I work with adults who have severe mental illness. Mostly the peopel I work with have severe schizophrenia. They have been in hospitals on and off most of their adult live.It has been over twenty years that I have had the privledge to be in this field.I say a privledge because the people in our program have so many challenges, yet they keep trying. I help with employment. I have had people phone from a mental hospital to be sure their job will be there when they are discharged.I have seen people who are very confused, but when they work and are supported they are able to do well on their job.
I believe the people I work with are misunderstood. They have the same needs that we do yet, don't have the resources and daily skills that we do. They have a full time job dealing with their symptoms.I have found that if I am understanding and try to be supportive that they appreciate it and will open up to me. I try and find out their goals, not tell them what they should do.They have been through things that are hard for us to imagine.The people I meet have so many needs, yet are still able to be caring and able to work.
To realize that their is still stigma read in the paper sometime when you hear there is a care home moving into a neighborhood. Any neighborhood!I do not judge the neighbors who are so alarmed about people who have mental illness moving in their neighborhood. I guess it is a lack of education and understanding.Each person in our program has skills,dreams, and feelings that we need to respect.Yes, it can be challenging working in this field. You can support and understand someone for a number of years and they still might go in and out of the hospital, which can be heartbreaking.It is also heartbreaking when someone dies.
The intent of this article is to help all of us remember people who have a severe mental illness and our honest feelings about them. Do we need to be more educated? How would we feel if a care home moved in next door to you? I am just asking that we look at this honestly and with compassion.I guess I am trying to advocate for them. Even though they are perfectly capable in advocating for themselves.Look into our heart and see if maybe there is room in there for people who have severe mental illness. Thank you so much for your time.
