Tag Archive for: Parenting
Smiling Depression: What You Need to Know
Someone experiencing smiling depression would — from the outside —appear happy or content to others. On the inside however, they would be experiencing the distressful symptoms of depression.
Depression affects everyone differently and has a variety of symptoms, the most distinguished being deep, prolonged sadness. Other classic symptoms include:
- changes in appetite, weight, and sleeping
- fatigue or lethargy
- feelings of hopelessness, lack of self-esteem, and low self-worth
- loss of interest or pleasure in doing things that were once enjoyed
Someone with smiling depression may experience some or all of the above, but in public, these symptoms would be mostly — if not completely — absent. To someone looking from the outside, a person with smiling depression might look like:
- an active, high-functioning individual
- someone holding down a steady job, with a healthy family and social life
- a person appearing to be cheerful, optimistic, and generally happy
If you’re experiencing depression yet continue to smile and put on a façade, you may feel:
- like showing signs of depression would be a sign of weakness
- like you would burden anyone by expressing your true feelings
- that you don’t have depression at all, because you’re “fine”
- that others have it worse, so what do you have to complain about?
- that the world would be better off without you
A typical depressive symptom is having incredibly low energy and finding it hard to even make it out of bed in the morning. In smiling depression, energy levels may not be affected (except when a person is alone).
Because of this, the risk of suicide may be higher. People with major depression sometimes feel suicidal but many don’t have the energy to act on these thoughts. But someone with smiling depression might have the energy and motivation to follow through.
7 Tips for Disciplining a Depressed Child
Depression doesn’t just affect adults, it also affects millions of children and adolescents.
Some of the symptoms that accompany childhood depression include irritability, social withdrawal, and low energy. Children with depression may also struggle to manage their behavior.
In 2013, 11 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds experienced a major depressive episode. Many younger children are also diagnosed with depressive disorders, such as persistent depressive disorder or disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, every year.
Children with depression may require a slightly different approach to discipline. Here are seven tips for disciplining a depressed child.
Work With Your Child’s Treatment Team
If you suspect your child has depression, speak to his pediatrician or a mental health professional. Depression is treatable, but without appropriate intervention, it may get worse. Treatment may include therapy, parent training, or medication.
Work with treatment providers to learn about the steps you can take to best support your child’s mental health. Inquire about the specific strategies you should use to address behavior problems like non-compliance and disrespect.
Establish Healthy Rules
All kids need rules, but children with depression sometimes require specific rules that support a healthy lifestyle. A depressed child may want to stay up late and sleep all day, or he may want to spend all of his time playing video games because he lacks the energy to play outside.
Set limits on electronics and discourage your child from sleeping during the day. You may also need to create rules about personal hygiene as children with depression sometimes don’t want to shower or change their clothes. Keep your household rules simple, and emphasize the importance of being healthy.
Provide Structure to Your Child’s Day
Kids with depression often struggle to fill their time with meaningful activities. For example, a child may sit in his room all day, or he may put off doing his chores as long as possible.
Create a simple schedule that provides structure to your child’s day. Set aside time for homework, chores, and other responsibilities and allow him to have limited electronics time once his work is done. Children with depression sometimes struggle with sleep issues, so it’s important to establish a healthy bedtime routine as well.
Catch Your Child Being Good
Positive discipline is most effective for children with depression. Look for opportunities to praise your child by saying things like, “You did a great job cleaning your room today,” or, “Thank you for helping me clean up after dinner.” Praise will encourage your child to keep up the good work.
Create a Reward System
Rather than focus on taking away privileges for misbehavior, emphasize to your child that he can earn rewards for good behavior. A behavior chart or a token economy system can motivate depressed kids.
Choose one or two behaviors to work on first—like taking a shower before 7 p.m. If he follows through, let him earn a token or sticker that can be exchanged for bigger rewards, like a trip to the park. Or, provide small, immediate rewards for compliance, like 15 minutes to play on the computer.
Separate Your Child’s Emotion from the Behavior
Discipline your child’s child’s behavior, not his emotions. Don’t scold him for being angry or lecture him about being in a bad mood. Instead, send the message that emotions are OK, it’s what he chooses to do with those emotions that matters. Teach him healthy coping strategies so he can deal with uncomfortable feelings, like anger, frustration, embarrassment, or sadness.
Consider the Implications of Negative Consequences
Children with depression need negative consequences for breaking the rules, but you should choose those consequences carefully. Taking away your child’s ability to socialize with friends, for example, could make his depression worse.
Short-term consequences, like time-out, can be very effective for younger children with depression. Consequences that take place over several days, like being grounded for a week, can backfire because children with depression may lose their motivation to earn their privileges back.
When Parents Read to Kids, Everyone Wins
from Psychology Today
It’s no surprise that when parents read to their kids, it helps them succeed in school.
Three separate systematic reviews of what educators call dialogic reading—essentially engaging in a conversation with young children as you read to them—found positive effects including improved language skills, literacy, and school readiness.
Now a new body of research is finding even more benefits of reading to children—for both the kids and the parents. A systematic review published last month in the journal Pediatrics looks at broader benefits of intervention programs designed to encourage parents to read to their children.
Researchers looked at how reading interventions affected both kids’ and parents’ psychosocial functioning – essentially their physical and mental wellness and ability to interact in society. (Psychosocial functioning is typically measured by indicators of depression and stress, behavior problems, quality of life and personal skills.)
The reviewers found 18 studies of interventions that included more than 3,200 families. The interventions provided structured training to show parents the best ways to read with their children, and then followed up with the children and parents. The shortest duration was one month and the longest was 48 months.
Eleven of the interventions focused on parents with low levels of educationand 13 focused on families with a low socioeconomic status.
The reviewers found, on the whole, that these reading intervention programs had a significant positive impact on both child and parent psychosocial functioning. Specifically, children showed improvements in social-emotional skills and their interest in reading and reported improve quality of life. And parents experienced better attitudes toward reading, improved relationships with their children and improved parenting skills.
The benefits extend to babies and toddlers, as well as children up to age 6 and apply equally to boys and girls.
While it’s clear that reading is great for kids, the evidence also shows that some parents need guidance in engaging with kids and books. The Reading Rockets project, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, provides some practical tips. Among them, use fun voices for different characters, ask your child questions about the story as you go, and connect what you are reading to real-life experiences whenever possible.
If there are any small children in your life, sit down with them for a regular story time. The evidence shows it’s great for kids, and might just benefit you as well!
For more information on our work solving human problems, please visit Cornell University’s Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research’swebsite.
References
Xie, Q., Chan, C. H., Ji, Q., & Chan, C. L. (2018). Psychosocial Effects of Parent-Child Book Reading Interventions: A Meta-analysis. Pediatrics,141(4). doi:10.1542/peds.2017-2675
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/evidence-based-living/201804/when-parents-read-kids-everyone-wins
A Parent’s Guide To Mental Health For College Students
Talking with parents is something I rarely did when I began my job as a college psychiatrist twenty-five years ago. However, in response to students coming to my office with more complex problems and severe symptoms, I have tried to get parents involved with the hope of strengthening the student’s support system.
Before I call their parents, I have the student sign a release of information form. Then, I usually put their parents on speaker phone with the student in the room. I say something like:
“I recommend your daughter take antidepressants, but she thought you would be against this. I wanted to include you in the discussion as I think it’s important that she start medication, since her depression is making it hard for her to complete her school work. Let’s discuss your concerns and review the risks and benefits of medication.”
Or,
“Your son has been feeling overwhelmed by school and has stopped going to class. Sometimes he has thoughts of hurting himself. We are trying to decide if he should go home or enter the hospital. We wanted your feedback about what you think is best.”
Nowadays, I find myself having more conversations like these with the parents of my patients. While the college years have always been a time when mental health problems can emerge, the problems have escalated in the last seven years according to data from the American College Health Association (ACHA) survey. In the ACHA 2011 National College Health Assessment survey, 21% of college students were diagnosed with at least one mental health disorder, including 12% with anxiety and 11% with depression. By comparison the 2018 survey found 30% of college students were diagnosed with at least one mental health disorder in the last year, including 22% with anxiety and 18% with depression. This shows a significant increase and the need for more support for students, especially during times of increased stress.
So, what specific actions can parents take in the face of rising mental health problems? Can they teach their children coping skills to deal with extreme academic pressure? How do they recognize the difference between a sad mood and depression? Would they know what to say or do if their child expressed suicidal thoughts?
I answer these and other questions in my book, The Campus Cure: A Parent’s Guide to Mental Health and Wellness for College Students. The twelve chapters cover conditions like depression, anxiety, substance abuse and eating disorders; pressures like loneliness, perfectionism, cultural challenges and financial stress; and crises including suicidality, sexual assault and psychosis.
Each chapter tells the story of how a parent helped navigate their child’s journey of recovery. This book is my way of offering hope to parents who often feel overwhelmed and alone when their child struggles. It mentions NAMI and other groups that provide support and guidance to families.
Here are a few tips from the book for parents to prevent, respond to and treat common campus challenges. Remember the five Ts: Tell, Test, Teach, Talk, Take Action.
1. Tell Your Child They Can Come To You With Any Problem.
Your child may avoid sharing problems with you because they think they should be independent or they worry about burdening you. Explain that you can handle any problem they present to you. They can come to you day or night.
2. Test Their Academic Health By Checking Their End Of Semester Grades.
At the start of college, request your child sign a FERPA waiver form allowing you to view grades. I have seen students not tell parents that they are doing poorly or failing, thinking they should be able to solve academic problems on their own. When their grades continue to slide, they could develop symptoms of depression and anxiety. If you’re aware of their academic struggles early on, you can link your child to campus resources like advisors, tutors, professors, success coaches and therapists.
3. Teach Them How To Recognize Depression And Anxiety.
While many parents talk with their children about preventing drug abuse and sexual assault, they rarely educate them about depression and anxiety. You can teach your child the warning signs and that these are common and treatable conditions. With this knowledge, they may seek help more quickly.
4. Talk With Them More Often Or Visit If They Are In Distress.
Some students will inform their parents that they are in distress and ask for help, while other students won’t tell parents until the situation is more serious. Keep in touch by Skype or Facetime or another app, so you can both see their face and hear their voice. Make sure you visit your child in the fall of freshman year either at parents’ weekend or another time, since the first semester of college is a time of high stress. Ask about friends and how they like their classes. If they tell you they are in distress or if you suspect it, encourage them to speak with a counselor. You can also call more often or visit if you are concerned. A visit can provide them enough support to work through a problem and continue to keep up with schoolwork.
5. Take Action If Your Student Is Experiencing High-Risk Mental Health Concerns.
If your child is experiencing severe symptoms of mental illness such as suicidal thoughts or psychosis, it’s essential to ensure they’re actively engaged in treatment. Request they sign a release of information form allowing you to speak with their mental health provider. If you feel your child’s safety is at immediate risk, contact campus police, administration and mental health services.
I am grateful to the parents of the patients I have worked with over the years who have heroically stepped up when their child needed help. My wish is that the stories told in The Campus Curewill offer other parents the hope and skills to help their child’s recovery.
Marcia Morris, M.D. is the author of The Campus Cure: A Parent’s Guide to Mental Health and Wellness for College Students. She is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Program Director for Student Health Psychiatry at the University of Florida. Her college parenting blog appears in Psychology Today.
https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/December-2018/A-Parent-s-Guide-to-Mental-Health-for-College-Students
The science of spanking: What happens to some spanked kids when they grow up?
You know what the most annoying thing in the world is when you are a parent? Other people telling you what to do as if they know better.
Backseat parenting drives me crazy. Until I’m the one doing it. I have dear friends who spank their kids, and I always try to talk to them about the science of it. They always respond with, “I know what’s best for my kids, just like you know what’s best for yours.” Which is exactly what I’d say if someone told me that I was doing it wrong. Every kid is different. Every kid has their needs.
However, during those discussions, I’d say there is science that backs up doing something other than spanking. They’d always ask for specifics. I never had them. Until now. So here’s an infographic explaining what 36,000 people and 88 studies found.
The biggest takeaway for me? Even if you spank with control, discipline, and good intent, your kids are more likely to have depression and engage in aggressive behavior in adulthood.
For those of you who spank your kids, let me just declare: I am in no way attacking your parenting skills or blaming you for anything. Parenting is hard. I’ve wanted to spank my kids on numerous occasions. But learning about the science can help you in the future.
Maybe it’s what you grew up with. Maybe it’s what you have always known. But the science is hard to ignore. Take from it what you will, but just know I’m not here to judge you — I’m only here to ask you to consider an alternative.
I think we can all agree that we want what is best for our children.
https://www.upworthy.com/the-science-of-spanking-what-happens-to-some-spanked-kids-when-they-grow-up
How to Teach a Child About Being Grateful
Recently I received a question on Twitter: “Do you have any suggestions for teaching a preschooler appreciation for [a] gift given to him, even if he doesn’t like it?”
When a child says “please” and “thank you” during the early years (18 months to age 3), it’s pretty much a rote expression, automatic and mechanical. If you think about it, you probably had to prompt your child by saying, “What do you say?” so he would remember to express thanks. At that age, most young children don’t fully understand the social graces behind saying “please” and “thank you”; they just know they’re supposed to say them.
At around ages 4 to 6, when a child begins going through the developmental phases that ignite independence and assertiveness, is when refusing to say “thank you” can rear its head. Not saying “thank you” isn’t really about misbehaving, it’s more about the fact that the child doesn’t have a fully formed habit of saying “thank you” when he receives something he doesn’t like. They’re not old enough to understand all the complexities of using social graces. They need to be taught, without punishment, so they can learn.
4 Proactive Ways to Teach Appreciation
Teaching a child to be grateful, like most things in parenting, is not a one-shot deal; it’s an ongoing process. Most parents are embarrassed when their child doesn’t say “thank you,” and rightfully so. However, if all you do is correct and punish after your child hasn’t said “thank you,” then the teaching moment easily can become a power struggle, not a lesson.
- Model, model, and model some more. Let your kids hear you say “thank you” a lot. When you’re given a gift or someone does something nice for you, say “thank you.” Say “thank you” to the cashier or the dry cleaner. Let your child know that when normal things happen, you express gratitude.
- Point out details. Make a habit of pointing out the little details you like about things. Share what you like in the pictures they draw, and compliment how nicely they’re eating, how quickly they got dressed, and how they stopped what they were doing so they could listen to you. This not only builds rock-solid self-esteem, but it also helps a child understand how to pick out one detail he does like from a gift he didn’t like so he can genuinely say “thank you.” After all, no parent wants to hear, “Saying ‘thank you’ for something I hate is lying!”
- Donate. We had a rule in our house: about a week before each birthday or holiday, the kids had to survey their toys and clothes and pick out a few things to donate to those who were less fortunate. To avoid possible last-minute hesitation about giving something away that was theirs, the kids were in charge of packing up the stuff and I was in charge of delivery. We also made sure to praise them for their generosity so they could see how the whole process worked.
- Practice makes perfect. This is especially true when it comes to teaching appreciation. Give your child opportunities to do nice things for others in the family. This teaches him about learning to extend kindness and about receiving appreciation in return.
If your goal is to release a respectful, well-mannered child into the world, then please know that refusing to say “please” and “thank you” does come up over and over again as they age. If you’re embarrassed, try saying, “Please excuse her, we’re working on social graces, again.”
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, POPSUGAR.
https://www.popsugar.com/moms/How-Teach-Child-About-Being-Grateful-27334476
10 Dark Parenting Truths We Never Talk About
wo newly expectant parents recently asked my husband and me for advice about becoming parents. At first, we spoke to some of the lighter, more common truths about having babies—the sleepless hours, the blowout diapers, the potential relinquishing of one’s hours to rocking, holding, changing, cleaning, worrying, wearing pajamas, eating takeout and watching binge-worthy TV. (This last part isn’t so bad, so long as the baby isn’t wailing.)
For some reason—maybe because I love these two soon-to-be-parents, maybe because I was feeling especially reflective at that moment—I went deep, and fast, to some of the darker truths about raising children. I dove straight toward parenting’s ugly underbelly. To my surprise, instead of expressing fear and disgust, these two people thanked me for being so honest about these lesser-known realities of parenting.
And so I thought, perhaps my own dark parenting truths are ones that everyone should know.
1. You might regret becoming a parent
Few parents have the audacity or cruelty to admit this regret to their children, let alone speak these feelings out loud.
But I’d bet that many of us have felt fleeting tinges of regret. Those times when we’ve locked ourselves in the bathroom to cry. Those canceled plans and forgotten dreams. Those moments when we’ve wondered why the hell we wanted to commit to this whole child-rearing business in the first place.
2. You might like children less after you have children of your own
Once, in a college class discussion, I toyed with the idea of letting children run the world. They could make all our rules and solve all our problems, I thought, because they had a far better capacity for innocence and perfection and infinite love than adults did.
My professor then asked me, “Haven’t you ever read ‘Lord of the Flies’?”
She had a point.
It’s easy to cling to the myth of the innocence and perfection of childhood before you are a constant caretaker of children. My years of babysitting as a teenager and young adult did not prepare me for what I would discover as a parent. These days, I know that children are neither innocent nor perfect. They are, perhaps, less flawed than adults. But they are still fundamentally flawed.
For the most part, I only want to be around the flaws—the snot, the whining, the capriciousness, the meltdowns, the jealousy—of my own children, and maybe a few select others. All the rest can just stay home. Or at least stay only for a very, very short playdate.
3. You might lose friends
Parenthood disassembles and reconfigures your life in a way that few other events or experiences can.
Like puzzle pieces, some friends still fit after that initial reconfiguration. Some don’t fit until much later, far beyond those early chaotic years. Others never quite find their way back into your life.
Becoming a parent has fashioned both a mirror and a magnifying glass in front of me.
4. You might give up pieces of yourself that you once loved
No one has it all. No mother. No father. No person. All of life involves sacrifice, and parenting always demands its share of it.
It’s like those friends who stay, or return, or never come back at all. Some dreams and passions and loves stay even after the babies are born. Some return. Others don’t.
5. You might find parenting unfulfilling
In fact, I would argue that parenting is not completely fulfilling for anyone—nor should it be. Our children’s lives cannot and should not consume our own (much as they might devour our time and attention). Our children are not and should not be viewed as extensions of ourselves.
Parenting can fill one with love and wonder and joy. But it cannot take the place of all the other possible loves and wonders and joys in the world.
6. You might one day feel as if your child is a stranger
It might be that first time they utter, “I hate you.” The moments when they disappoint you. The realization that they have gone off and developed friends of their own, interests of their own, ideas of their own. Sometimes the strangeness is quite beautiful. Other times, it’s frightening.
7. You might face hard, impossible truths about your own parents
Becoming a parent has fashioned both a mirror and a magnifying glass in front of me. I can see in sharper focus all the mistakes that my own parents made when I was a child. But I can also see myself making some of those same mistakes, and new mistakes of my own, now that I am a parent.
My heart breaks when my children walk out the door without me.
8. You might understand, for the first time, horrific things
A new mother once confided in me that she never understood how people could shake babies until she had a crying, inconsolable baby of her own.
I never understood what she meant until, years later, when I had a baby of my own. Red-stippled eyes, leaking breasts, my own tears like tributaries feeding into a river of my newborn’s snot and saliva. I felt the urge to throw things, to scream, and, yes, to shake.
As I set my baby down in his crib and cried my way out into the hallway, I thought of parents who had less support, less security. Less of an ability to stop, set the baby down and walk away.
“There but for the grace of God go I,” I thought.
9. You might feel true, blinding rage toward your flesh and blood
Audre Lorde once described motherhood as the “suffering of ambivalence: the murderous alternation between bitter resentment and raw edged nerves, and blissful gratification and tenderness.”
I feel this ambivalence nearly every day of my life.
10. Your heart might break, every day, forever
My heart breaks when my children walk out the door without me. It breaks when I think of all I cannot protect them from. It breaks when I consider how I would be destroyed if I were to lose them.
My heart breaks with love for them. And it’s a different, darker, deeper, more flawed and more broken love than I ever imagined before I had children.
https://mom.me/baby/26774-10-darker-parenting-truths-every-person-should-know/
Raising Children With Mental Illness
My kids are all adopted from foster care. I got my girls when they were five and six, and my son came when he was seven. They all came from abusive or neglectful pasts and have struggled with their mental health since before they first stood on my doorstep. And before you ask: Yes, I had been fully prepped on their family histories before I adopted them.
My son’s official diagnosis is Disruptive and Dysregulated Mood Disorder with PTSD flashbacks. He has a family history of schizophrenia and had been severely abused by his birth family. Last year, a prank pulled on him by another boy triggered horrible memories that my son’s mind had locked away. Now, he hallucinates. He dissociates. He hears voices.
I remember sitting in a counselor’s office, staring intently at a picture on the wall as my son told the counselor about the voices he heard and the things he saw that I knew didn’t exist. My son talked about a hand that came over our car and a shadow that came out of his bedroom wall. I tried so hard to concentrate on the picture so I wouldn’t cry. It didn’t work. When the tears began to roll down my face, I was careful not to make a sound. The counselor noticed, so he spoke reassuringly to me, “A lot of things can make a person see things that are not there.”
My son explained how hard it is for him to determine that these things aren’t real, because they feel real to him. He just wanted them to stop. The counselor thanked my son for telling him about what happened and told him he believed him. We went from the counselor’s office to the psychiatrist’s office, where my son had to tell the story again. I never realized how tired you can get from just listening. I was exhausted, and nothing was even happening to me.
Sometimes, I try to imagine what my son is going through, and I wonder if I could get up the next day if I were him. I honestly don’t know. My children are the strongest people I know. They keep going, despite anything and everything that tries to stop them. And I do my very best to help as their mother.
Lessons To Follow
Raising children with mental health conditions is challenging. Patience can wear thin, because you want your child to do the things you need them to do. Frustration can leak into your communication. Walls can go up. Instead of loving each other, you feel like you’re at war.
When I really examined my frustrations, I noticed a lot of my anger came from a place of shame. I wanted my kids to act “appropriately” in public. When they didn’t, I would get frustrated. I cared more about what others thought of me than what my children thought of me—but that was getting my family nowhere. It especially wasn’t helping my children and their recovery.
If you’re a parent raising children with mental illness, I want more than anything for you not to make the same mistakes I made. So here are some of the most crucial lessons I’ve learned about supporting a child experiencing mental illness:
• A diagnosis provides a roadmap to recovery. How can you start on a journey if you don’t know your first step? Understanding your child’s diagnosis is critical. This knowledge can help you find ways to cope. For example, my son went through psychological testing after his
first suicide attempt. His symptoms had impaired his thinking so much that he lost three grade levels of reading comprehension. That was crushing to hear, since we had spent several years working to overcome his reading disability. But having him tested gave us a game plan.
• Open communication is key. Make sure you’re not shutting off communication before you give your child a chance to explain how they feel. Don’t come to any conversation with the idea that you already know all the answers or how to fix everything. If we took all the energy we initially spend as parents trying to “fix” our children who live with mental illness and instead focused that energy on understanding them, we would get them the right help faster. It’s amazing the answers you can get and the solutions you can come up with together if you first start conversations with respect and empathy.
• Care for yourself, too. It’s called self-care. When I first heard about it, I laughed. When do I have time for that? I’m a single parent. I work all day and then my kids need me. But what kind of “me” do they need? A healthy one, a happy one, a supportive one. So, plan time for yourself. Find an outlet. Find support. I love walking, blasting music when I drive by myself, writing, painting, gardening and anything that reminds me I am alive. I now know that the best parents are like flight attendants: If we hit rough patch and the oxygen masks drop, put your own mask on first before you help anyone else.
• A family crisis plan is crucial. I learned in NAMI Family-to-Family that a mental health crisis plan needs to be in place before your family is in crisis. So, on a calm day, I asked each of my kids what we should we do if we have another mental health crisis. Their responses, to this day, are some of the most insightful and caring suggestions I have ever heard. My oldest daughter wanted consequences for someone not following family rules or hurting others. My middle daughter wanted us to “talk things out if things get bad.” My son’s contribution was that he wanted everyone to be kind. It’s funny; as parents, we have the answers if we just ask questions and listen.
Be The Reason Your Child Gets Help
Acceptance is the first step for a person’s mental health recovery. Self-acceptance is important, but just as important is receiving acceptance from loved ones. Accepting your child’s condition doesn’t mean that you aren’t scared. It just means that you see the problem for what it is—not the person as being the problem. We must accept and believe our loved ones to start getting them help. If we don’t, we run the risk of being the reason they don’t get help.
We can’t discount or ignore our loved ones’ thoughts, feelings and behaviors just because we don’t understand them or wish they were different. We have to do better than that. We need to seek to understand their reality. We need to truly listen to what they say. Do not listen to speak or refute, but listen to understand.
As parents, we must be open. We must be open to all there is to learn—even when something scares us. If we are open, then those living with mental illness (including our own children) have a chance. How many people are out there right now feeling alone, struggling with the fear of rejection from the ones they love because they hear voices or see hallucinations? How many are alone and feeling lost, but are more afraid of losing the ones they love than dealing with their mental anguish?
I remember thinking how simple and matter-of-fact my son’s counselor was when he said those three simple words, “I believe you.” I also remember how relieved my son seemed after he heard them. Odds are, your children won’t go to a counselor when they first feel something isn’t quite right. They’ll come to you. So please, stay open and believe them. Believe them so they don’t have to be alone. Believe them so they can get help. Believing may save their lives.
Melinda Cook is a 43-year-old single parent of three. Before she became a foster mother, she worked for a shelter for abused women and children. She is now a Certified Family Support Partner through the Department of Health and Welfare for The Family Resource Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho, a local counseling company. She began writing about her son’s experiences to help others and writes a blog at myfamilyunbottled.weebly.com.
https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/October-2018/Raising-Children-with-Mental-Illness
An Important Conversation With My Mom
July is Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, and I wanted to take this opportunity to explore a particularly difficult season in my life: the years my mom served time.
As a quick background, my mom has always been as much of a friend as a mother, and before this period we spoke every day. The years she spent incarcerated were intensified by my severe depression and overeating disorder, but we’ve never fully talked about how they impacted one another. I thought now would be the right time to have that conversation:
DeWanda: Let’s start with logistics because my memory is the worst. What were the dates of your incarceration?
Mom: I was sentenced on July 2, 2008 and went straight to first Howard County Detention Center. I was transferred to the MCIW (MD Correctional Institute for Women) on July 20 and was there until April 20, 2010.
D: It felt so much longer in my head. Do you remember your first day? How did you feel?
M: The very first day was when I went to court for the sentencing. I was told that I needed to be prepared that they might not allow me to return home that day. The lawyer was right because I was told I was being given seven years out of a 15-year maximum. At that moment, I was silent, I felt numb, nauseated and like I was going to faint. They took me out of the courtroom in handcuffs after the judge spoke and to a cold room with cement floors, a single steel commode and a sink. There was also a cot. I felt dizzy and like I had just lost a loved one to death so I lied on the cot in the fetal position, pulled a blanket over me and immediately cried myself to sleep.
D: I can’t believe I never asked you that before. I think I must have been somewhere doing the same. I was in-between living situations then, couch-hopping with my friends, but I never felt more alone in my life.What would you say was your main coping mechanism during your time at MCIM? I mentioned mine was food. (Spoiler alert: It did not make me feel better.)
M: My coping mechanism became an obsession with reading lots of books. I would isolate myself during times when I could’ve been out mingling and talking to other people in the recreation area. I instead would hide in my room and read. I read and slept all the time. The other ways to cope was that I volunteered to clean up the entire tier of our living quarters as many nights as I possibly could. I cleaned the hallways, the main area and the shower stalls. I was constantly cleaning my cell (which all my cellmates loved). That went on until one day I finally decided to volunteer to help in the Chaplains office in which I ended up directing the choir, teaching people how to sing properly in a choir and helping to teach the new believers classes.
I basically spent the first month feeling sorry for myself and tried to do nothing but sit there and read. When I got over that phase I substituted it with being constantly busy so I’d be too tired to do anything but sleep when I did lay down. It also made the time go so much faster being busy.
D: So, it seems safe to say that faith played a significant part of how you spent your time. Me too, I was attending Redeemer then, and praying with my Bible study group about everything. I also worked on that play, “In the Continuum” down in North Carolina. My character, Abigail, was a woman of great faith too. It was the first time you had ever missed a performance. What else do you feel like you missed out on during your time?
M: I was worried about you because I didn’t know if you had jobs enough to have sufficient income. I didn’t really feel like I was missing anything because life {outside} had become so hectic and stressful that I just needed to lay down somewhere. It probably helped me to get to the point where I don’t have to go places as much as I used to.
D: You’ve always been the glass-half-full type. Yeah, I was miraculously fine. I remember coming to get you for Great-Grandma’s funeral and making sure they released you. That was a little light in the midst of things. I still feel bad about getting married while you were away, but I guess I thought you wouldn’t want me to stop living.
M: I was in no way offended about you getting married cause look at what a great husband you got. We ain’t want Alano to get away.
D: You’re too funny! This conversation is good. I’m over here crying.
M: Don’t cry! It’s over now and I actually got to help others which also helped me get through it. I saw other people who had to be on depression medication all the time while I was there. I have never been diagnosed as depressed but I supposed OCD is a problem.
D: Statistics regarding incarcerated women and mental health are pretty staggering.
M: Oh, wow!
D: OCD is definitely a thing—under-eating makes people feel like they’re in control, even if the food is gross.
M: I never really knew what that was; I just know I have to do something when I’m stressed.
D: Any lasting thoughts you’d like to leave with the NAMI community?
M: Yes. Get up every day and write a list of all the good things and blessings that you have. It helps to create a more positive mood for the rest of the day. The more we focus on the good things and also remember that someone else may have a harder time than we are experiencing, it keeps it all in perspective. Also, don’t be afraid to tell others how you are really feeling the next time someone asks, “How are you?” It makes all the difference in the world if you have someone who you know genuinely cares. Try to be that person for someone else and see what a difference it will make in your life.
DeWanda Wise is an actress whose work includes roles on Fox event series, Shots Fired, and the critically acclaimed series, Underground. She resides in California with her husband and the best cat in the world, Rascal.
https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/July-2017/An-Important-Conversation-with-My-Mom
