Diversity

     Yesterday, I mentioned my twenty-five years working in social services.  There is endless variety in the human condition.  One thing is for sure: when you think you've seen it all, something new will come down the pike.
     Sometimes our clientele included the mentally ill.  Several encounters were the inspiration for this bit of creative writing:

     I call out a name out to the sea of faces before me.  A man slowly rises from a chair in the waiting room.  He is overweight and moves at a snail’s pace toward the door where I wait.  Finally, he reaches me, and I say, “Follow me, please.”  I go to my desk, sit down, and seat him in front of me.

     I think, as I study him for a few seconds, he looks like an ice cream cone.  The four chair legs are the cone.  His huge body spills all around the chair seat, but tapers up toward narrow shoulders and a small, shiny, bald head.

     “How may I help you,” I ask.  The floodgates open.

     “I’m a very sick man, very sick.  I have hepatitis-C and bi-polar disorder.  I get these crying spells.  It’s all because I was falsely accused of first-degree murder and kidnapping.  I was a successful businessman before that happened.  Also, you need to know, I fell and hit my head.  I spent twenty-seven days at the University of Medicine and Dentistry when that happened, but I really don’t remember it.  Also, I just returned from several foreign countries.  I need a place to stay, because I can’t go back to the University of Medicine and Dentistry.”

     He looks like he’s on the verge of a crying spell.  I give him an application and a few simple instructions.  I watch his back as he gradually returns to the waiting room.  He’s a big tutti-frutti cone, and I’m watching him melt.

It's hard to convince a person with mental illness to seek treatment. It's hard to convince them to stay on their programs. Families of people with mental illness need support.  There is an organization called NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness.  The local NAMI affiliate is located in Moorestown, NJ.  You can call Lucille Klein at (609)280-9254 or Ruth Stotsenberg at (856)220-1602.  
http://www.nami.org/  Estimates can be as high as 1 in 5 people suffering from some sort of mental disorder at some point in their lives.  NAMI is an organization that can provide help for all concerned.