Mental Illness isn't a Sin

[chadvena]

This thing crossed my mind when I did my clinical practice in Mental Hospital. One day I sat on outpatient clinic and met some patients. Mostly they came just to checked up their mental health after some times ago got hospitalized there and asked for medicines stock. And whatever their previous mental health disorder (such as suicide trial, depression, social isolation, uncontrol anger, dellusion, or hallucination), the recent problem was low self esteem.

And when I asked "What did make you feel that?" They answered like already agreed before, "People stayed away from me, because they knew that I'm insane". Before I went here, I had same perception with them who keep distance from people suffered from mental illness. Would they become normal again? Such a terrible thing to hear, how mean. But now I understand, the answer is "Yes".

Yes, they will become normal again, just like other people. Soon as they recover, they will be back to their rutinity. As all of human being in this world, they also need to do thing to meet their needs. And 2 things of the needs that people suffered from mental illness really hard to fulfill are job and soulmate (husband/ wife).

And again, my brain thought very hard. What kind of person who really has angel-heart to give job for them? What kind of person who wants to marry them? The problem is, we usually forget, all people almost all the time forget. That each of us isn't a body that have a soul.

We're soul that have body. So, that's okay if your soul getting sick some times. Like our body, it could be healthy again if we treat it right. Simple thought, isn't it? But really hard to confess and memorize. Especially when we need to interact with people who suffered from mental illness. We think that we're perfect and they aren't, we're better. But wait. Did you really never got mentall illness?

A study show that in 10 person in a room, 4 of them have mental illness, in any kind of form. Did you ever cry so sad and like anyone can help you? Did you ever want to remain silent and feel like no need anybody else? Did you ever feel like you fall down into deep hole and nobody give hand to climb, or even it yourself who make the hole just because you think world stay the same without you?

Like our body health, our mental health also has healthy range. When you experienced thing I mentioned before, that indicates your mental health became sick. But you still right there right now. Everything is alright, right? So the difference is just they were hospitalized and we're not. The recovery also the same as long as the treatment is right.

We as nurses should spread this words. That's okay if sometime someone get mental illness, just like body illness, that's the same normal. We should bring back our humanity to the surface. It's not a bad and shameful condition. People who suffered from mental illness should treated normally, support from us are really needed for them.