Kathy Renfree

To All Readers, In my haste to post my blog on Stigma, Silence, NAMI, and You, I incorrectly listed NAMI as the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, when in fact NAMI has changed that to “National Alliance on Mental Illness”.  I apologize for this error. Kathy Stigma, Silence, NAMI and You I feel I have tried to be acutely aware of negative comments and representations regarding people with mental illness.  The words psycho, nut job, head case and wacko are often bandied about with little regard for the damage they do.  As a counselor, I have had friends (!) and relatives (!) wonder how I could sit there with “those people”, and wasn’t I afraid “they might snap”.  Or how “that mumbo jumbo makes things worse”, everyone “just needs to toughen up” and “get on with their lives”.  Insensitive and disrespectful judgments, opinions, and labels exist in all forms of media – music, movies, print and online. However, I found they also exist in our profession.

I feel I have tried to be acutely aware of negative comments and representations regarding people with mental illness. The words psycho, nut job, head case and wacko are often bandied about with little regard for the damage they do. As a counselor, I have had friends (!) and relatives (!) wonder how I could sit there with “those people”, and wasn’t I afraid “they might snap”. Or how “that mumbo jumbo makes things worse”, everyone “just needs to toughen up” and “get on with their lives”. Insensitive and disrespectful judgments, opinions, and labels exist in all forms of media – music, movies, print and online. However, I found they also exist in our profession.

As a young therapist -I mean young in experience, not young in age - I often heard other therapists talk about Thomas Moore. I first thought they meant Thomas More –the Catholic saint, lawyer, philosopher, statesman and arch enemy of Henry VII. Later, as I progressed through my own personal struggles and growth I encountered the Thomas Moore that presented me with another growth opportunity. His books Care of the Soul, and Dark Nights of the Soul were a gift to me at a most difficult time.

Fear is very powerful in that it keeps most of us from doing, trying and achieving. Fear wraps around our hearts, invades our heads, and tells us to stay safe, to stay where we are. Fear often protects us in situations that would cause great harm, of course. However, fear can crossover from being helpful, to limiting us from living the lives we want.

Last week when I came home from my work at a community mental health clinic, I was exhausted. I made sure that I took time to soothe myself and not make any decisions or have any frank talks that evening. Sure, that helped some, but I could not puzzle out what triggered the exhaustion.