I Met Hannbal Lecter Today...

I attended a "Lunch & Learn" today at the hospital called, "Silence, Stigma & Mental Illness". In the flyers there was a spin on Silence of the Lambs for the program. I was interested in this topic because I deal with bipolar on a daily basis and during my time living in Utah I encountered so much ignorance about mental illness it infuriated me.

The primary newspaper in Salt Lake City did a survey about perception of mental illness and 36% of respondents believed that mental illness was a result of sin. Are you kidding me? Then I went to my family ward bishop me during a particularly difficult time during my illness which I believe I was struggling with due to the passing of my grandmother, an attempted burglary of my apartment while I was in it, and a break in of my car. When I shared my difficulties and my illness with him looking for insightful spiritual guidance he expressed that I would be happier if I just attended church more frequently, said my prayers more fervently, read my scriptures longer etc ad nauseum. Are you kidding me?

When we arrived at the lunch & learn they had free pizza and fava beans. If you don't know why the fava beans are so funny, I can't help you. After we all sat down they lowered the lights and two gentlemen wheeled in a man on a moving dolly wearing a straight jacket and a mouth restraint just like Anthony Hopkins in the movie. Then introduced himself as Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Creepy and funny. The presenter was the medical director of the hospital's behavioral health (psychiatric) department, Dr. Dennis Kutzer. He had a marvelous sense of humor and got away with a lot of anecdotes that most hospital associates would never get away with. He had some amazing information to share. He used the Hannibal Lecter idea to over emphasize that there are so many bad perceptions out there especially that people with mental illness are dangerous.

One of the first things that he stated was that he suffered from depression and that 2 of his children suffer from depression. Then he started sharing the statistics. 26% of Americans suffer from one or more 'mental illness'. That is 1 in 4 people. He informed us about so many things. It was really good. Making a point that mental illness is disease. The term mental illness is a misnomer because it makes it sound like the illness is 'all in your mind' like it isn't a physical disease. He said that it isn't in your mind its in your brain and the brain is a tangible working organ of the body and one of the most important ones at that. I wish I had been able to write everything down and share it. If I can recall more...more will follow.

Coping Better, Working, and Feeling Wanted

I am coping better with Paul having gone back to Ireland. It was a rough week last week emotionally. I had an interesting little event happen yesterday at work. Work is going well. Lots of it to do. I don't know if many people know what I do. I am the administrative assistant to the Director of Supply Chain Management & Security at Carroll Hospital Center. It is a good job for many reasons. My bosses agree that I do my job well, they appreciate me, and show it. I got as phone call from one of the other departments; The Learning Center. It was a fellow administrative assistant for that department. She told me that the other administrative assistant had just given her two week notice and she asked me if I would please apply for her position. I told her that I was very grateful that she thought of me and asked me, but that I was very very happy where I was.

Of course I went in to my boss and let him know that I was offered a position in another department. He slightly banged his hands on his desk and said, "I knew it. I knew they were going to start coming after you." He hung his head in this particulary dramatic way for him (he is a cool, calm, logical person 99.9% of the time). "They see the work you do and they know how beneficial you would be to their departments." I smiled. It feels good to be wanted. I reassured him that I wasn't going anywhere and there wasn't another department in the hospital that I wanted to work for.

Sunshine Left and so did Paul

Well, the rains came, the sunshine left, and so did Paul. He flew home to Northern Ireland on Sunday, August 19th. He arrived safely in Belfast on Monday morning August 20th, but without his luggage again. This is hard. Worse than I could have imagined. Every morning we sat and ate breakfast together. He would send me off with kisses and hugs. Geez. I guess I will get off of here and stop boring all...