I went to an Art Matters talk in my building on Vincent Van Gogh. Art Matters is a company started by a terrific woman, Jane Blair, who is also a sculptor. Instead of slides, she uses large prints mounted on foam core which are then stuck on the walls with museum putty that doesn't leave a mark. At the end of the talk, the room looks like a gallery and you can get an up close and personal look at the paintings. I went to the talk because I looked forward to seeing the room filled up with his work.
During the talk, the woman speaking (not Jane) referred to Vincent Van Gogh as "....he was so crazy that he _____________, and then when he moved to Arles, he was so crazy that he ___________ and finally, "everyone in the town signed a petition to have him committed." (Except his friends the Postmaster and his wife whose portraits he painted and are hanging in the Museum of Fine Arts) Every time she said it, I winced. I did not know what to do so I was silent. However, Sid, a member of NAMI sitting in the front row finally spoke up and said, "could you please use another word instead of 'crazy' ? There was some back + forth until they settled on 'mental illness'. Later she said, "today he would have been diagnosed with 'a chemical imbalance' and then he would have been put on medication and he would lose his creativity." NOT !
Sid and I approached her after the meeting. My education and advocacy work regarding Mental Illness started that night. Sid has a son who has Schizophrenia who walked away some years ago and Sid has no idea where he is. So Sid has become very active in NAMI. I plan to go to the next meeting of the NAMI support group in Newton.
Mental illness is still so stigmatized even though it is an illness of the brain, the same as any other illness. It's popped up several times in the Sandler family. Both Roby and Shirley talked about "Zaidy's sister Ruth who committed suicide." Shirley was diagnosed with Schizo-Affective disorder and then Paranoid Schizophrenia. I have PTSD. My ex-brother Barry is an alcoholic. Our lives were adversely impacted by her illness. She really was like two different people. There was the 'good' Shirley and the 'bad' Shirley. The 'bad' Shirley usually never appeared in public, only behind closed doors so nobody knew. We all acted our way through life, pretending that everything was fine. Her life ended so tragically - alone, isolated and in the words of Robin, the building manager, "extremely paranoid. She didn't trust anybody." I saw that in the hospital and everyone knew she did not answer the telephone or return calls. She unplugged it from the wall.
During today's hot news topic of Gun Control, one side is silent and that is, where is the visible presence of NAMI ? Who is advocating for funding for Mental Illness ? I do place this at the feet of insurance companies who have limited visits for various therapies, some of which do work. I read an Opinion in the NewYork times this week by Elyn Saks, Successful and Schizophrenic.
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