19 Despite its difficulties, bipolar disorder has some
benefits. In A First-Rate Madness (Penguin Books, 2012), psychiatry professor Nassir Ghaemi suggests that people with bipolar disorder oſten have enhanced cre- ativity, a realistic sense of their immediate environment, enhanced leadership skills, resilience and increased productivity and focus. Many of these traits have helped me mediate the
more challenging times. Today I have an incredible relationship with God, my mental health team, friends and family; a job of eight years that I love; a comfortable and peaceful home; and a calling to reduce the stigma of mental illness.
Soap doesn’t work In the film Reach for Me, a character dying from cancer declares: “It’s hard to find a soap that works on death.” Likewise, it’s hard to find a soap that works on mental illness. It can’t simply be washed away. As Lutherans, we need to recognize that we all have
things at which we are spectacular and things with which we struggle. We all have to adapt to be successful. More than that, I sometimes have to ask others to adapt, just as someone with blindness might need assistance on uneven terrain. Tat’s not shameful; it just is. We all have a choice to make when it comes to our
willingness to struggle alongside people with unique needs. While we may give a few dollars to a homeless person or hold the door for someone with a physical disability, those with mental illness can be more difficult to recognize. Overcoming that invisibility requires open, Christ-like conversation about mental illness to ease the stigma and begin treating mental illness like any other medical condition. Psalm 19:12-13 speaks of innocence despite our sins,
all of which we cannot discern. It also asks for forgiveness of our hidden faults and humility in our future actions. What had been my trek through undiagnosed bipolar
disorder and suicide is now my journey to innocence. It’s a walk where each mile represents new lessons from God’s word, an ever developing relationship with Christ and a future of faith. A Christian radio
Author bio: Karch is a senior epide- miologist with the federal government in Atlanta. She worships at Christ the Lord Lutheran Church,
Lawrenceville, Ga. 20
www.thelutheran.org
personality talk- ing about recovery summed it up well: “Once you were sick and now you are well, and there is work to do.”
What we can do
By Bob Mitchell I
t hit me hardest when the counselor told my wife and I that we would need a psychiatrist’s help for our child. Can’t we talk just a little longer? What did I do wrong?
Should we tell family, friends and neighbors? What is my child thinking? How will this impact her self-confi- dence, options for school and career, and a future family of her own? Mental illnesses, mental disorders, and suicidal
thoughts or actions are uncomfortable discussion top- ics for congregations and society. We oſten fear (and distance ourselves from) things we don’t understand. Sometimes we even blame those for whom we should care.
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