Onward, Upward, and Further In

As difficult as it can be for people to understand and care for those living with chronic health issues/disability, it can be even more difficult for people to understand mental health issues.  Sadly, instead of drawing near, and binding up these broken souls, friends and family may instead react with judgment or feel personally offended.  For those of us living with mental health issues, we don't know how to respond to that judgment and personal offense.  We feel shame.  We feel helpless.  We might try to communicate and educate, but that often only makes things worse.  The judgment deepens.  The personal offense rises.  And then we feel more shame, more helpless.  We withdraw.  We become crippled and paralyzed.  We might even be angry.  We are lost. My own experience: For more than a decade, I've lived in a world of hell.  I've lived in chronic mental health crisis, and though I searched for it with many tears, I didn't ...