21 Feb Silver Linings for Mental Illness?

“I don’t want to stay in the bad place, where no one believes in silver linings or love or happy endings.”

Sunday evening holds a highly acclaimed and anticipated event: the Academy Awards. While some years contain films of historical significance, sensationalized biopics, fantastical adventures, and exposes on current events, the 2013 awards seem to be a year that covers all categories. The quote above is pulled from a movie that has swept ALL of the acting categories: “Silver Linings Playbook.” For those of you cannot keep track of the movies, “Silver Linings” is the story of a young man suffering from bi-polar disorder, his family interaction, and the ultimate meeting of another damaged soul. The film, although a comedy, is never crass in its portrayal of mental illness. Instead, a real, gritty, sorrowful, yet exuberant narrative is presented which ultimately raises awareness of mental health.

Silver Linings is, pardon the phrase, the silver lining in the current society that is taking a closer look at mental health. After Sandy Hook and the reflex media reaction of concentrating on gun control, the proceeding inquiry was made into mental health statistics, awareness, availability of medical assistance, and cost. News articles abounded, graphs were everywhere, and people talked openly.

Besides inadequate healthcare and governmental regulations, the biggest issue that makes people refrain from seeking medical advice is the stigma. “I’ll handle it on my own,” or “It will get better in time,” is an excuse that the Washington Post published in one of its articles. The community is frightened of what it doesn’t understand, so when people are unable to put on a ‘facade’ to carry out normal actions, the likely chance of plummeting even deeper into the recesses of a possible mental disorder is even greater.

ACCFamily has worked with numerous clients struggling with mental illness. It’s time to talk openly about issues that we hide and find the Silver Lining in our story. Let’s discover
it together.