Finding my "something"

Last Friday morning, the unthinkable happened in a small Connecticut town ... a mass shooting claimed the lives of 20 elementary school students and seven adults. Hearing the news brought me to tears. Who would go into an elementary school and start shooting innocent people, especially young kids? My heart went to each parent, each family who lost a loved one.

My sadness turned to frustration and anger. During one of the television news broadcasts, as the journalists tried to piece together what had happened, an anchor interviewed a medical correspondent. He asked questions to get a sense of the type of person who would carry out such a horrific act. The doctor responded and ended her comment saying that when we see a picture of Adam Lanza, it "will be the face of mental illness."

That's the moment when my blood started to boil. My husband suffered from severe depression. Does that mean he too is the face of mental illness?

By mid afternoon, we didn't know much about Adam Lanza. Yet, medical correspondents and countless Americans started diagnosing him. Granted, I don't know what would cause a person to commit such an evil act. But, what good does it do to start throwing out names of illnesses such as schizophrenia, Asperger's and depression? This only adds to the misperceptions and stigmas about mental illness. The National Association of Mental Illness has reported that 57.7 million Americans experience some type of mental health disorder in a given year. That's one in four adults.

Mental illness doesn't discriminate. It's not limited to people who are homeless or addicted to drugs. People in all walks of life suffer from some type of mental illness. Most people are able to manage their illness through medication and counseling. Unfortunately, others don't seek treatment.

I had to share my frustration about the "Adam Lanza and the face of mental illness" comment so I did what I often do ... I turned to Facebook. I posed a question asking if that meant Steve is a face of mental illness. A friend of mine commented that the face of mental illness should be the person who works, raises a family and deals with their disease. Yes! She gets it!

Never in a million years would I have imagined that I'd be in my mid (ok, now late) 30's and widowed. But I am. Not long after Steve died, I felt like I needed to do something so that no one would have to endure the pain of this kind of loss. At the time, I didn't know what that "something" was. Now, I think part of my "something" is to advocate for people suffering from a mental illness by pushing for more education. Knowledge is power!

So the journey continues ...