Interview Questions for Mental Health Awareness Month
1)
How
old were you when you began to experience symptoms of mental illness? My
postpartum bipolar disorder was triggered by childbirth; I was 37 years old.
Before then I had dysthymia (chronic depression) but no one, including my
father who had bipolar one, thought that I’d have it too.
2)
Did
you have support and seek treatment immediately? If not, why? No one knew I was
careening into an acute manic episode, including the maternity hospital
professionals, my immediate family, and myself. At first I was hypomanic, so I
just seemed and felt happy. I was so exhausted after my daughter was born I
thought that there wasn’t a problem. Little did I know that a manic-depressive
storm was brewing in my brain, and I’d be admitting myself to a psychiatric
ward the following month.
3)
What
would you tell your younger self knowing what you know now about mental
illness?
Do not give up your pursuit of finding the
right psychiatrist and meds no matter what.
4)
What
do you think are the biggest misconceptions those with mental illness have to
face?
That we’re dangerous and/or hopeless when
it comes to being productive members of society.
5)
How
do you feel about the stigma surrounding mental illness? Do you feel we’ve
taken positive steps? In your opinion, what needs to be done in the future? The
stigma is alive and well where I live. Despite the national campaigns, on a
local level I’m not seeing any positive changes. I live in a mountain valley
devoid of free support services to help those with mental illness. Here it’s
all about having a medical cannabis dispensary on literally every block (and
while I believe those places are essential, every block’s a bit excessive!) and
we have lots of liquor stores, but we don’t have a single mental health support
group in a large area filled with thousands of people. I ran one free DBSA
(Depression & Bipolar Support Alliance) support group for women with mood
disorders, but I got burned out doing that after eight years. No one wanted to
take my place. However, our population is growing, so this kind of group is
needed more than ever.
6)
7)
On
the (much) brighter side, there have definitely been many positive steps taken
by numerous individuals and organizations to deal with stigma. I believe we
need more people in positions of power and influence, from politics to
education to celebrity to sports figures to the medical profession itself--to
“come out” with their mental illnesses.
8)
What
do you do to get through the bad days? I
Netflix & Amazon Prime Video binge, I read a little bit, and hang out with my
Scottish collie Lucy. If the weather is nice, I try to force myself to go for a
walk with Lucy —she begs me with her big brown eyes. Sometimes I’ll go,
sometimes I won’t. If we go, I always feel a least a teeny bit better. Always.
But it’s VERY hard to even contemplate taking her out when I’m feeling like
total crap.
9)
Do
you have any projects that you’re working on that could benefit the mental
health community? I’m still working on getting the word out about my first book
Birth of a New Brain – Healing from
Postpartum Bipolar Disorder (Post Hill Press) because it has only been out
since October 2017. I’m also working on my second book that will be geared to
help those with mental illness in a way that hasn’t been done before.
10)
Please
give us some of your social media screen names in case someone wants to get a
hold of you.
11)
Twitter:
@DyaneHarwood
No comments:
Post a Comment