n one form at some level from the extremes of severity which effects our lives or by some lesser extent that is lost in perceived normality, however, and on a personal note separate from the statistics, it is not the one in three that cause me concern regarding the mental health of this countries peoples, it is the other three, the ones who imagine throughout their struggles in life that they are the normal ones.
I overheard it once, that it is commonplace in the US to stand by the philosophie that, "If you dont have shrink you are ill", sadly I believe that this, all joking aside is the true state of the UK.
One only has to stand and watch people in the street, it is rare that you will see a happy a
nd content, fully adjusted and well balanced person, mentally, psychologically or Spiritually, how can an individual be well when their world is bombarded with officialdom, Red Tape, big brother, debt, misery, alcohol and drug dependancy family problems, something is shown on the face and in the body language of many more than the suggested 1 in 3, even listening in to how people communicate with each other, even between strangers, undertones of tension, of arrogance, of ignorance, of denial, even in raised voice with a hint of aggression borne of mistrust and of personal low self esteem.
while talking with another Artist friend at a time when each of us were sharing our own stories of mental ill health, I with my Syndrome and he with a marked degree of schizophrenia,
he showed me some papers that came about at a time when he himself was trying to come to terms with his condition; they were mind maps, one of his dark side and one of lifes happiness.
It still did not seem to make any sense to him, of course he could understand that there was a lot going on in his mind at the time but he was unable to understand where the conflicts, the confusions, the frustrations, where cognitive and memory problems all came from
the two pieces of paper he showed me had similar diagrams on them, each representing opposing patterns of thought, two mindsets, two very different personas even, one of his heaven and one of his hell
In an attempt to find some understanding and visual explanation I laid one upon the other, that single combination produced a startling visual interpretation of his mind at that time, the effect of overlaying the two images was immediate confusion, where nothing was clear, nothing could be taken or used, without clarity or direction.
Image
The point of understanding through visualised confusion only a Spiritual Awakening can provide absolute clarity
The fact that nothing made sense made absolute sense, it presents a state of mind where there can be no normality, no rationality, no ability to separate one from another, an absolute overload of mind; this is how society lives and functions under normal circumstances, even the 3 out of 4 who are the supposed normal folk they whose lives we are expected to emulate following recovery. Even after a stage of rehabilitation, even after fighting the demons, making sacrifices, gaining strength through faith and wisdom we still have to live in a world filled with others pretending that they are normal when in reality they are not; after recovery, an understanding of ourselves is not as importance as an understanding and acceptance that the world we live in is not perfect
"BUT BY THE GRACE OF GOD, GO I"
