Difficult Topic #2

Dear Baby,

I want to talk more about "mental disorders", since there's a possibility you'll inherit one from your daddy or myself. Lots of people have different medical factors in their life, and there's a big possibility you will too.

But, rest assured, Baby, there's nothing wrong with you. Everyone is different: We have different hair, different skin, different beliefs, different dreams...and we all have different bodies. Our bodies all function in different ways. I still haven't met a person who doesn't have some sort of health factor that's different from "average function". Some people get headaches very often, but someone with "average function" rarely gets headaches. Some people have asthma, but someone with "average function" never has breathing problems. And, some people have chemical imbalances in their brains, whereas someone with "average function" has everything perfectly in balance all the time.

Chemical imbalances in the brain are what cause "mental disorders". Chemical imbalances can be difficult to explain, but I think it makes sense to compare it to asthma. So that's what I'll do!

Some people have very mild asthma. These people don't need to take medicine for their asthma; they just need to be taught by their doctors how to help their lungs regain their "average function" when the asthma makes it difficult to breath. The doctors teach these people to just rest and breathe deeply when their asthma is active. Some people have moderate asthma. These people don't need to take medicine all the time; they just need to take their medicine when their lungs are extra stressed, and need a little chemical help maintaining their "average function". When these people feel better, and their lungs aren't so stressed, they can stop taking the medicine. And, some people have severe asthma. These people have to take medicine every day to help their lungs maintain their "average function". All these people have asthma, but their experiences with the asthma are different. And, all these people can live normal lives, as long as they pay extra attention to their lungs to make sure they don't get too stressed.

Just like asthma, there's different severities of chemical imbalances. Some people only need to be trained by doctors (and counsellors) on how to maintain their brain's "average function" without medicinal help. Some people only need to take medicine when their brain is extra stressed; and when they feel better, they can stop taking the medicine. And, some people need to take medicine every day to help their brain maintain its "average function". All these people have chemical imbalances, but their experiences with the imbalances are different. And, all these people can live normal lives, as long as they pay extra attention to their moods to make sure they don't get too distressed.

And, just like there's nothing wrong with a person with asthma; there's nothing wrong with a person with a chemical imbalance. It's important to remember that noone's body will function perfectly all the time. Some people don't need medicine, some people need medicine sometimes, and some people need medicine every day for all sorts of reasons. Everyone is different in every way, and being different in any way is never wrong or weird or anything you have to let get in the way of having a normal life.