THE REAL WORLD OF
MENTAL ILLNESS
JC Bowman, ProEd Executive Director
It’s often difficult to find solutions
for people suffering with an
underlying mental illness. Mental
health is not a subject we readily
discuss with others. We keep it
hidden. Yet, we must all still live
in the real world, where mental
illness affects 1 out of 5 people.
I grew up with a father who suffered
from untreated depression. He
never admitted to me the cause of
the issues, we just knew that when
he had his mood swings, we had to
be scarce. The smallest thing would
upset him. It could be coming in late,
not cleaning up a room, talking during
the news, or grades. It didn’t really
matter. You knew it was coming and
you learned to cope. But some of us cope
better than others.
I never really talk about it. Until lately,
outside my wife, my brother, or occasionally
my mom, I keep it bottled up inside. It was
like a badge of courage that I survived the
effects of my father’s depression. I knew it,
and that was enough.
I am now the executive director of a teachers’
association. The stories I see bring me back to
my childhood. I see teachers every week that
are beaten down. They deal with angry
parents, angry school administrators,
and their own families who are angry
that the teachers are being forced
to go through stressful issues.
Teachers have other stressors such
as evaluations, parent conferences,
and lack of time and resources.
I have no doubt that in many
cases some of our teachers are
suffering from post-traumatic
stress disorder.
One Ten nessee teacher sent me
a rather profound statement.
She wrote: The real world is