The Truth about Crazy

By: Whitney Saupan

Three experiences, three stories, three perspectives batting the negative stereotypes of mental illness. 

When you hear the phrase 'mental illness' what comes to mind? Be honest, it's not positive is it? Most people think of words like psycho, weird, odd, and crazy. Many times people avoid those who they think have a mental illness. The truth is you can't tell who has a mental illness and who doesn't. One in four people in the United States are impacted by mental illness  in one way or another. Mental illness doesn't discriminate against age, race, or gender and people can't tell who is living with a mental illness and who is not. These three experiences of people who have been impacted by mental illness will prove this point.

T.J. N. is a student at the University of Utah and a Mentor at NAMI Utah. He enjoys snowboarding, mountain biking, and other various outdoor activities. He participates in normal college aged behavior. If you saw him walking down the street, you couldn't pick him out of the crowd. T.J. also has depression.  He recalls,"One time I went skydiving...imagine like going up, flying in a plane, with a parachute strapped to your back. I jumped out of the plane, pulled the shoot, landed and got in my car and drove away. I didn't feel anything. That's when I realized something was wrong." He believes that there is a negative stereotype of mental illness. "People, family and friends, just say 'snap out of it'. It's not that easy. People hear the word depression they think sad. When I hear depression I think of jumping out of a plane and feeling nothing. Most people think you can just snap out of it, or it's a kind of a moral thing. They think that if you just work hard enough you won't be mentally ill. It's like a puzzle... you can't just will yourself out of it." T.J. also believes that there are different things that work for different people. For him it's eating healthy, exercising, and watching his thoughts. He had this advice for those living with a mental illness, "Find out what's out there. I would recommend going to NAMI. It's a place where you can talk openly and not get the snap out of it thing." 

Wendy Fayles is the Programs Director of the Utah chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness or NAMI.  Fayles says she became an advocate for mental illness, "because two out of my three children have a mental illness. I found NAMI because I got involved with my children's PTA program." She also became an advocate to battle the stereotypes. Fayles says that the biggest stereotype out there was that people with mental illnesses are stupid or violent. This is not true; they are creative and productive, just like everyone else. Fayles is used to dealing with people who don't know anything about mental illness. According tor her, mental illness is just like any ohter disease. "It's really like any other illness. If someone gets diabetes you wouldn't blame them, so why blame someone for having a mental illness? It's a biological disorder within the the brain. Those with mental illness are not the disease, they are still the person they were, and they just have an illness, like diabetes. It's nothing that they did wrong. It's a brain disorder." 

 

Kerri Ernstsen is a kind-hearted, caring person. She has always wanted to help people, and she does. Ernstsen runs a support group and is a Mentor at NAMI. She also lives with a mental illness. She has dealt with a mental illness in every stage of her life. Ernstsen recalls how she had delusions of grandeur and believed that God would love her only if she did things in certain way. She would pray and study her scriptures for hours each day. She believed that if she ate too much food, the angels would get upset with her. Ernstsen said, "the big whammy came when I believed that I was going to be the first woman prophet of my church. When my name wasn't announced over the radio, I had a meltdown. My mom called me and said she had made an appointment with a psychologist. I ran away. Later, I decided to go and it changed my life." Ernstsen has had a lot of experience and uses these experiences to help others who are struggling. She said that her support groups not only help those who attend but they also help her. "They give me strength and bring me happiness." She has not let her mental illness stop her from doing what she loves. 

People living with mental illness are just like everyone else, as seen in the stories above.  If you didn't know their stories, you couldn't pick them out of the crowd. Your neighbor, your professor, or your best friend may be impacted by mental illness. But if people don't learn about mental illness the negative stereotypes will continue.  Change is possible but everyone needs to do their part. For those who have a mental illness and feel the impact of stereotypes, Fayles had these words of encouragement: "Don't give up. Don't think it's the end of the world. There are lots of people who are just like you, that are dealing with the same issues. You aren't alone. There's help, there's hope for a successful, functional life, and you can be happy."