Surviving the Tornadoes of Mental Illness

Receiving a mental illness diagnosis is a life changing experience. Whether it is something you experience or a loved one, both are affected.

Your head is spinning and you feel off-balance. It feels like a cyclone, a tornado bringing devastation, lost dreams and broken hearts.

The emotions of someone with mental illness acts out very much like a tornado.

The emotions seem to fly out of nowhere, gain strength and cause untold casualties as they rip through the lives of the diagnosed, their family and others who love them.

I am not a mental health professional, I am just a mother trying my best to bear up under the highs, the lows; the winds, the torrent rains and the severe storms.

Each day brings its unique issues and demands. But every once in a while, you can see glimmers of a smile, a sparkle in their eyes and if you’re lucky, a bit of humor shines out that makes you giggle. It’s when that happens that you realize….there is still hope.

“Sometimes God calms the storm,

but sometimes God lets the storm rage

and calms His child.”

― Leslie Gould, The Amish Nanny

So, I get up with high hopes for the day.

I take the frustrations, disappointments, the steps backward to the One who promises that if I give it all to Him, He is faithful,

It is my prayer…when the chaos of the tornado twirls me ’till I’m dizzy and throws me with its fury…

I know it’s time…

 to stop googling,

 go to a quiet place and

 “look up”!