May is Mental Health Awareness Month, which among the multitude of conditions is Multiple Sclerosis.
I’m going to go ahead and give a personal example of how I deal with it when the issue comes up later.
A few mental disorders, according to Webmd.com, can include but are definitely not limited to:
Anxiety & Panic Disorders.
Bipolar Disorder.
Depression.
Eating Disorders.
Schizophrenia.
Substance Abuse & Addiction.
To list all of them would definitely be an insurmountable task where when you think you’re all done with your list, you find out about more disorders that affect others.
Think of it as a twist on Pandora’s box– it never ends.
I know as far as Multiple Sclerosis, according to Hopkins Medicine, it says,
“For persons with relapsing-remitting MS , early in the disease, depression appears to be linked to inflammatory processes. Later, in the secondary-progressive phase, unhelpful thoughts, such as feelings of guilt, worthlessness or hopelessness are more frequent. So the depression in this case is thought to be more reactive — linked to frustrations with lifestyle changes or loss of function.”
There are many phases, and faces, to how the disease presents itself.
I was one day walking on my own without any assistance. I “graduated” to the cane for a few months.
Then, I started tripping over my own two feet with the walker which held me up for spring, summer and fall semesters before I started experiencing my legs locked up on three distinct occasions, before ultimately and unfortunately ending up in my scooter.
I’m hoping that this thing stops there.
Is it maddening? Oh yeah.
Is it frustrating? More than you can imagine.
But is it depressing? In my personal opinion, it’s only that if you let it happen.
I know once feelings of depression begin to manifest in my mind, I kick the thought to the side. Like Kimberly Wilkins once said,”aint nobody got time for that!”
There is so much to do and so much to see.
I want to not only see my associates degree. I want to step onto the Fullerton campus and have to ask where this or that building is.
I want to experience a different newsroom. I want to see what other editors think about this or that topic.
I want to get to Fullerton and earn the bachelor’s degree.
More importantly, I want to see what is in store for the future.
I still have hope of seeing what is happening in the next chapter of Luis. To be honest, I have welcomed the challenge no matter what form it comes and I don’t plan to change the frame of mind anytime soon.
Can’t stop.
Won’t stop.
Ain’t got the time to be depressed. F that.
Only about two weeks to go, Falcons. Let’s get it.
