ibeachalot's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mental Illness I promised I would write a little about the Primetime show that aired last Thursday about Bipolar and other mentally ill children. I was postively sickened when I first heard about the practice of removing children with mental disorders from their homes and stripping parents of their rights, in order to get children the help they need. This would only happen in the situation of mental illness. I think the mentally ill are one of the most discriminated against groups there is. It's definitely discriminated against more than any other illness. If these kids had AIDS instead of Bipolar disorder, it would never be considered to remove them from the care of their parents. Whatever strides these kids have made towards treatment will be completely negated, and then some by taking them away from their parents, their homes and whatever security they know. It's just like my theory about hospitalization for Evan. I have always felt that it would be more detramental than beneficial to remove him from the only home he's ever know and place him in a group home with strangers who don't know him or love him. He would be amongst other kids far more sick and dangerous than him, who might pose a threat to his well being and safety. When/if he were to return home, do you honestly think he would be grateful to us for trying to "help" him? No. He would be bitter and resentful and possibly worse off than when he left. Any violent tendencies he posesses would surely be played out on us for doing this to him. I would never allow this to happen to my child. Ever. If it came down to them taking him from me forcibly, you can bet I'd disappear with him in a heartbeat. This is America. Why such a barbaric practice is in effect is baffling to me. And yes, Stacey... Evan does behave just like that little boy in the video you saw. It was eery watching that little boy do the exact same things Evan does during his rages. How doctors can say Evan isn't Bipolar still amazes me. I've never doubted, from the first time I heard the description of the illness, that this is from what Evan suffers. There's no doubt in my mind. From the time he was two years old, I knew. It's a scary and fascinating disease. I cry myself to sleep some nights worrying what the future holds for my beautiful, sweet, brilliant little boy. But I wouldn't trade him or anything about him, for the world. I sometimes wonder why Evan was given to me. They say children like him are born to parents who are strong and can handle such inflictions. I wonder. I've become a devout agnostic because of this occurence. How could the "god" in whom I believed and to whom I prayed all those years, inflict such a horrific, terrifying illness on an innocent, beautiful child? If this is "his" plan... I don't think I want any part of "him", thanks! Please don't flame me for this. You haven't walked in my shoes. Sorry. This is turning into my own religioun rant. The point is this... I hope everyone had a chance to watch the program last week to get some idea what those of us dealing with this disease go through. I hope this will anger the powers that be into changing the way we deal with the mentally ill in our society, especially our children. These children are the most brilliant and gifted among us and we need to allow them the help they need in order to allow them to shine and prosper, not send them to the curb like yesterday's garbage. The cure to this and other illnesses may be trapped in one of these brilliant minds. We need to do whatever it takes to give them the best care available. 9:58 a.m. - 2002-12-11 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
||||||
|
||||||