On Becoming an 'Accidental' Mental Health Advocate
Last year, Jimmy Kimmel gave a powerful opening monologue in response to the proposed Graham-Cassidy bill. Kimmel, like myself and millions of other parents, have become what I call accidental advocates. We do not necessarily want to be involved in politics, but because of our children’s health conditions, we have to be involved in politics. I realize this is not the true definition of an accident, but like Kimmel, “This is not my area of expertise, my area of expertise is eating pizza and that’s really about it.” Right? If someone needed an advocate for eating pizza, hiring me would be no accident, I promise!
Each and every time I am at a doctor’s appointment with my son I think of someone else’s child. At that same moment in time someone else’s child is not seeing a doctor and is living with unnecessary pain, anxiety and grief. And it is not because the parents do not want to get help for their child. It is because they can’t. They either do not have health insurance, do not understand mental illness, can’t get an appointment, do not have transportation… the list goes on and on. At the end of the day, a child who deserves to live the best life possible is denied that right.
So, even though I call myself an accidental advocate, it really is no accident. The accident is believing you can’t do something. You can. Be a voice. If just one more person gets help because of your efforts it is well worth the fight.
Follow this journey on Gracefully Crazy.
We want to hear your story. Become a Mighty contributor here.
Lead photo provided by contributor
My name is Carrie and I am an advocate for children’s mental health issues. I am also a career driven professional who is passionate about philanthropy, arts & culture and community involvement. All of this takes a lot of time, energy, focus and determination! So why start a blog? Well, after a long year of hospital stays, many different health professionals, travel to see doctors, tears, fear and pain, I felt compelled to share my story and help others facing the same challenges. And just like that, Gracefully Crazy was born! Gracefully Crazy is me. I know some people might be put off by the word crazy. I get it. To me, it just describes what my daily life is like. If anything, it pays tribute to my own mental illness diagnosis of ADHD and depression. Also, I love the word and use it all the time! “Hey, that’s crazy cool or you are a crazy awesome person!” Crazy, right? Don’t worry, I own it. My goal is to help other mothers of mentally ill children survive and thrive in their crazy world. Sounds easy, right? It is, if you do it with GRACE. I continue to work very hard to advance in my professional career and be the best mother and wife possible. If you have a child with ANY special need, you know all of this can feel simply unobtainable. I don’t buy it! I believe if we keep talking, sharing stories and lifting each other up, we ALL have the potential to do it succeed.
carrie-clogg