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Mental Health Ironies
Mar. 19th, 2022 08:23 amFollowing an excellent short course at the University of Melbourne, I am now certified for Mental Health First Aid, which I strongly believe should be at least as common as Physical Health First Aid. It was particularly good at interventions to handle various crises (e.g., anxiety attacks, schizophrenic episodes, violent outbursts), but also for identifying changes (e.g., depression, substance abuse) among friends and workmates. In addition, I have devoured Shari Manning's "Loving Someone with Borderline Personality Disorder" (recommended by Lauren C., thank you again), an advocate and practitioner of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy. The book is superb at providing theoretical explanations, case examples, and, most importantly, practical skills in helping people who have been afflicted by this terrible illness, along with how carers can (and must) look after themselves. In the general and specific case of mental health, I am very aware - to the point of shame - that these are skills that I have not been particularly sensitive to in the past. On the other hand, I am also delighted by how much I have learned in a brief period of time. I feel quite confident that I now know what to do with such encounters, at least in most cases. The scales have fallen from my eyes and I rather feel like a changed man.
Silver linings however often come with a cloud, and one of the great ironies of attending the course was that we were told afterward that there was a COVID-positive case present. Fortunately, I had picked up a few antigen test kits provided by the University a few days prior and thankfully it came back with a negative result. Nevertheless, a little too close for comfort. But that is not the only irony; one may be familiar with the English idiom "To each their own"; the Spanish version is "cada loco con su tema", transliterated as "Each madman with their topic". I have had an initial mental health diagnosis which has come back with anxiety and depression (no, really?) with subsequent sessions to determine whether they're acute or chronic and to what degree. I suspect the former will be acute, the latter chronic. I was able to contribute a little bit of knowledge in the other direction when the matter of activity levels versus mental state was raised and I introduced the medic to driven dysthymia. You can imagine the conversation: "How often do you think about suicide?" - "Every day for more than forty years". "Do you have a plan" - "Of course, who doesn't?" (/sarcasm). "Why haven't you carried it out?" - "Because there are other people in this world who are suffering and I will fight with every ounce of strength to end that". Welcome to The Mind of Lev; public post, always break the stigma.
Silver linings however often come with a cloud, and one of the great ironies of attending the course was that we were told afterward that there was a COVID-positive case present. Fortunately, I had picked up a few antigen test kits provided by the University a few days prior and thankfully it came back with a negative result. Nevertheless, a little too close for comfort. But that is not the only irony; one may be familiar with the English idiom "To each their own"; the Spanish version is "cada loco con su tema", transliterated as "Each madman with their topic". I have had an initial mental health diagnosis which has come back with anxiety and depression (no, really?) with subsequent sessions to determine whether they're acute or chronic and to what degree. I suspect the former will be acute, the latter chronic. I was able to contribute a little bit of knowledge in the other direction when the matter of activity levels versus mental state was raised and I introduced the medic to driven dysthymia. You can imagine the conversation: "How often do you think about suicide?" - "Every day for more than forty years". "Do you have a plan" - "Of course, who doesn't?" (/sarcasm). "Why haven't you carried it out?" - "Because there are other people in this world who are suffering and I will fight with every ounce of strength to end that". Welcome to The Mind of Lev; public post, always break the stigma.
