact with world, even if it is just with one person, they are being successful.

                  Success should be defined in individual terms.  No one else knows what knows the struggle that a person with mental illness lives with on a daily basis.  What is deemed a success by one person might seem routine to another person.  That is okay.  What matters is that we try to do our best even as mental illness impacts us.  Define success in your own terms.  You can discuss what success looks like for you with a trusted loved one or a mental health professional.  It can be helpful to share your successes with one of these people. Celebrate your successes no matter what that success is.  Living with mental illness is a success.  Remember, you determine your own successes, and your mental illness does not define you.