Mary Beth Smith

Journey to Mental Health Mary Beth Smith

Dwight D. Eisenhower said in 1965, "It is my belief that if the spirit of charitable giving ever dies out in this country we will have lost the human spirit of giving that is the human strength which the American people have." "If one side of the human coin is hate the other is love. If one side is greed the other is generosity. If one side is hurt the other is healing." This is important to keep in mind for recovering from mental illness. Dwight D. Eisenhower suffered from more than one depression. So did Lincoln and he handled it by getting rid of his flaws. A bipolar person can chose to become a better person. Eventually a person may have a conversion experience like Bill Wilson, a founder of A. A. had. That experience stopped his drinking. Others have become better people as a result. They stop their bad behavior. The book explains in an understandable way the difference between good and evil. Then it goes on to explain what manic depression is, based on an important textbook: Manic-Depressive Illness, Bipolar II Disorders and Recurrent Depression. A. A. published stories of conversion experiences and the author tells her's also which made her a much calmer person unable to commit even the tiniest sin. The author also stopped having depression or anxiety. I believe Theodore Roosevelt had a conversion experience. He had an epiphany when he realized he was to be a great leader of mixed races and immigrants. Next I describe my childhood of panic attacks, reading, going to an excellent school, a bad school where I learned nothing, the death of my baby niece when I was 10-years-old, my resilient father who coped with having polio, learning to fly, my mother who was mean and sarcastic when I was a teenager, bullying in high school, my programming skills and how they helped me, my breakdown and depression, and Lincoln's example of how to live a good life. The book closes by saying you don't have to be like Lincoln who learned so much, but a mentally ill person needs to work on any calling they feel compelled to perform.