By: T.D. Dickinson

As someone who has suffered, defeated, battled, and lived harmoniously with bipolar disorder, I have faced many challenges that those who do not suffer in the mind face.  Having a mental diagnosis has proven more as a scarlet letter of sorts for many who are faced with same challenges as I.  Facing life with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder often leads to a societal “label” of “crazy”. It has been within these labels, are the misunderstood put in real danger-danger of losing self, of losing freedom, of losing basic human rights and respect.

For centuries, society has attacked the mental health crisis by using brute force to keep mental health patients imprisoned against their will.  Families and friends would often commit their loved ones to these facilities, full of faith - expecting a miraculous recovery.  Other confused individuals would commit their loved ones simply out of fear.  

You see, most people of Earth’s earlier days associated mental disturbances with demonic spirits or demonic possession.  Because an entire planet refused to acknowledge mental health as a true medical disorder, families would often abandon their mentally ill relatives at asylums, while others lost custody of their loved ones, in search of this miraculous recovery of the mind. 

 The walls of torture in these asylums began to overpopulate, making way for yet another violation of one’s human rights.  Who could blame these families, as they were not privy to the amount of technology, research, and medical advancements at our disposal as of today.  

The American government and many other organized governments treated these citizens like wild animals, stripping these patients of every right owed to them as Human.  Most living beings are driven by fear, especially of the unknown.  Not truly understanding mental illness, human beings were tortured in so many ways in these facilities.  Torture in some form or fashion continues today, and just like the past, the discrimination extends outward within the community.  This is largely due to the stigma mental health has been given throughout history, all the way till today.  

History is well documented with hospital staff members bounding patients’ hands, sometimes dislocating their shoulders, restraining them with straightjackets.  Some orderlies became sexual predators to male and female patients that lacked the ability to consent.

  The mental health community, physicians and patients alike, have had a negative stigma throughout history.  It has taken over two thousand years to achieve humanity’s highest level of acceptance regarding accepting and respecting those who suffer in the mind.  We have many generations ahead of us to wipe away America’s debilitating nature to discriminate based on those who are different than the majority.

  Being hospitalized for your mental health is like being punished and/or imprisoned for simply being asthmatic.  Most times in history, a trip to the asylum was a life sentence for being ill.  Even to this very day, our government could hold a patient for an undisclosed amount of time for any reason that they deem unfit for society due to mental instability.  

This one is for all people struggling with their mental health becoming their very own weapon of mass destruction. 

It is time to live authentically, going throughout life truly not caring what others may think or feel about us.  This is when the scarlet letter of any label simply falls off.

I hope my books and the fact that I can write them, publish them, and market them all with a disability instill hope.  I have given up before, so to all those out there who may have given up, may this be your last day hopeless.  

There are limited resources out there to help people truly support those suffering and struggling with mental health and all that a diagnosis or label comes with.  To succeed in life with or without a diagnosis, 

We must have a strong support system

 I would suggest to all of us misunderstood individuals that we find a creative outlet so that we do not suffer in silence.  It is my hope that through my willingness to share my struggles openly, I hope this helps another person’s family understand them better.

This is not just an issue that threatens a person suffering in the mind’s freedom, but there is a risk of safety associated with mental illness and those who prey on the week.  From the beginning of time, there has been a battle of good vs evil, light vs dark.  Suffering in the mind leaves a person wide open for those individuals who prey on the meek.  Supporting someone who is misunderstood takes courage, tough skin, and a heart of pure gold, or at least purple and gold.  Thank you to all Earth Angels who battle through for their loved ones.

This is not just an American issue, as countries around the world have suffered far greater and much longer than the youngest civilization on this planet. Playing catch up in true American style, every state in America was granted permission to detain any mental health issue for any reason and for God knows how long.  There was a woman by the name of Sonya Massey, who recently lost her life due to fearing the unknown, right in the state of Illinois.  This mother and daughter had a history of mental illness and due to stigma from society and continual judgement from those put in position to protect her, even from herself, Sonya lost her life on that fatal evening at the hands of law enforcement.

Prejudice and Discrimination all play a vital role in how those who are being judged are treated. There was a woman by the name of Sandra Bland from the state of Texas, who was found hung to death in a jail cell after being detained for three days for simple traffic violation.  This young sister took her life just three days of being incarcerated after having been brutally assaulted by officers on said traffic violation.  Bland’s death gained national attention and sparked radical changes in standard operating procedures of simple violations such as minor traffic infractions.

History’s mental sufferers were not so blessed to have someone pave the way to shine a light on an issue that has plagued society for centuries. Most residents of the asylums’ past lived out the rest of their days, captured not just by the four walls that confined them, but of their own minds. 

Asylums were also notorious for corruption, holding and drugging a few patients who weren’t clinically ill at all.

It can be difficult to manage activities of daily living, even with a support system.  Imagine the mental wall built by those who have little to no one to help them learn how to lie independently.

I began writing books to help better communicate my feelings to my loved ones, as me, myself, and I had become a prisoner of my very own mind, held captive by FEAR.

It was FAITH that freed me from the confines of negativity, and through writing I began to forgive others and most importantly, I began to heal myself and finally set out on this journey called life, armored with LOVE.