A Fulfilled Life

What fulfills me? What is my passion? Now those are very interesting questions. While I have many passions, most are nice but not specifically fulfilling. While it may sound like a company slogan or sales pitch, the reality is that my work fulfills me. It is not the company or money from working that does it, it is the people. I am a Mental Health Professional. There are various names for what I do; counselor, therapist, crisis responder, Impact team member; but they all mean the same thing to me, helping someone in need. Yes, there are many ways to help those in need, but in my career that is not always so cut, dry and pretty looking as donating money or food to those in need or rescuing animals. Sometimes it is talking someone through the urge to hurt or kill themselves. Other times it can be laying on the floor with a kid having a panic attack, just trying to get them to breath instead of hyperventilating.

There are many different types of jobs within the scope of my career, more than one of which I have worked in. Currently I work for what is called the Impact team. This is having a Mental Health Professional ride with various law enforcement departments to help where we can. So, I guess while providing counseling or therapy is a passion, it would be this program that fulfills me. Knowing I can not only reach out to and be there for people in crisis, but also help bridge the gap between law enforcement and the general population. So many people distrust law enforcement that there are times they do not want help, even if they need it, from law enforcement that were called to them for help.

Are there times I can’t help someone, yes. This is the hardest part of any profession, learning that you cannot make some change, get help they need, or even stop them from killing themselves if they are committed to it. Do those times haunt me, yes. But there are so many cases that I have been able to help them decide they want help, give them help they have not been able to find or even talk them out of killing themselves. Those are the ones I focus on; those are what fulfills me. Knowing I was able to help a person who wanted to change do so. There are times it takes many interactions for the person to decide they want something different. The key is to understand that it is that person’s choice, not yours, on when they want help as well as what kind of help. People can be like clouds, ever changing and each one unique.

Just because a person is depressed, bi-polar, grieving, schizophrenic or any other mental disorder, it does not mean they should be blamed for what is going on. That would be the same as blaming someone with a heart defect or immune system problems for their illness. And make no mistake mental disorder and substance use disorders are very much a form of disease, with biological factors that often contribute. Yes, it is the individual’s choice to take care of themselves and seek help, just as it is for a diabetic or person with renal failure. This is where my passion comes from for mental health in general. Helping people who are so stigmatized to not “feel crazy”. Grieving a lost one is not crazy, neither is using illegal substances to dull pain. It is not healthy in the long term and something one should work on, but not crazy. This is about helping people realize that nobody is perfect, and it is ok to be your less than perfect self, and still love that person. This does not mean there are not things you want to change or work on in that non-perfect version of yourself, just that you accept yourself as you are now. Don’t wait to love yourself until you are perfect, or you never will.