Post by Admin on Sept 8, 2020 18:44:04 GMT
Personally Speaking: Take mental illness seriously
By Olachi Tiffany Etoh
www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/fixing-the-system/features-and-news/4319-personally-speaking-take-mental-illness-seriously
“When I finally received treatment for my mental illness at a hospital, I was gifted with the insight I needed to be in control of my mental illness, instead of my mental illness in control of me. I was put on the right medication, an anti-psychotic, which has had the biggest impact on my recovery. I intend to take this medication for the rest of my life, as the management of my disorder will indeed be a lifelong commitment.”
“Personally Speaking: Take mental illness seriously
The first thing that appears when you Google my name is a picture of my mugshot from when I was arrested and charged with aggravated kidnapping in 2014.
To me, the mugshot represents an image of instability—as I was struggling to control my bipolar disorder during that time. The picture will follow me everywhere, although my symptoms of the illness have long been in remission.Dartmouth
Before the incident that resulted in my mugshot, I wasn’t thinking about the damage my illness could cause to me personally or to anyone outside of it. I was working at a Fortune 500 company, trying to climb my way to the top, without realizing the scope of my mental illness or giving it the attention that it needed. I took medication but didn’t think I needed to do anything else to manage my bipolar disorder.
In 2014, I found myself at the Chicago O’Hare airport after wandering the streets for weeks while hallucinating and delusional. I was having a “breakthrough episode,” which the doctors described to me as a trauma, where the symptoms of the illness breakthrough the barriers of medication. Although I had taken Lithium faithfully, my symptoms of bipolar disorder emerged, captivating my mind, my sense of stability and my knowledge of right and wrong.
After wandering through the airport and trying to buy a plane ticket to my hometown, I hallucinated gunshots. Hearing the explosions, I attempted to carry a child that was not my own to safety in the midst of what I thought was a mass shooting. This took place in a matter of moments, mere seconds. My mind shuddered to black. I then wandered the airport to a Starbucks, where I was later arrested and charged with aggravated kidnapping.
I needed a hospital and treatment, but I was thrown in jail where I hallucinated for a year straight while awaiting trial without comprehensive treatment. I was later found not guilty by reason of insanity.
On most days I am hopeful for the future, although I will always be remorseful about what I did and for the anguish I caused the child and its family at O’Hare. When I finally received treatment for my mental illness at a hospital, I was gifted with the insight I needed to be in control of my mental illness, instead of my mental illness in control of me. I was put on the right medication, an anti-psychotic, which has had the biggest impact on my recovery. I intend to take this medication for the rest of my life, as the management of my disorder will indeed be a lifelong commitment.
I am currently still dealing with the fall-out of my actions and still tied to the criminal justice and mental health care systems. I wouldn’t wish this on any sufferer of serious mental illness.
I implore all those who read this to take mental illness seriously and find help and resources before you’re thrown into an unforgiving system that doesn’t know whether it provides recovery or incarceration. One transgression in the name of an illness can turn into a lifetime sentence”.
Olachi Tiffany Etoh is a writer currently living outside of Chicago. Follow her on Twitter at @olachitiffany.
By Olachi Tiffany Etoh
www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/fixing-the-system/features-and-news/4319-personally-speaking-take-mental-illness-seriously
“When I finally received treatment for my mental illness at a hospital, I was gifted with the insight I needed to be in control of my mental illness, instead of my mental illness in control of me. I was put on the right medication, an anti-psychotic, which has had the biggest impact on my recovery. I intend to take this medication for the rest of my life, as the management of my disorder will indeed be a lifelong commitment.”
“Personally Speaking: Take mental illness seriously
The first thing that appears when you Google my name is a picture of my mugshot from when I was arrested and charged with aggravated kidnapping in 2014.
To me, the mugshot represents an image of instability—as I was struggling to control my bipolar disorder during that time. The picture will follow me everywhere, although my symptoms of the illness have long been in remission.Dartmouth
Before the incident that resulted in my mugshot, I wasn’t thinking about the damage my illness could cause to me personally or to anyone outside of it. I was working at a Fortune 500 company, trying to climb my way to the top, without realizing the scope of my mental illness or giving it the attention that it needed. I took medication but didn’t think I needed to do anything else to manage my bipolar disorder.
In 2014, I found myself at the Chicago O’Hare airport after wandering the streets for weeks while hallucinating and delusional. I was having a “breakthrough episode,” which the doctors described to me as a trauma, where the symptoms of the illness breakthrough the barriers of medication. Although I had taken Lithium faithfully, my symptoms of bipolar disorder emerged, captivating my mind, my sense of stability and my knowledge of right and wrong.
After wandering through the airport and trying to buy a plane ticket to my hometown, I hallucinated gunshots. Hearing the explosions, I attempted to carry a child that was not my own to safety in the midst of what I thought was a mass shooting. This took place in a matter of moments, mere seconds. My mind shuddered to black. I then wandered the airport to a Starbucks, where I was later arrested and charged with aggravated kidnapping.
I needed a hospital and treatment, but I was thrown in jail where I hallucinated for a year straight while awaiting trial without comprehensive treatment. I was later found not guilty by reason of insanity.
On most days I am hopeful for the future, although I will always be remorseful about what I did and for the anguish I caused the child and its family at O’Hare. When I finally received treatment for my mental illness at a hospital, I was gifted with the insight I needed to be in control of my mental illness, instead of my mental illness in control of me. I was put on the right medication, an anti-psychotic, which has had the biggest impact on my recovery. I intend to take this medication for the rest of my life, as the management of my disorder will indeed be a lifelong commitment.
I am currently still dealing with the fall-out of my actions and still tied to the criminal justice and mental health care systems. I wouldn’t wish this on any sufferer of serious mental illness.
I implore all those who read this to take mental illness seriously and find help and resources before you’re thrown into an unforgiving system that doesn’t know whether it provides recovery or incarceration. One transgression in the name of an illness can turn into a lifetime sentence”.
Olachi Tiffany Etoh is a writer currently living outside of Chicago. Follow her on Twitter at @olachitiffany.