Freedom sweet freedom!!!

I know what it's like to lose your freedom. 8 years ago I had a bipolar episode and landed in a long term hospital setting. I was in a locked unit and only got to go outside during smoke breaks. The area we were allowed to go out to was a wired in lot that was bleak and imposing. Once inside again, the windows were plexiglass and the halls dark and ugly. It was hell. The only escape was to get well and I had to wait to let the medication do it's job and bring me back to sanity. I have never quite gotten over that experience and remember vividly how confinining and hopeless the situation was.

Yes it's been 8 years since that 9 month hospitalization and I can honestly say it made me appreciate many things. On the Fourth of July I am so grateful that I live in a land where care is available and I am free to pursue my goals and dreams. We are so fortunate in our country to have access to care and benefit from the advances in psychiatry. It makes me angry when the ant-psychiatry crowd rail against "the system". Quite frankly they wouldn't have a voice in any other country and would suffer under any other system.

Poolside July Fourth musings!!

Freedom is a precious thing though, and it brings with it the onus of responsibility. I am at a point in my wellness journey where I am evaluating my progress and am accessing where it is I want to go. I have a sacred duty in my opinion to live out my life in a  meaningful and productive way. The ability to even consider different paths is a blessing of freedom. There are no limits imposed on me and I am free to choose the direction I want to take. I am cognisant that it is up to my choosing how things will go. I can choose fear and stagnation or courage and action. No one else is responsible for my happiness and I am free to pursue happiness because of the sacrifice of so many.

So today, like so many days since my episode, I am thankful for the opportunity to determine my course. Blessed with freedom, I would hope that others reading this who are affected by mental illness would recognize the advantages of living in a country such as ours. There are so many services and organizations willing to help, and it is incumbent upon us to utilize them. Do so!!! Happy Fourth!