Michelle Dickinson-Moravek was the caregiver of a mother who suffered from bipolar disorder. In writing the book Breaking into My Life, Michelle launched a journey of self discovery that After years of playing the role of child caregiver, writing her memoir launched Michelle on a journey of self-discovery that unassumingly was healing.
After writing Breaking into My Life, Michelle felt a deep desire to create a positive and lasting impact in the field of mental health. Michelle crusades to raise both compassion and awareness for those struggling with mental illness as well as those who care for them. With greater awareness and compassion, Michelle looks to eradicate the mental health stigma so more people may receive treatment and live a happier and more productive life.
Why did you write the book Breaking into My Life?
Michelle wrote Breaking into My Life as a means to heal herself from her childhood experience growing up taking care of her mother, who suffered from bipolar disorder. Her goal was to cause conversations around mental illness. Initially and for years, Michelle believed that no matter what she would write in a book would never been good enough or even matter. But something in the back of her mind called to her telling her to share her story. Deep down she wanted to help at least one person. This is what she is passionate about- helping others and making a difference. Michelle began writing, Breaking into My Life. She used the lessons learned from the love of her mother, who suffered from bipolar disorder to reach out to others and inspire them to realize they are not defined by their past or current circumstances. Their future is theirs and only you can determine how your future goes from this very moment forward. As more individuals speak openly about mental illness, the stigma of any negative connotation is removed and those suffering in silence may have the courage to reach out and receive the support needed for a healthy and productive life. Michelle's goal is a day where we as a whole can discuss mental illness in the same manner we discuss other diseases such as heart disease or diabetes. Conversations with a dark veil around it cannot possibly survive. It is through open and honest communication we can find acceptance and navigate mental illness to the fullest. What do you say to people who are suffering with mental illness themselves or as a caregiver? If you bring it up are they immediately offended by that? There's always a "depends" factor. If someone is uncomfortable about discussing mental illness, of course they may be somewhat offended at some level. At times, individuals believe they may have endured a fate worse than anyone else could ever fathom. However, if they are the slightest bit receptive to conversation of their experiences, hope is present. We all encounter trials and tribulations at some point. This is part of life. Michelle's adversity was in the form of a mother who suffered from bipolar disorder. We all have a choice whether to storm through challenges and create a positive future or remain in the victim role. Let’s face it, everyone has adversity in their past. My adversity just happens to be in the color of a bipolar mother. It’s really up to you whether or not you work through your challenges and create that future for yourself, or you stay the victim. That goes beyond just trying to be positive. You really have to get to the heart of what is eating at you. In Michelle's case, she had to unearth some stuff. Finding compassion and love for her mother was not an overnight thing. It took many years to find compassion and love to replace the anger. Do people fear mental illness? Yes!!! This underlying fear is what causes so many to avoid getting help. Instead they suffer in total silence but the silence is external. Within the mind it is extremely noisy and filled with turmoil. People feel they are being judged or perceived as weak. Statistics show that we all will encounter some sort of mental challenge in our lives. How then do we still have this negative stigma about mental challenges? Michelle hopes for a shift in this paradigm. Why is this fear of mental illness unreasonable? Mental illness is a dis-ease of the brain as heart dis-ease is illness of the heart. Your brain is an organ and the most important organ at that (if you were to rate the importance of organs). Without a functioning brain, no other organ works. Whenever mental illness is discussed in the media, it’s always because a horrible thing happened. People act as if this is a one in a million experience. Considering that so many people are living with mental illness themselves or are a parent or a child of someone with mental illness, what can we do to normalize mental illness and make it relate-able? Michelle knew when she began her journey to write the book, a lot of emotion would come to the surface. But when one shares themself they also share their vulnerabilities and they become relate-able. This was an opportunity to create a space for others to see mental illness in a humanistic manner. Michelle is hopeful that through her story, this opportunity is created and people can fund humanism in mental illness. You say child caregiver for your mother who was bipolar. Explain what that experience was like. Michelle's mother suffered from bipolar disease for the majority of her childhood. As a result. Michelle spend a great deal of time with her mother. Michelle experienced her mothers treatments and the roller coaster of highs and lows that accompany bipolar disorder. More children play the role of caregiver to mentally ill parents than understood. The experience can be seen as a punishment but Michelle says you also absorb it. You are sucked into the mental illness and can even find yourself lost in it. Michelle urges caregivers to make sure you take care of yourself. It is imperative to take care of yourself! Sometimes, growing up around something like that, you think to yourself, “I never want to be in a situation where I’m close to, or have to care for someone dealing with a situation like this.” And then you ended up in another relationship as an adult, in a similar situation. Whether we intentionally want to or not, we mirror what we know. "Before I even embarked on my own self-discovery journey, healing and therapy about the impact that my childhood had on me, I found myself gravitating to a situation that was very similar to the one that I knew as a child, and found myself in a relationship that was very similar to how my mother treated me. It wasn’t until I had the courage to really break out of that and move on, where I started to find opportunities to really look within and start the healing process, and understand the patterns". Is it more difficult to find resources related to mental illness as opposed to other diseases? Yes, it appears that way. This is why Michelle provides a plethora of resources and tools on her website, BreakingintoMyLife.com. It is crucial to understand mental health in all areas of life from work to school to home life and everywhere in between. Recently, Michelle participated in a mental health first aid training at Johnson and Johnson. The purpose is to draw awareness of signs and symptoms of loved ones facing mental health obstacles. Knowledge is power and wisdom is knowing what to do with this power. With the wisdom of understanding mental health challenges, you can help others and prevent situations from going astray. What kind of feedback have you received regarding the book? "The reception to Breaking Into My Life has been overwhelming. I always knew that so many of us are impacted by mental illness, but it’s another thing to experience that personally as people respond to my memoir". The book, Breaking into My Life is raw. Michelle puts herself out there and shares a lot of her personal life. In doing so, Michelle has found incredible feedback. People have been able to relate to loving someone with a mental illness. A deeper understanding has been painted regarding the paralysis in the desire for the health of your loved ones and being helpless in being able to make that happen. What is your message for caregiving of someone with mental illness? "Don’t get lost in caring for them so much that you forget yourself. Self-care is vital". What can people do in order to make a difference to help those with mental illness? First and foremost, you need to have the fortitude to be willing and carry though with starting open and judgment free conversation about mental illness at home, school and work. If you can be open about it, others will follow suit. If mental health is seen as one in the same as physical health; as physical health is commonplace to talk about, so too will mental health. Second, understand the past is not indicative of future events if you do not want to be. You can overcome this and overcome all you have endured previously by embarking on your own journey of self- healing. The excerpt on your website is very powerful. What were your emotions while writing the book? How did you feel when it was finished? Writing a book is a process. It is not something done on a whim and completed overnight. My writing coach and I joke about how she also became my therapist during some writing sessions. During many pages such as the excerpt, I had to literally relive the entire experiences of my past and the emotions that accompanied them. This was not easy. At times, it was hell! But to get down to the rawness of it, I needed to be completely truthful. This is the only way in which I could show others what it was truly like to live with someone with mental illness. This is most likely why the book took so long to complete. There were moments where I could no longer write as tears streamed down my face. The book is finished though. I feel relieved it is finished. However, in re-reading certain chapters, a heavy feeling still comes over me. This is part of the healing process. Is there anything you’d like to add? Too many people are still suffering in silence, fearing the stigma associated with mental illness. I felt compelled to share my story, which I’ve found offers others an opening to express their own suffering. I believe that by conversation, education, and levering tools for reflection and self-care, we can remove the isolation that still exists. Together we can change minds. We must push back against the shame that so unfairly surrounds a diagnosis of mental illness by showing our support, by talking about mental illness openly, and by encouraging others to do the same. It is the only way that we, together, will help weaken the chains of stigma one link at a time.
Website – www.breakingintomylife.com
Blog page - http://breakingintomylife.com/blog/ Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/michelle.dickinson.146 Instagram – @breakingintomylife Twitter - @my_breaking You Tube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8Vt31TIEWh6dW_V2-qmtTQ 18 Percent- https://18percent.org |
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