So last night I read my friend @dicentra full Tella-Novella blog post. And it got me thinking. I have known and been friends with so many people with mental health issues. A lot of it runs through my family on my moms side. Aunts, uncles and cousins have committed suicide. At one point I had met so many women that were bi-polar that a friend of mine thought I must attract people like that. But I don't see it that way. I think the true reality is that I have never discounted someone from becoming a friend of mine just because they have a mental health issue. I give everyone the same opportunity to be my friend. I think what happens is that most people when they find out someone might have mental problems, they decide it's too much to deal with. They leave that person in the dust and what I do find is that people with mental issues have some serious trust issues. And who can blame them, so many people give up on them. And the only people that can help them, you have to pay and even those people they can't trust because the second you can't pay them they show you the door. So they just feel like even their shrinks don't care about them. Now I'm not passing judgement on anyone that can't handle having a friend with these mental health issues. You could also be dealing with your own fragile mental problems. Nor am I saying you should try to be friends with every person with mental issues. Depending on the disorder some can be dangerous, not just to themselves but to you. But people with these issues are still human beings and for most it's much easier to forget them and sweep them under the rug. Please don't do that. Don't pity them. Don't treat them any differently than anyone else. Please remember they are human. And if you are their friend, just be there for them and weather the storms when they come. If you are emotionally healthy, trust me you can do this. One of my friends is BiPolar but also has Schitzophrenic episodes. He's not family but we grew up together so I think of him as family. His mom and my mom act as though I'm doing some kind of act of kindness because I talk to him and am still willing to hang out with him when so many others gave up. And it sickens me they think that way. If he was an asshole, I'd have nothing to do with him. I'm not doing some good deed for the day. He's my friend. He's a good and sweet person. At least when he's not having one of his episodes. I went through one of those, it was quite frightening. The reason it sickens me that my mom feels I am doing some good deed is because it makes it seem that I am friends with him out of pity. And nothing could be further from truth than that. Yes I have friends that have mental issues but if they weren't good people, I'd have nothing to do with them. I don't pity anyone because I refuse to look down on anyone.
