I am in constant
contact with someone who has mental illness and for the purposes of this blog
we will name her Mrs. Allen. In the case of Mrs. Allen she struggles with the
chronic mental illness called paranoid schizophrenia. Mrs. Allen. is an African
American black women in her late 50’s who got displaced from New Orleans due to
her home being destroyed by the Hurricane. In the case of Mrs. Allen she struggles with
the chronic mental illness called paranoid schizophrenia. This illness has impacted
her life significantly because when I go to pick her up she leaves me standing
outside for about 5 minutes after looking out the window 2 or 3 times. This condition
keeps her locked up in her house 24/7 and from being with her loved ones. According
to her family, before this horrible event she weighed about 250 pounds and now
she barely weighs 100 pounds because she is so paranoid that someone is trying
to poison her. This illness has affected her ability to work, eat, and give
love to her family. I have been told by her family that she was plagued with
this illness after the disastrous Hurricane Katrina. This information inspired
me to find out how many people suffered mental illness after encountering this
horrible event. I found in doing my research
that hurricane survivors whose homes were either badly damaged or completely
destroyed had higher rates of Moderate Mental Illness (MMI) and Severe Mental
Illness (SMI) (Sastry & VanLandingham, 2009). The results also showed that the
residents of New Orleans had high levels of mental illness. The sample in this
study showed that nearly 40% had probable mental illness 1 year later and half
of these illnesses were severe (Sastry & VanLandingham, 2009). This study
went on to say that these rates were substantially higher after Hurricane
Katrina than before the storm and that blacks had higher rates of SMI than
whites. I have learned from being around Mrs. Allen that mental illness
definitely causes a lot of stress in the family and this compounded with her
not being on medication just makes her symptoms even more unbearable.
Sastry, N. &
VanLandingham, M. (2009). One year later:
mental illness prevalence and disparities among New Orleans residents displaced
by Hurricane Katrina. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2774198/
Thank you for sharing your story with us. I've never thought about how a storm like that can impact someone mentally in such a drastic way. Hopefully we can find a way to provide support for those who have gone through a traumatic event like this. Best of the luck the rest of the semester!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your story on mental illness. Today many people are being diagnosed with mental illness. Mental disorders are generally defined by a combination of how a person feels, act, or think. Mrs. Allen seems to be held hostage by this mental illness. I am sure she and her family are overwhelmed by this illness. I wished there were more programs to direct patients on how to deal with this illness. Many people are discriminated against because our society does not know how to grasp the true understanding of mental illness.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post,
Mia
Hello Jeannine ,
ReplyDeleteWow this is a sad situation and I feel very sorry to hear about Mrs. Allen . I hope that she is able to get the help that she needs so that she can live a healthy life and enjoy her family and friends. I had never heard the statistics of mental illness and I didn't know how many people from New Orleans had been affected. Thanks for teaching me something new and good luck to you this semester.
Hi Jeannie,
ReplyDeleteParanoid schizophrenia is a mental illness that my family is all too familiar with. My uncle suffers from this illness and it has not only impacted his quality of life but the lives of everyone who loves him. Unfortunately, my uncle paranoia leads to violent episodes and most of the family chooses not to be around him - there is no indication that he is about to explode but you just don't want to chance being around for it. My uncles symptoms are a bit different from Mrs. Allen's - where she lost over 100 pounds - he's gained over 100 pounds, which I believe is attributed to the multiple medications that he takes to keep him calm (like anti-depressants).
My uncle is a Vietnam veteran. He served two consecutive tours in Vietnam (before I was born) and was exposed to Agent Orange. Based on what he's shared with me Agent Orange was used in chemical warfare and it affected the countrymen, children, veterans, and their dependents alike. My uncle has friends that he served with in Vietnam that have various forms of cancer and Type 2 diabetes. Also, many children suffered from birth defects ,which could very well be linked to the veterans exposure to this chemical agent.
It's really sad and unfortunately once the damage is done - it's done! I have a telephone relationship with my uncle and see him mostly on holidays. I pray for him everyday - for his safety and the safety of those around him because his behavior is just so unpredictable. As the years pass, he is a mere fraction of the uncle that I once knew.
Sheree' Porter
Jeannine,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your friend's story with us and the research on Hurricane Katrina victims. It is not hard to understand how a terrible event could trigger a mental illness, but it is surprising to see such a high rate.
Sonia