lifestyle

21 Mentally Ill Patients Made These Profound Insights

5.

I’m working with a guy who sufferes from severe delusions of grandeur and paranoia. I asked him once if he might consider that his thoughts might be part of his illness. He said, “Well I certainly hope not, because my thoughts are most of who I am. I hope I’m not just a sickness on the world.”

6.

There was a girl who was 10 years old and had anorexia. She said, “My mom tells me what to do all the time, and the only thing I’m allowed to not do is eat. I’m allowed to go to bed hungry. So I kept doing it. And she kept telling me I looked prettier when I was skinny. So I kept doing it. And now I’m sick and sad all the time. And I don’t know if I can stop being sad, because if I start eating then I’m doing what she tells me again.”

7.

I used to work at a group home for adults with mental disabilities. One woman in particular was just a genuine angel. Always positive, outgoing, friendly, hard-working, and just absolutely a pleasure to be around. One time we were at the store and these two teenage boys started laughing at her and whispering loudly about the retard. I was getting furious but she just turned to me and asked if I wanted a bag of skittles. When we left the store I mentioned how well she handled herself. She just looked over at me and grinned and said: “I could see you getting mad. I thought maybe skittles would make you feel better.” She’s got a far better grasp of how to live than I ever will.

8.

My father used to work with disturbed and mentally ill children and knew a boy who was obsessed with finding out “What happens to a wasp in a gale?”. I always thought there was something hauntingly beautiful about that question.

Written by Irvi Torremoro

Irvi Torremoro is an Austinite by way of Las Vegas. She's worked in various outlets in food & beverage and is now focused on writing, eating all the things, talking about Beyonce, and petting all the puppies. She runs flavorandbounty.com, a lifestyle blog about people in the service industry.