Our Brains

I recently read a book written by Lauren Haynes, a member of the church I serve. The title of the book is A Different Road. This book details the struggles she and her family went through as they raised and continued to care for a man with very different brain function than what most people would consider normal. He is autistic and suffers from depression and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

One frustration she and her family would often face was that her son is extremely intelligent, but the autism symptoms affect the way he expresses himself. Since he grew up in the middle of the 20th century, that often led to people thinking he was unintelligent, and treating him like a child or even a lost cause. Several doctors encouraged the family to institutionalize the young man and forget that he was their son.

The book is available on Amazon, and it is a wonderful, heart-breaking read.

Haynes makes a point several times throughout the book, and it is something I have been reflecting on quite a bit since reading it. She mentions how much effort is put into healing diseases of the body, and then suggests that we should spend as much or maybe much more researching how to heal the brain. After all, the brain is much more complex than any of those other systems of the body.

My brain works strangely. At least, I think it does, in comparison to others. I have a mental illness called Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. OCD is often presented in media as a kind of funny thing. Haha, that guy has to wash his hands all the time. Haha, that woman has to have all the cans lined up a certain way. OCD is a serious, debilitating disorder. At its heart, OCD is about uncertainty. It manifests itself in many different ways, but the result is a set of rituals, physical or mental, that are meant to eliminate the uncertainty. Sometimes they are logical, as in knowing that anti-bacterial soap kills germs, but maybe I missed one, so I ought to do it one more time. Another logical one might be checking the oven or the door, because maybe you just forgot that you really did leave it on, even though you just checked. Others are more mystical or even magical, like counting steps or making sure to balance the twitches of the face. Sometimes they are totally mental as in continually checking to make sure you aren't a bad person or going to do a bad thing.

There were times in my life when these compulsions were overwhelming. I realize to someone who doesn't suffer from OCD these things may sound ridiculous.

There are good things that come from OCD as well. Usually someone with OCD will do a project with excellence, partly because if something is short of perfection they will take it apart and do it again and again until they are satisfied. That makes some projects take a really long time for me. But the end result is that the project is done as well as I am capable of doing it.

Fortunately my OCD is under reasonable control now. I will always suffer with it to some extent, but when I have good habits and am sure to take medication that balances the chemicals in my brain, I am better.

I am writing all this because mental illness is still stigmatized. People are unwilling to seek treatment for something they want to simply think their way out of. Haynes' book reminded me that the brain is the most complex part of the body. We know so little about how it works. Why would we think it needs less medical intervention than the heart or the stomach?

For those of you who struggle with a form of mental illness, you are not alone. It's common, normal even, to have these struggles. Don't add to the struggles by shaming yourself for having an illness.

For those who do not struggle with mental illness, be grateful. Not only that, please recognize that those who do have mental illness aren't simply weak or lacking in any way. Our brains don't work the same way yours do. That doesn't keep us from being smart, helpful, inventive, or whatever other positive things you can add to that list.

Thanks, Lauren Haynes, for reminding me.

That's the view from where I stand today...