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Mental Illness Isn’t Selfish—You Don’t Fix It with Life Hacks
It requires a lifetime of care.
One puts oneself through such psychological damage trying to avoid the threat of insanity, you start to approach the very thing you’re scared of.
— David Bowie
“There’s a 24-hour Kroger. I’ll be back soon.”
That’s what I said to my brother one night as we cleaned my mom’s pee and poop off the carpet. I’m using the word poop here to introduce a little levity. It’s a useful coping mechanism.
Anyway, we were out of cleaning product. My brother said, “Don’t worry about it. This isn’t your job anymore.”
“It’s fine.”
This was just another night. We were lucky this time. It was usually worse when my mom fell. There was usually blood. Usually we took her to the ER. Sometimes we called an ambulance.
I grabbed the keys.
Severe mental illness destroys lives.
There’s only one reason I was shopping for carpet cleaner at Kroger at midnight. I’d come home. My best friend was getting married that weekend, the same friend who worked as a lawyer and…
