My Journey with Mental Illness

In this article, I delve a little deeper into introducing who I am.

I have been living with my wife, who has a Grade 2 mental disability, for over 15 years. However, my involvement with mental illness goes beyond that.

I hope you will read this article and decide for yourself whether I am someone you can trust. If you find it interesting after that, I would be very happy.

Five Events Where I Faced Mental Illness

How have I been involved with mental illness? Broadly speaking, I have experienced the following five events.

• Anxiety & Panic Symptoms (University)

• Meeting My Wife (University to Working Life)

• Working in a Medical Setting (Working Life)

• Caring for My Mother (Working Life)

• A Junior Colleague's Adjustment Disorder (Working Life)

Anxiety & Panic Symptoms (University)

During my university days, I experienced suffering from poor mental health. My symptoms included anxiety, loss of appetite, and panic attacks.

I would become obsessed with the sound of my heartbeat or feel a sense of breathlessness, wondering if I had some kind of illness. During this time, nothing was fun, and even the food I loved didn't taste good.

The most troublesome thing was the panic symptoms. When I got on a train, I would feel suffocated and like I was going to choke. I even collapsed once.

From this experience, I learned firsthand just how painful poor mental health can be.

Meeting My Wife (University to Working Life)

From the time we started dating, I realized that my wife was not in a good mental state.

This was because she would suddenly send abnormally long emails or call me while trembling, saying she was afraid of her family. (There were various other things as well.)

Therefore, when I started working and moved out of my parents' house, I decided we should live together.

Since then, while living with my wife, I have learned how to face and deal with mental illness.

Working in a medical setting (as a working adult)

Because I was employed at a hospital, I often had opportunities to talk with people who were anxious due to illness or who had mental health conditions.

The department I was assigned to was full of people suffering from serious illnesses. Therefore, I paid close attention to the words I used, the order in which I spoke, and the speed of my speech when conveying information.

I often met the same people repeatedly, so I developed the habit of observing their changes by asking, 'How are you feeling today?'

I believe this experience has been useful in how I handle situations when my wife is not feeling well.

Caring for my mother (as a working adult)

When my mother suffered from a serious illness, I explained her condition and treatment methods to her while being mindful of her mental state.

My mother, who had always been physically strong, had no immunity to illness, and she became mentally fragile upon learning that she had a serious condition.

Since she was hospitalized at my workplace, I coordinated with her attending physician. After listening to the doctor, I provided supplementary explanations to minimize her anxiety.

I believe this experience has also been useful in how I handle situations when my wife is not feeling well.

A junior colleague's adjustment disorder (as a working adult)

I also had to deal with a junior colleague in my department who developed an adjustment disorder. The person who developed the disorder was serious and hardworking.

The cause of the onset was that they warned a colleague who was chatting instead of working and were met with defiance. They began to cry during work and were eventually transferred to a different department.

Currently, they seem to be working happily in a different department. Personally, I regret that they had to be transferred. However, it was an event that made me realize that sometimes it is important to leave a difficult environment.

A final word

Because my workplace was a hospital, I had many opportunities to interact with people with mental illnesses, and I have also experienced my own mental health struggles. From such experiences, I have learned about the pain of mental illness and the difficulty of providing support.

Therefore, I believe that in my articles, I can provide 'more practical information on the mindset and approaches for those providing support that cannot be found on the internet'.

If you fail to handle mental illness correctly, both parties will only end up suffering. I hope you will use these articles as a reference and take a shortcut toward symptom improvement.