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Mental Illness: The long road to recovery
By MATTHEW HUISMAN
Jim Springer has battled bouts of depression since he was in high school and he never understood what it was. In March 2007 at the age of 68, he was diagnosed with bipolar and things started to make sense.
“I never realized it,” Springer said.
His swings of depression almost lost him his wife. Now, through the help of support groups and medication, Springer is able to deal with his illness and minimize the impact it has upon his life.
“If you know what your problem is,” he said, “you can do something about it.”
Springer added that the diagnosis also helped his family understand the difficulties he faced and made it easier to support each other.
“If you don’t know what’s wrong with you,” Springer said, “people around you can’t understand what’s happening.”
Springer didn’t realize that his constant battles with depression might be caused by a mental illness. It can take some people their entire lives to realize they have a mental illness. For others it can be apparent at a young age.
Andrea Szabo’s son was diagnosed with bipolar at age 6, and she struggled for a couple of years before trying to get an accurate diagnosis. Psychiatrist after psychiatrist diagnosed her son with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. She said that the medication would make her son’s episodes more violent and led to more suffering for her and her son.
Finally, Szabo’s son was diagnosed with bipolar and after balancing his medication, she said she started to notice improved results.
“It suddenly made things more understandable,” Szabo said. “You want to help your child and yet you don’t know what’s wrong. You feel helpless and hopeless.”
After learning about her son’s diagnosis, she read up on the illness and learned what causes her son’s episodes and techniques that parents can use to diffuse a situation. Szabo explained that during adolescent years, the brain of a child with bipolar produces excess chemicals, causing different feelings.
The medication, she said, helps to reduce the chemical imbalance, but needs constant monitoring due to the changes her son will undergo in the coming years.
“An amazing peace comes over you to take a proactive role in research,” Szabo said.
For her son, a mixture of medication, proper parenting and love help him lead a normal life.
“The most important thing with a child or a family member is unconditional love,” Szabo said. “Understand that their behavior is a symptom of their disorder.”
Szabo’s son takes medication three times and she also carries additional medication just as backup in case something should happen. For her son and anyone else suffering from bipolar disorder, medication is essential to recovery.
The costs of those medications, however, can often leave people struggling to make ends meet. Szabo said her son’s medication costs $1,000 a month and despite having health insurance there are oftentimes loopholes that don’t cover prescriptions for mental disorders.
“If you have parents that don’t have the resources, I wonder how they can best help their children,” she said.
Springer is more fortunate. His prescriptions are covered under his wife’s health insurance. Additionally, since the two medications he uses are generic versions, they only cost him $5.
“Some people are not taking their medication because it is too costly,” Springer said. “It can be very costly if you don’t have insurance.”
In addition to medication, group therapy or simply creating a discussion about the disease can help survivors, families and outsiders better understand a disease that is all too common, yet rarely discussed.
Springer used to be a counseling facilitator for Depression Bipolar Support Alliance in Spring. After a while, Springer said he could no longer lead the discussions.
“You feel responsible for the people you are trying to facilitate,” he said. “I take on the feelings that they have.”
Despite no longer being a facilitator for the group, Springer still occasionally attends sessions with his wife.
“I’m grateful I have the support I have,” Springer said. “I don’t know what people do without support.”
For Szabo, breaking the stigma surrounding the disease is the key to understanding by the community.
“If more people came out and talked about this, it wouldn’t be as misunderstood,” Szabo said. “You cannot be ashamed and hide from it.”
In the final article on mental illness, The Observer will be talking with two survivors, one who has struggled with bipolar for most of her life and another who faces it daily with her adult son.
DEPRESSION BIPOLAR SUPPORT ALLIANCE
www.dbsahouston.org
713-600-1131
NATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESS METROPOLITAN HOUSTON
www.namimetrohouston.org
713-970-3455
“I never realized it,” Springer said.
His swings of depression almost lost him his wife. Now, through the help of support groups and medication, Springer is able to deal with his illness and minimize the impact it has upon his life.
“If you know what your problem is,” he said, “you can do something about it.”
Springer added that the diagnosis also helped his family understand the difficulties he faced and made it easier to support each other.
“If you don’t know what’s wrong with you,” Springer said, “people around you can’t understand what’s happening.”
Springer didn’t realize that his constant battles with depression might be caused by a mental illness. It can take some people their entire lives to realize they have a mental illness. For others it can be apparent at a young age.
Andrea Szabo’s son was diagnosed with bipolar at age 6, and she struggled for a couple of years before trying to get an accurate diagnosis. Psychiatrist after psychiatrist diagnosed her son with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. She said that the medication would make her son’s episodes more violent and led to more suffering for her and her son.
Finally, Szabo’s son was diagnosed with bipolar and after balancing his medication, she said she started to notice improved results.
“It suddenly made things more understandable,” Szabo said. “You want to help your child and yet you don’t know what’s wrong. You feel helpless and hopeless.”
After learning about her son’s diagnosis, she read up on the illness and learned what causes her son’s episodes and techniques that parents can use to diffuse a situation. Szabo explained that during adolescent years, the brain of a child with bipolar produces excess chemicals, causing different feelings.
The medication, she said, helps to reduce the chemical imbalance, but needs constant monitoring due to the changes her son will undergo in the coming years.
“An amazing peace comes over you to take a proactive role in research,” Szabo said.
For her son, a mixture of medication, proper parenting and love help him lead a normal life.
“The most important thing with a child or a family member is unconditional love,” Szabo said. “Understand that their behavior is a symptom of their disorder.”
Szabo’s son takes medication three times and she also carries additional medication just as backup in case something should happen. For her son and anyone else suffering from bipolar disorder, medication is essential to recovery.
The costs of those medications, however, can often leave people struggling to make ends meet. Szabo said her son’s medication costs $1,000 a month and despite having health insurance there are oftentimes loopholes that don’t cover prescriptions for mental disorders.
“If you have parents that don’t have the resources, I wonder how they can best help their children,” she said.
Springer is more fortunate. His prescriptions are covered under his wife’s health insurance. Additionally, since the two medications he uses are generic versions, they only cost him $5.
“Some people are not taking their medication because it is too costly,” Springer said. “It can be very costly if you don’t have insurance.”
In addition to medication, group therapy or simply creating a discussion about the disease can help survivors, families and outsiders better understand a disease that is all too common, yet rarely discussed.
Springer used to be a counseling facilitator for Depression Bipolar Support Alliance in Spring. After a while, Springer said he could no longer lead the discussions.
“You feel responsible for the people you are trying to facilitate,” he said. “I take on the feelings that they have.”
Despite no longer being a facilitator for the group, Springer still occasionally attends sessions with his wife.
“I’m grateful I have the support I have,” Springer said. “I don’t know what people do without support.”
For Szabo, breaking the stigma surrounding the disease is the key to understanding by the community.
“If more people came out and talked about this, it wouldn’t be as misunderstood,” Szabo said. “You cannot be ashamed and hide from it.”
In the final article on mental illness, The Observer will be talking with two survivors, one who has struggled with bipolar for most of her life and another who faces it daily with her adult son.
DEPRESSION BIPOLAR SUPPORT ALLIANCE
www.dbsahouston.org
713-600-1131
NATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESS METROPOLITAN HOUSTON
www.namimetrohouston.org
713-970-3455
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