A Curse

People who are visually impaired know what it is like to live in perpetual darkness. Only people who have suffered a mental disorder really understand the pain, the frustration, the feeling of utter loss, the stigma, the loneliness and sadness that mental illness brings to the patient as well as to his/her family.

The stigma evolves because people reject things that they do not understand.

As a mother of a son with a mental illness, I had to learn a lot about life; and I did. I learned to accept things that cannot be changed even though it took a long time. It taught me to respect people who respected me in return. It taught me to be more empathetic and most of all, living with schizophrenia taught me the value of drawing strength from within.

Let’s all give or help find employment for a person whose mental illness has been brought under control. Let’s try and understand any person suffering from any kind of mental illness. They are in pain and need all the support that they can muster.