My Vision
A sincere word from the owner and the motivation for Creative Mental Wellness
I have been a part of the MENTAL HEALTH/ILLNESS demographic most of my life. What I know now–after decades of struggling with my own mental illness (there, I said it!)–is that IT’S NOT MY FAULT (that I have/continue to struggle). The REAL PROBLEM is the LACK of attention to/support for MENTAL HEALTH/ILLNESS for ALL COMMUNITIES–urban, suburban, AND rural.
While I currently live in the fourth biggest city in the nation (Houston)--home of one of the largest medical centers in the world (the Texas
Medical Center)--I was raised in (STILL) underserved northeast Texas. Over time I have come to perceive my hometown as a MICROCOSM of the problems with healthcare (not JUST mental health care!). Many of the challenges of the healthcare system that existed when I lived in Mount Vernon in the 1970s and 1980s still continue into the present day.
My parents and I became some of the newest residents of bucolic Mount Vernon, a town with a population of around 2500 people, in August 1973. Because my mother had lived there during her upbringing, moving to her childhood home was a fairly easy transition. We essentially relocated there for the proverbial “better life”; my parents felt the community offered more/better resources for our family than what we had in Hughes Springs, Texas, where we lived when I was born. (If you have never heard of Hughes Springs, I’m guessing the residents there would not be surprised!) That summer of 1973, Mount Vernon had a hospital in the county seat of Franklin County.
When my mother suddenly died in 1985, there was still a hospital in the town but no mental health care provider served the community. In 2023 there is NEITHER. Many rural communities like Mount Vernon have grappled with how to keep the doors of their hospitals open. Ultimately Mount Vernon’s small hospital was purchased by a healthcare system; when the facility became a financial albatross, the hospital was forced to close. This deterioration of healthcare options creates more/greater areas that are underserved, which is a common problem for most American states. I like to use Mount Vernon as my measurement of the country’s health care system to make the discussion more PRACTICAL. It’s a smaller version of the problems all stakeholders of healthcare–which includes ANYONE with a (natural or mechanical) pulse–have been and continue to battle.
I have spent the time during/after COVID-19 altered our world to pay attention to and be brutally honest about what challenges exist and what interventions could be potentially helpful. LIFE IS HARD…and the LACK OF HEALTHCARE shouldn’t make life even more difficult (although the OUTDOORS/CONNECTING to others/VOLUNTEERING helps tremendously!). Something I’m good-ish for is “talent” for regularly and frequently STEPPING BACK FROM THE TREES to better/more effectively EVALUATE THE FOREST. I see others obsessing about their TREES (ie the problems at hand) without regularly stepping back to see how their TREE fits in with the other trees of the FOREST. (How a tree affects other trees MATTERS, right???) Doing so provides context and perspective. We need MORE of those!
At this stage of my life I tend to gravitate toward PRACTICALITY; it just seems to work better/easier that way. I do what works and try to STOP doing things that don’t work. (SOUNDS simple when you say it. Putting that into PRACTICE is a bit more COMPLICATED!!!!) From a PRACTICAL standpoint, I think I’ve learned some “skills” along the way and feel I might be able to help others’ ease their journeys by sharing my ideas. Life’s “circumstances” set me back a bit, but I WILL NOT let life hold me down! (Bear growl–GRRRR!!!) I feel I can help make healthcare better–even though I don’t have a job/profession/career that validates that–and I’m going to be RESPECTFULLY AGGRESSIVE to do what I can to make people like me have a BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE...whether those at the top of the power triangle like it or now!!!!!! (Another bear growl–GRRRR!!!)
I have discovered that the mere “act” of fighting for better healthcare makes me feel better emotionally. It gives me a PURPOSE…and EVERYONE NEEDS A PURPOSE. (Infertility has made that PURPOSE thing more challenging for me. ie When you’re someone’s parent, you definitely know one of your purposes: parenting someone else. Without offspring I just have to look a little harder for it.) I understand that the dance between PROCESS and OUTCOME is less like FREESTYLE and more like Argentine tango (thank you Dancing With The Stars!)! It’s complicated! I want us as a society to prioritize the PROCESSES versus OUTCOMES based on need/informed altruism (rather than just capitalism or misguided altruism). If the present approach in healthcare is not the most EFFECTIVE/PRACTICAL, we need to do something different! (Isn’t THAT the actual definition of INSANITY–doing the same thing repeatedly expecting a different outcome???? Irony?– I think NOT!!!!!)
Soooo…my MISSION is to do whatever I can to improve the lives of people who struggle with mental health challenges/illness (like me). I hope to use my nursing/medical knowledge as well as my lived experience (along with any other skills/talents I might/discover I have–be they unusual, odd, or different!) to improve people’s quality of life…while I improve my own. I fell and sustained a TBI/head injury/subdural hematoma in 2014; because falls like mine are often fatal, I’m CONVINCED that I’m here for a reason. I SHOULDN’T BE HERE…REALLY! Thus, I’ve got little shame/prohibitive pride left. If I get to be a part of the group that helped push/pull folks to the finish line (or even just supplied runners with REFRESHING WATER along their race route!), I want to at least TRY! (I’ve already asked my husband to ensure that if I “go” before him that he inscribes my tombstone with the words, “At least she went down trying!”)
Put very plainly: I’ve been waiting for THE SMART PEOPLE to fix the problem with mental healthcare /mental illness in our country, and…tik tok…I’m still waiting! Because I’m a (relatively!) honest person–even with myself–I now recognize and offer that I just might have some ideas and suggestions to provide to those at THE TABLE WHERE THE MENTAL HEALTHCARE DECISIONS ARE MADE. To use the metaphor about “that” table…not only have I not felt I could/should have a seat at that table, I couldn’t even find the BUILDING where that darn table was housed! Now, after being “sick and tired of being sick and tired” (thank you for that, Ms. Fannie Lou Hamer!), I’ve been asserting myself to find that stinking table and DEMAND to at least be allowed to stand in the room during the table discussions (so I can passionately/awkwardly offer my “help” to at least alter the discussion!).
Here are the complicated problems I’ve identified thus far– (Bear growl–GRRRR!!!)
PROBLEM #1: The mental healthcare system in its present state is inadequate. (Bear growl–GRRRR!!!) The system does not effectively address the need for more/better mental health resources in our country. It is operated as if mental health care stakeholders do not understand MENTAL ILLNESS very well. Too many gaps in the mental healthcare system persist; “traditional” medications, talk therapy, and interventions are insufficient to meet the high demand for increased support. MAYBE it’s time to take the definition of INSANITY seriously and actually try something new to satisfactorily address/diagnose/treat mental health challenges/illness for a greater number who may/may not know they need more support for their mental wellness. If the resource TREE we’re working on isn’t adequately addressing the problem, maybe we need to look at the entire forest for other/better ideas.
PROBLEM #2: The mental health community and mental health resource organizations (MHROs) do not openly recognize CURING MENTAL ILLNESS as a (clearly stated) goal. (Beargrowl–GRRRR!!!) If MENTAL ILLNESS is going to get the attention and funding it needs and deserves (to adequately meet the demand for additional support), the mental health community (lead by MHROs) needs to OFFICIALLY/CLEARLY/OPENLY set the goal to CURE the disease. The Susan G. Komen nonprofit organization was essentially created to cure breast cancer following the death of Susan Goodman Komen; it has forced undeniable change in how breast cancer–as well as other cancers–are identified and treated. In addition, the organization has succeeded in normalizing the ENTIRE discussion about cancer. Once considered to be “a death sentence,” cancer is growing closer and closer to being just another chronic illness that is treatable and curable. The mental health community needs to identify AND replicate at least in part other such models to enable progress.
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PROBLEM #3: There is not enough collaboration between/among mental health resource organizations (MHROs). (Bear growl–GRRRR!!!) Altruistically/ethically, curing and/or treating mental illness should NOT be a competition in the mental health community; this fight should be one of enabling one another to get to “the finish line” as quickly as possible. When one mental health entity makes progress for the cause, WE ALL WIN. We should approach this with an ALL HANDS ON DECK mentality; MHROs should be pooling their knowledge and resources while providing a space for collaboration amongst their members. In order to force more/sooner progress and more quickly help all those who need some/more mental health support, MHROs should collaborate as much as possible. Increasing the communication amongst the MHROs will inevitably create a potentially synergistic relationship, foster the open exchange of ideas/information that can potentially expedite goal attainment for each MHRO, and encourage collaboration with one another. Collaborating with one another can also be a way MHROs STEP BACK FROM THEIR TREES to better/more effectively EVALUATE THE FOREST (of mental health).
PROBLEM #4: Most (“average”) people can’t name a mental health resource organization they can access for education and/or support. (Bear growl–GRRRR!!!) The mental health community needs to collaborate better “internally” (with one another) in order to more effectively coordinate “external” marketing and messaging to those outside of the community. The initial issue is that it does not appear that many mental health organizations are aggressively working to determine what resources currently exist and what they offer so as NOT to duplicate services/information/activities/interventions/etc. MHROs need to have a mechanism/tool for easily locating information of available resources to better meet the needs of those in need of assistance. If MHROs support one another more/better, we can ALL succeed on a greater scale and sooner!
PROBLEM #5: Because we as a society have become so disconnected (through “natural” change as well as the isolation imposed by COVID-19), there is not enough of a network/safety net to support underserved populations. Bear growl–GRRRR!!!) I personally know what happens when you lose predictability in life. I had 2 parents…until I didn’t. When my mother died, I witnessed my father’s challenges as a new single parent. After time has passed–and healthcare in Mount Vernon has failed to progress as shown by the STILL lack of a mental healthcare provider–I have more perspective and see how healthcare has progressed/changed. Sadly, those who need help the most don’t always know/accept that they need support to reach out for it nor have the loudest voices when they do. We need to use healthcare resources
to assist not only those who do/can ask for help/support but also to look for those who
are struggling and need more support BEFORE they have to ask for it. We are not
just single TREES; we’re ALL part of a FOREST.
PROBLEM #6: We should be looking for them; it shouldn’t ALWAYS be the other way around. As the rate of mass shooters taking their own lives in the process increases, it’s time to take the problem SERIOUSLY. People are suicidal AND angry/resentful; they are not just turning their pain on themselves. When those shooters die by suicide, they are taking innocent people with them. That’s a complicated problem that requires sooner rather than later attention. The common denominator of the problem is MENTAL HEALTH; I can’t imagine anyone willing/able to kill others AND themselves DOESN’T have a mental health problem in some sense. We need a system in place to LOOK FOR kids that are isolated and fit the stereotype so that we can PREVENT such shootings from occurring. If kids didn’t feel isolated, they probably wouldn’t take their own and others’ lives…at least not as often as we see currently (which is CRIMINAL in itself). (Bear growl–GRRRR!!!)
My ideas are a bit “kum by yah”--I get it! But just throwing monetary resources at problems DOESN’T solve them; sometimes it can even make it MORE difficult to access care because “help” in the form of more policies/regulations/ bureaucracy/obstacles/layers/”hoops” is not helpful to the people in need of the help. When “help” doesn’t ACTUALLY make life better for someone, we’ve merely “checked a box”; we’ve attained the goal of DOING SOMETHING but we HAVEN’T done something that is EFFECTIVE or HELPFUL. We need to look more at OUTCOMES. If the outcome is not BETTER HEALTHCARE ACCESS, we MUST CHANGE THE GOALS and INTERVENTIONS…PLEASE!!!! (Double bear growl–GRRRR!!! GRRRR!)
