I have been here two and a half years, a single mother of my 33-year-old son with serious chronic mental illness.
People with mental illness need to be respected and treated with kindness instead of being feared and avoided. I just cannot understand how such a wealthy county does not have case manager navigators to take someone like me by the hand and help people like me — caregivers — find affordable, competent help, resources, places for our loved ones to live and get help. I was hoping for that somewhere in the U.S.A., but it seems to be a delusion, a mirage.
A family member told me once my son was my burden to be dealt with on my own and not to bother others with. This is how the whole world seems to feel except for organizations like NAMI, Schizophrenia and Psychosis Action Alliance, and Hearing Voices Network.