What I want to talk about is mental health. Now I've never gone through much mental health problems in my short life. I never had parents or relatives who abused and scared me for life. The only dramatic thing that has happened in my life was when my brother was diagnosed with Leukemia.
I never went through any mental anguish with my brother's diagnosis though. Maybe it's my positive outlook on life or my belief that my brother is stronger than I am, but I never went through any mental pain with his initial diagnosis.
My mother however has gone through mental anguish. Not only with my brother's diagnosis, but by being abused as a child which has severely damaged her mental health. My mother has found helped, been diagnosed as a Bipolar, and has dealt with her mental health with grace. She'll always have to deal with her mental health, but she seems to be able to control her emotions better than she once did.
I bring this up because my mother wants to praise
The raffle ran since October and raised more than $650,000 to be distributed to various mental health charities. Artest recently donated $50,000 to Pacific Clinics and the Kresge Foundation tripled his donation by pledging an additional $150,000 in grant money distributed via the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health to the clinic.My mom praises Artest because he's brought awareness to an issue that doesn't have awareness already. A lot of people suffer from bad mental health but don't seek help.
"It's a good feeling," Artest said about the raffle being over. "It's cool to know we can slowly start donating money to different charities and things like that. It's cool."
"You must forgive yourself first," my mother Donna says. "Then seek help and continue getting help.
I'm ecstatic that Ron is bringing awareness to an issue that many people don't understand. Mental health needs more awareness from athletes. Hopefully Ron isn't the last athlete to bring awareness to this issue."
It's certainly brought awareness to me. Even if you don't suffer from mental health, you should at least try to understand what people are going through. What makes a person suffer from mental health. And how can they help themselves.
One of the ways not only athletes can get help, but everyone else can get help is by going to dbsa.org website and seeking help. Even if you don't need help yourself, maybe there's a person you know who needs help. Or maybe visit that site to learn more about bipolar disorder and how people can find help for that mental health.
So get help if you need help and understand mental health to help someone if they're in need. It's not that hard.
This is an excellent column, and good on Ron Artest (Metta World Peace) for actually doing the auction.
ReplyDeleteI suffer from mental illness (depression), though it took years of denial and trying to pretend I was "normal" before going to a therapist to find out was wrong with me. My parents raised me right and are good people, it's just a function of my brain's chemistry that I am this way. Medication mostly controls it, but still there are times when I have no energy, no desire to see friends, want to quit work, etc. It can be a struggle sometimes. I'm glad your mom has found the courage to confront the enemies of her childhood.
But, like you say Keith, too many people are missed, or aren't talked to, and consequently they end feeling alone and abandoned and all to often, the decide to take their own lives. Just be there for your friends and family. If they start behaving oddly, or you never see them anymore, reach out and talk to them and make sure they're okay.