Life Lessons from Mental Illness

The simple things…

…can give you hope

While my son was a patient at the State Hospital, I showed up for a visit just in time to see that he was heading off for a recreational therapy activity at the ropes course on campus. They invited me to go with them, then surprised me by inviting me to participate - which, of course, I took them up on. I’m not missing out on that....

The activity was to work as a team to balance a tennis ball on a small metal ring which had ropes tied to it. Each of us held the end of one of the ropes, making us resemble a giant spider. We had to coordinate our efforts to move the ball some distance away and drop the ball into a bucket. Then we moved to another bucket that was balanced in a tree, and tried to drop the ball into that bucket.

It was as hard as it sounds.

But we got better as we practiced, and the patients had great ideas for how to accomplish the task. I was most impressed by their good-natured willingness to keep trying, even when we dropped the ball and had to start over. The Recreational Therapists were patient and lighthearted as they encouraged everyone to do their best.

Most of the patients did well with the activity. They were able to think, and reason, and help. A couple of them, though, didn’t do so well with the activity. After the first failed attempt, they left the ball-in-the-bucket problem for the rest of us to work on, and wandered off to sit on a bench or lie on the grass. It was apparent that they had other things on their minds - perhaps a whole universe of other things.

But they were there. And they did the best they could do.

Afterwards, we sat in a circle and talked about what we learned. The patients came up with great comments, such as the fact that we did better when the person making suggestions was clear about what they wanted or needed. We talked about honesty in how we felt when we dropped the ball, and how important it is to be honest about symptoms and experiences so that the treatment team can help. When we had to start over, we were disappointed and a little frustrated, but we didn't give up.

Life lessons.

One patient, who was very quiet and seemed to be preoccupied with other things, was one who left the activity and sat a little ways apart from us. When we got back to the unit, he had a leaf and a small stick with him that he'd picked up outside. Something about the items appealed to him, and he brought them "home". The Recreational Therapist gently told him that he wouldn't be able to have them on the unit, so he left both items sitting on a chair in the hallway.

For some reason, I was incredibly touched by this grown man’s simple and childlike act of finding and keeping little treasures - things that no one else may find important or valuable but, to him, were special nonetheless.

It made me sad that he couldn't keep what he’d found. But maybe showing them to you will celebrate his act of finding something simple and beautiful in the midst of a troubling time, and hanging on to it. That in itself is a life lesson - one we would all do well to remember.