I Have a Friend With Mental Illness (Basic Manuals for Friends of the Disabled)

Mental illness is not fun, ever. To someone who has a mental illness, life can sometimes be a nightmare, often terrifying and bizarre, always a prison of isolation. Mental illness may accompany mental retardation or learning disabilities, but it is neither of these. Mental illness, like any illness, is the loss of ability to function properly. In the case of mental illness, it is the inability of the brain to respond or adapt accurately to the real world. Those with mental illness tend to have significant trouble identifying and processing what is really happening to them and around them. This makes it very difficult for them to relate to others, think logically, to develop close and lasting relationships, or smoothly functioning work relationships. Many people with mental illness spend much or all of their lives longing for safe, close companionship that they can trust. Sadly, because of the limitations imposed by their symptoms, and because those around them do not know how to handle their illness, these people rarely develop or keep relationships. Everyone suffers: the person with the mental illness, his or her family, friends, teachers, employers or employees. To change this experience of isolation and suffering into meaningful relationships and more productive lives for all those involved, one needs to understand what mental illness is. I Have a Friend with a Mental Illness will help all to understand and help those suffering with a mental illness.