I Am Back
Well, I am back from the women's retreat. I have mixed emotions.
I love getting together with women that we don't have a chance to get with at church. I sat next to a woman that I have not seen in 30 years. It was fun getting caught up with her.
We split up into small groups after the large group session and this one woman I know from church started talking about helicopter parenting and she knows she hovers but there is just so much evil in the world right now. There has been evil from the beginning of time and you cannot shelter your child from it. So, my thought was okay she's a bit weird.
Then the next day I started sharing about Ryan being bipolar and how challenging it has been in the past. She pipes up about her husband's sister is bipolar and they had her in their house and they had to get their kids out of there because they felt such an evil presence. Oh man, that struck a nerve with me, mental illness is not from the devil!!!! It is a disease just like heart disease. I told her that I really take offense to what she just said. Pissed me off. She said she did not mean to offend me but we were a bit cold to one another afterwards. I cannot believe in this day and age that people still believe that way.
Anyway, a group of us went to dinner and had a good time and the line dancing was a blast. It was a lot of the young mother's that don't get to go out much and they were having the best time. I get along with the young ones better anyway.
I love getting together with women that we don't have a chance to get with at church. I sat next to a woman that I have not seen in 30 years. It was fun getting caught up with her.
We split up into small groups after the large group session and this one woman I know from church started talking about helicopter parenting and she knows she hovers but there is just so much evil in the world right now. There has been evil from the beginning of time and you cannot shelter your child from it. So, my thought was okay she's a bit weird.
Then the next day I started sharing about Ryan being bipolar and how challenging it has been in the past. She pipes up about her husband's sister is bipolar and they had her in their house and they had to get their kids out of there because they felt such an evil presence. Oh man, that struck a nerve with me, mental illness is not from the devil!!!! It is a disease just like heart disease. I told her that I really take offense to what she just said. Pissed me off. She said she did not mean to offend me but we were a bit cold to one another afterwards. I cannot believe in this day and age that people still believe that way.
Anyway, a group of us went to dinner and had a good time and the line dancing was a blast. It was a lot of the young mother's that don't get to go out much and they were having the best time. I get along with the young ones better anyway.
Replies
Sounds like you had a good time for the most part. I am glad you said something to that lady. It\'s people like that that are part of the problem with the mentally ill not seeking the treatment they need. She needs to be educated. I have been thinking on this topic recently. With the gun shootings, crazy cult kidnappings,and what not. This seems to more than not lead back to someone with mental illness that went untreated. I ask myself with everyone being forced to have insurance why is it that so many are still not being treated? Well I know there are many reasons. But from a medical billing stand point this is what I have noticed with the folks that do actually have insurance. One of my practices I bill for deals with severe mental illness. Long term residential and partial hospital treatment. The damn insurance companies don\'t want to pay. Obviously this is something that a authorization would be needed. Great we get that and then submit the bill and get paid squat. Or they will allow a certain amount but say it\'s all the patient/member responsibility.Do to go pay, deductible, or out of network rate. What they do allow doesn\'t even cover the room and board let alone the meds, the therapy etc. Also when you call for benefits you have to transfer to the mental illness side. Which makes it seem like even the insurance doesn\'t see this as a real medical condition. Yup... that\'s a shame.
Thanks for responding. My son was an adult when he had his first break. And as my husband likes to say, it is not against the law to be crazy and the only time anyone will intervene is when they are either a threat to themselves or someone else. You would not believe the hoops that we had to go thru to get him Baker Acted and in treatment. He has been put in jail, which also infuriates me, but at least I knew where he was for three months, for trespassing on college grounds and asking a student if she wanted to ride on his spaceship. The mentally ill have no business being in jail. And was also put on probation for stealing a pair of shoes from the Salvation Army. I mean, really, my son has never been in trouble a day in his sane life. If steps had been taken to treat some of the mentally ill going in a creating chaos in our schools, then these incidences could have been prevented. Yes, the whole system burns my ass. Just blame it on the guns.....
People are so stupid. Still such a horrible stigma attached to the word bipolar. People don\'t know what it is. It\'s like when I tell people I was diagnosed with ocd. They assume I\'m always washing my hands and cleaning. No. Lol
I\'m thinking about trying to find a church soon. I yearn for new friendships and a place to go to be a part of something bigger than myself. I didn\'t grow up with this. My mom was Buddhist. My husband is Catholic and I baptized my daughter Catholic. I may try out an episcopal church soon. I\'ll keep hopping around until I find one I like.
I grew up in church, Baptist, and it was so judgmental and hypocritical that I swore when I got 18 that I would never set foot in another. I always felt like something was missing. So, Mike and I started shopping around. We settled on a Presbyterian but did not agree with the pastor so started shopping again and ended back at a Baptist for ten years but got burned really bad by the pastor and went a long time without going. We have been at our new church, Presbyterian, for seven years now and it is the first place I have been that is not so legalistic and love us right where we are. We love it, a lot of young people. Good luck in your search and journey.