Public Comment

When I feel as though I'm struggling to survive, happiness is not part of the short-term picture. And, in fact, I have been in situations in which keeping alive was up to me. In the early nineteen eighties, I was incarcerated for a short time, and was concurrently psychotic. This was one of two big tests that I faced when I was young.

The other test was this: in 1983, I worked as a night janitor, and I mopped and polished floors at "Flair" supermarkets, and one night a week at a local K-Mart. At a Flair market, in the early part of my shift, I discovered that I was not alone in the store. I was locked in the store along with two men with guns who wanted to rob the store. I had to stay there overnight and wait for the managers and other staff to show up. It was at that point when the two gunmen managed to obtain the contents of the safe and drive off with it. I had no certainty at the time that I would not be killed. The armed robbers were very serious that they did not want to be identified, because if I could identify them, they would probably be jailed. They wore ski hats over their faces with holes cut out for their eyes and mouths. They decided to spare my life. A lot of the reason that I'm alive and writing this is that I acted correctly in that situation.

Since then, I've had to redirect my career--no more night shifts. 

Yet, in the past five years, my life circumstances have become challenging in other ways. I've had to deal with remaining housed and keeping my basic needs met, on an amount of money that many would believe is impossibly small. I've had to take care of myself to the extent that I would not end up institutionalized or unhoused. I've had to jump through all the hoops the government has created, so that I could keep my Social Security benefits and my Housing benefits. When you are disabled, remaining housed is generally not a "given." It is something you can't take for granted and that you must take action to maintain. 

Under circumstances like the above, how could I be happy? Could I be happy? And then, there is the psych disability itself and how the symptoms interfere with brain function. And happiness involves many types of brain function. 

For men who have suffered from schizophrenia, incarceration is all too common. When incarcerated, including if lucky enough to receive treatment for the condition, happiness is not part of the picture. For mentally ill people, homelessness is common as well, and many of those with major mental illness who are unhoused do not have their wits about them enough that they could possibly survive. And, if a little bit older, age and medical conditions catch up. And if homeless, the conditions do not facilitate surviving, if we have medical issues. 

However, when we have our liberty and live in comfortable, secure housing, happiness has a chance to enter the picture. We might find a person who could become our friend. We might make many friends. We might hang around and watch a basketball game. When mentally ill, we must enjoy life on a smaller scale. Yet, life can bring enjoyment, when we are in treatment, and when our basic needs are met. 

Sometimes the brain condition interferes with happiness. And it may be possible to practice mindfulness, or we may get help from our prescribing psychiatric practitioner or psychiatrist. Yet, when we get older, we really deserve some comfort and some happiness, so long as we are not interfering with anyone else's lives. 

To the reader, be happy and be well!