Mental Illness

I have been toying around with the idea of writing my memoir. Yes, it is pretty early on in my life to consider such a venture but I have decided to go through with it or at the very least try and see what develops.

This is my part of my story.

When I meet someone new I know inevitably the conversation is going to happen. We laugh, we hang out, we share a few stories maybe we even a few secrets. It is then when people work up the courage to ask me what I rarely volunteer.

“So do you have a father?” I love this question because it seems so absurd, of course I have a father I wouldn’t be here without one. That of course is my sarcastic nature. Often I look at them contemplatively before I respond. If they ask a silly question the very least I can do is answer it that way. “Yes I do but he’s crazy”

Whomever I am talking to will laugh and then make eye contact with me, letting me know with their visual cue that it is time to elaborate. I never know what they are expecting me to say but I do know it is not what they get.

“No, really, he is legitimately crazy. He is a paranoid schizophrenic.”

This is a book review of sorts but also an inspiration for my next novel. This was a required reading for my memoir and personal essay class, it was unlike anything I had ever read before. Ironic since I have a father who is a paranoid schizophrenic. Perhaps I had skipped over those books for fear of what might come from gaining more knowledge. The author is bi-polar but also one of the leading doctors in that field providing an intense juxtaposition of the struggle. I encourage everyone to read this book whether or not you are directly linked to mental illness because it opens a new level of understanding for the human condition. She offers brutally honest moments and medical analysis. It is encouraging to see mental illness more wildly discussed in the public forum which is why I am going to share my experiences with the world. I know I am not alone in this struggle and I want other people to feel the same way.