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Conference tecrus::mormonism

Title:	The Glory of God is Intelligence.

Moderator:	BSS::RONEY

Created:	Thu Jan 28 1988
Last Modified:	Fri Apr 25 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	460
Total number of notes:	6198

398.0. "mental Illness, How can you help?" by HOTWTR::MURRAY_RU () Wed Feb 26 1992 12:42

    HI,
    I have not had a chance to keep up with this conference for the last
    year or so due to workload (and living a long distance call from the
    office).  Anyway I noted with interest a discussion that was made about
    an individual in relation with a demonic possession.  This can and does
    happen.  However, some of this type of occurance and other types of
    things are symtoms of mental illness.  
    Having been involved closly with this type of a situation, and having
    seen the reluctance of some people to talk about this, I thought we
    ought to discuss it and become more aware of what is involved.
    
    Emotional problems that are brought about by abuse or other
    environmental issues are not the same as severe mental illnes.  These
    types of problems are effectively delt with through counseling etc. 
    Mental illnesses that I am talking about are things such as psychosis,
    schizophrenia, manic depressive, depression, and many others.
    
    A couple of things need to be said about severe mental illness.  It is
    a physical ailment.  Just like hypertension or any other cronic
    problem, the person will deal with it on a long term basis.  
    
    The problem that I have discovered is that people in the church are
    very supportive of normal physical ailments.  If someone has a baby,
    help will flood in, a heart attack?, the members of the ward will drown
    you with help.  If someone has a mental illness ... silence.  This is
    not to say that people are uncaring, rather they don't know how to deal
    with this.  
    
    Our society has pretended that these kinds of things don't happen for
    so long that people believe that they don't happen.  Then when it does
    no one knows how to deal with it.  I'm not sure that I do.  Anyway, I
    now live with it on a daily basis and I would like others to understand
    some of the struggles that one goes through.
    
    This is actually a very common ailment.  1 in 5 persons will have some
    kind of a mental illness sometime in their lives.  It is more common in
    the ages between 18 and 35.  It is very treatable when someone
    recognizes the symtoms and directs the person to help.  The problem is
    that many people who have the problem never get help.
    
    I will continue this discussion in a later reply.
    sincerely,
    Russell Murray

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
398.1	Answers would be very helpful.	BSS::RONEY	Charles Roney	`Wed Feb 26 1992 13:23`	28
	RE: <<< Note 398.0 by HOTWTR::MURRAY_RU >>> > Having been involved closely with this type of a situation, and having > seen the reluctance of some people to talk about this, I thought we > ought to discuss it and become more aware of what is involved. Oh my. This is a very good subject to talk about because you are absolutely correct about not knowing what is involved. > The problem that I have discovered is that people in the church are > very supportive of normal physical ailments. If someone has a baby, > help will flood in, a heart attack?, the members of the ward will drown > you with help. If someone has a mental illness ... silence. This is > not to say that people are uncaring, rather they don't know how to deal > with this. Most people can relate to a physical thing. But how do you deal with mental things? When I was Elder's Quorum President I had to deal with a Sister who was constantly trying to commit suicide (she was later divorced and then successful in her endeavors). I could only talk with her based on my experiences which do not include mental illness. Even if a person recovers(?) from mental illness, do they understand or know what happened to them? How do handle it? Some answers would be very nice. Charles
398.2	More information	SALISH::MURRAY_RU		`Wed Feb 26 1992 15:53`	25
	One of the most important things to remember in dealing with mental illness is that it is not the persons choice. Many times a situation will come up where someone will say in a whisper "Did you know that his bother is in a mental institution?" With the same conotation as if this brother was in prison. People who have mental illnesses already feel alienated from society they don't need to be shuned further. They want to be treated with respect. Many times any attempt at friendship will be rebuffed due to the feeling of alienation that a mentally ill person feels. Please continue to be friendly and don't be offended. Loving persistence will eventually break the ice. Many people that have been mentally ill and recovered do remember the entire episode. My wife can remember the whole experience and is very frightened by it. I like to compare it to hypertension in that mental illness seldom goes away. The indivdual involved will probably always have to be on medication. If they stop the symptoms will return. This may not always be true but in most cases it is. Does any one else have any experience with this type of illnesses? Russell Murray
398.3	Me too, Me too	CGHUB::WREDE		`Thu Feb 27 1992 07:09`	28
	Hi Russell, I have some experience with mental illness. There are other side issues with mental illness, mentally distrubed, emotionally destrubed, and a whole raft of nerological disorders. I have two sisters who are mentally retarded. My wife has a nerological disorder, and I have a chemical imbalance (in the brain). You are right that most of these disorders can be treated. There are those that cannot be treated. People who suffer from an infection of the neroligical system can exibit symptoms of mental illness. These are often times treated as one would treate any other infection of the body but, because it is a neroligical disorder, people shun them. For some reason we are unable to realize that the brain is an organ and is subject to any of the problems that other organs of our body experience. When this happens, what these people need is support and comfort not silence and stares. It is "natural" to stare at a person who is suffering a mental illness. Talk to them. Encourage them. They will be your friend for life. I know that I am probably preaching to the choir here, but others might read this note and be incouraged. There is one other important disorder I failed to mention that strikes a lot of people, that is "nervous breakdown". This is a wide lable for a lot of disorders. Lee
398.4	just a sicky, I suppose	XCUSME::QUAYLE	i.e. Ann	`Thu Feb 27 1992 09:48`	14
	I suffer from cyclical bouts of clinical depression. It's difficult, but through prayer and scriptures, blessings, LDS Social Services counseling, and a couple of stretches on anti-depressants, I've found it survivable. Any questions? I can only provide anecdotal evidence, of course. aq PS Trouble is, there are enough depressing things going on - how can I tell whether I'm depressed or depressed :)