I am SO grateful for those who will speak out about their experiences! We must get rid of the stigma so people can be treated effectively.
I wanted to comment from the other side. For those who are watching their kids deal with mental illness and the stress and heartbreak that comes with it, I was once, many many years ago, that kid. DXed at 15 with what is now called bipolar 1. It has been more than 30 years and I am now the parent of a S16 and an S20. Those early years are so hard. So very very hard. But as the medications get better, and as your kids learn how to understand and deal with their illness, life improves. While mental illness never goes away. Life can get back to normal. It can take years. But for many of us, who were seen as impossible cases (special education classes, hospitalizations, so many medication trials) there are good years ahead.
Mental illness is a journey. There are days (months, years) where everything is fine and then bam, everything is not. For me, it took a good 20 years before I felt that I was in control of my illness and not the other way around. Medication compliant since 2005 yet DXed in 1983. That is how these things go.
@MaineLonghorn it sounds like your son is taking control of his illness. This is a huge step and the NAMI programs are really helpful for others, so good for him. He is still young and has a ways to go, I imagine. Hopefully, one day he will look around and feel life suddenly just fall into place.
In case anyone has a child (or if you are a student) with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder look into the scholarship from the Center for Reintegration. I was awarded around $90,000 in tuition over the course of my PhD program. http://www.reintegration.com/scholarship-program/
Good luck to your son @MaineLonghorn
ML- Hugely powerful. Thank you for sharing. May your son continue to see the value of life, and continue to find the strength to fight for his moments of joy and peace. Blessings to you all.
ML: I add my voice to those thanking you, and especially your son, for sharing this. His words are powerful and moving. Adding light to the darkness of mental illness is so critical and I thank him (and you) for working so hard to show there is hope and that this is nothing to be ashamed of.
A beautiful piece of writing. Clearly he is an impressive, courageous young man. Thanks for sharing this.
Thank you ML. Very inspiring. I want to pass on your story. It’s so good for kids to know they are not alone.
Thank you for sharing your son’s words. He is tremendously impressive, in his ability to reflect and sharehis experiences. Brain chemistry can be a terrifying thing, and your son does a beautiful job talking about how he has managed through the challenges. I have always appreciated your matter-of-factness in sharing your children’s challenges, it goes a long way in demystifying mental illness and removing the stigma from a diagnosis.
Thank you @MaineLonghorn for sharing your son’s outlook. Please convey our thanks to your son for reliving those hard days for analyzing and articulating them so well for so many others. He is blessed to have loving, supporting Grandparents and family members like you. Wish him a continued recovery…
What in incredible son you have. So bright and well-spoken. Really fascinating to hear firsthand descriptions of what this mental illness is like. I only wish him all of the best in the future. G-D bless him and your family.
Thank you for sharing this! Mental illness is very real and needs to be talked about.
Thank you for sharing, ML. My family, as well as friends’ families, have been touched by mental illness. Hearing it from the point of view of the person struggling with the illness is enlightening.
Thank you so very much for sharing
My son’s two talks today went really well. The first time was for a group of social work students. One of the other two speakers is a man about 40 years older than DS. He started having symptoms in his late teens. Although he was quickly hospitalized SEVEN times in the first few years, he was not diagnosed correctly as having bipolar disorder until he was 35! He was a math major like DS. So they are similar in a lot of ways, including having a supportive family, but the difference in care they received was startling. I think things have improved in the last 40 years, fortunately!
The second time was for a very small group of people at the local NAMI meeting. One of our old friends showed up unexpectedly. 
DS spoke clearly and slowly, and answered questions well. In the past, group settings such as this were so painful that he would start panicking. So we were really pleased that he spoke so well and comfortably. He said he hopes he can keep speaking! Afterwards, we took him out for Mexican food. Such a nice day with him.
Congratulations again to your son, @MaineLonghorn.
Congratulations to your son, on his two talks!
I’m happy to read this. Mental illness is just so hard to manage, it’s nice to hear from someone who has learned to live with it.
So glad to hear that he is doing well. And it is wonderful that he has had the support of Shalom House. There is so little of that kind of help available, and so much demand.
This past year yet another family I know has experienced a bright and promising college-age child being diagnosed as bipolar. They have been forced to drive to another state on a weekly basis for their child to get care covered by insurance. 10 hours of driving.
This past Saturday, while a memorial service was going on at our church, a young man, probably in his 20s, stripped down to his underpants and, screaming and raving, painted an obscenity-laced message about evil, selfishness, and money on the broad, granite front steps of our historic church. He used a gallon jug of red paint and a brand new brush. Then he sat down in the center of the top step and ranted some more, still in his underpants. It was about 30F, max. Several 911 calls were made, eventually the police picked him up walking down Congress Street, still in his underwear I gather. We had to press charges in order to get an order restraining him from trespassing, so that we can have him removed if he returns. We can only hope that if he does return, it isn’t with a gun. This is what happens when the major provider of care and housing for mentally ill people is jail. He someone’s son, and god only knows what they have gone through and will go through. The best we can hope for is that he will be involuntarily hospitalized for a week or two.
It is a shame and a disgrace.
@Consolation A one or two week hospitalization is a luxury . Unless someone is imminently dangerous to themselves or others ( pretty much homicidal or suicidal with a specific plan) they may or may not be placed on an involuntary hold for 72 hrs. Then , they are released or sign themselves into a hospital voluntarily. Once they are stable , they are released with little or no community resources in place. I do agree it is a disgrace . I am hard pressed to identify any other medical illness that is treated with such disregard . Hopefully education will help rectify the problem . It will take more people like @MaineLonghorn 's son to put a face on mental illness. Too may people view mentally ill people as raving lunatics or people who need to “suck it up”. Until they see mentally ill people as someone’s son, daughter, mother, father or friend , the problem will continue.
@Consolation, I volunteer at our local youth detention facility every month. I’ve talked to a couple of people there (chaplain and guard), and they both estimated that 40% of the kids incarcerated there have a mental illness and really shouldn’t be in jail, but getting help for their condition.
There’s Mexican food in Maine???