Sunday Scribblings " Source"

My daughters childhood collection of trolls!

Posted to break the tension of a serious subject!

This weeks prompt for Sunday scribblings is "Source" which appropriately fits with a subject dear to my heart. Media needs to be accurate when covering stories about mental illness. Surmising only re-victimizes the casualties!

I have a difficult time with medias depiction of mental illness. Rarely do they accurately speak for the victims subjected to bullying by mentally ill. Blame perpetrated on the casualties is beyond reasoning. Anyone who's lived with those inflicted knows the struggle a family faces. Walking on constant egg shells in fear of exacerbating the escalating unpredictable moods. Learning the game of appeasement at a very young age, or in a new marriage, while fearing ongoing degradation.

Instead it’s only the derelict types on skid row portrayed as the worst case scenario. Or a celebrity caught behaving badly during a high profile incident, which is usually sloughed off as substance abuse. Often the functioning ones fall through the cracks, finding co-dependants who rescue and protect them. Undetected, with age, the illness progresses and intensifies until even the co-dependant is unable to corral or contend with it! A quiet voice of reasoning after an episode becomes a stalemate. The co-dependant is threatened to now become another victim instead of an ally.

 Sadly it can takes years for co-dependants to recognize the actuality of Mental illness. In the meantime they usually suffer insurmountable abuse. That’s why media should stop exploiting the casualties of mental illness and focus on going to the source. Frustrated Families can suffer quietly along with mentally ill relatives for years before finding a pittance of peace or relief surrounding the illness. Often terrified of retribution if they expose the truth! That's why it's so important for media to understand this subject in all it's complexities!

A Family Scathed

 

Oh yes it’s a disease

Characterized

by highs and lows

Where anger repels

Those in it’s midst

Branded forever

The flock is

Unable to escape

Permanently burnt

Memories

Of havoc

And ramifications

Stamped on their psyche

Self medicating

A damning factor

Escalates

Tirades

Forcing appeasement

Fortitude

Surrender

Exploitation

Terror arises

Then sinks

Into crevices

where festering

Scars are

Embedded

On the

Soul

Awaiting

The villans

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