Dear Helper, From Someone With a Mental Illness

Dear Helper (psychiatrist, therapist, social worker, whoever you think you are),

You scare me. You are the one who knows the worst parts of me. I don’t trust you and this is not fun for me.

I need your help.

You have tools I need. Your compassion can heal me. Equally, your judgement can destroy me. You can break me, but I do not know if you can help me.

You scare me.

I like you and look up to you. I want to be like you. To have a job and be a productive, connected person. I expect you to think you are better than me.

I want you to know I am more than this. What you know of me is not me. My file has my name all over it, but nowhere in it am I found. I am more than your words, or your diagnosis.

You will not control my life.

Please help.

From,

A “Psych Patient” (friend, worker, lover, human being)

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