"How can I go forward when I don't know which way I'm facing?" - John Lennon

I think mental illness is a tough subject to discuss because we never know who is suffering from it. Even the people who are near to us may hide it because of the stigma surrounding it and fear of having others look at them differently. In my Psychology class we talked about mental illness and I found it rather intriguing that multiple people can be diagnosed with the same illness but their treatments vary. Why is it that what works for one person doesn’t always work for another? We also discussed schizophrenia and how it can gradually occur with symptoms increasing over time and in some people be well handle with a combination of drug and psychotherapy. My father in law suffers from bipolar disorder, and while I was never around when he was really struggling with it, he keeps it pretty well under control with his medications.

Unfortunately, one of the first things that comes to mind when I think about what has shaped my opinion on mental illness is mass shootings. How if that person would have been diagnosed as clinically depressed (or some other mental health issue) that the incident could have possible been prevented. When discussed in the media they always talk about the need for easier access to treatment and better diagnoses; however, it’s also hard to diagnose those who don’t seek some form of treatment. It may be possible by having easier access to mental health resources that those suffering might seek out the help they need.

The poems written by Kaitlyn Tramp, especially “Lie-er”, remind me that it won’t always be easy to see who is suffering from mental illnesses, and that it will not be easy to have them open up or seek help. I know that for me, when I suffered from postpartum depression, this poem fit my situation perfectly. I was always saying I was fine, that I didn’t need help, nothing was wrong, and that could not have been further from the truth. I wanted someone to notice, someone tell me that it was okay, take me in and help me figure things out. Luckily I have a great friend that could tell things were not okay and kept “pestering” me until I told her what was going on. Even though she is over a thousand miles away she could tell that I was silently crying out for help and new exactly what to say to get me to express my feelings and get the help I needed.  I was very fortunate that I have someone who cares about me and knows me well enough to step in when I could no longer bare the weight of my depression on my own.