What I Am Learning from/with My Students

This semester's Good Books class has been wonderful. I am learning so much from and with my students. The choice to add in My Friend Dahmer and 72 Hour Hold has been beneficial. With Derf Backderf's book -which I have already talked about in this blog - students talked about Dahmer's drinking and loneliness and wondered why the people who knew him didn't intervene, or at least ask questions about his erratic and disturbing behavior.

With Bebe Campbell Moore's book, those who read it commented more on the relationships of the characters, especially between Keri and Trina and Ma Missy, and less about the mental illness of bipolar disorder that caused so much stress in their lives. It's interesting to me, as well, that no one really talked about the fact that the book was the only one in the course that featured African American characters.

Thanks to a former student (one who took Good Books with me a few years ago) who pointed out the lack of diversity in my selected course materials, I have done more research on how mental illness is perceived in African American communities. Here are some of the things I've discovered (again, thanks in part to that student who did a directed study with me on issues of race and mental illness in young adult literature).

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, African Americans are not receiving as much from our mental health care system. For instance, only one-third of African Americans who need mental health care are receiving it. Moreover, African American individuals are more likely to leave treatment or stop medications than others. Problems with misdiagnosis, lack of access to resources, and cultural stigma associated with asking for assistance from a frequently mistrusted health system often interfere with individuals being appropriately treated for mental illnesses. One other issue, which is shared with Latino/a community members, is strongly held religious beliefs which may hold options for therapy or medication in less esteem than prayer. The American Psychiatric Association offers a great resource on "Mental Health in the African American Community." See here for more.

Bebe Moore Campbell was an incredible advocate for mental health awareness and the reduction of stigma associated with mental illness, especially in African American communities. Her death in 2006 was a blow to all of us; however, because of her legacy of amazing literature and the NAMI groups she founded in California, we are more informed and better poised to change the stigma associated with mental illness in this country. Here is a link to the NAMI statement about her death and the importance of her advocacy.

I'm glad I know more about mental illness thanks to the books I've read. More importantly, I'm fortunate to have taken away some insights from my students about these texts, including these:

• Mental illness is something we don't talk about often, but talking about the issue is how we begin to overcome the fear.
• Shusterman's novel demonstrated that mental illness isn't something that typically happens all of a sudden but progresses over time.
• Campbell's book showed some of the ridiculous problems people have getting help for mental illnesses and also highlighted the fact that some doctors have bought into a system that is about money and not about recovery.
• Books - fiction and nonfiction -  can help us to develop empathy for those who are living with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, depression, PTSD, drug/alcohol addiction, and other disorders. Literature can also help us learn more about what having a mental illness means not just for the person with the illness but also for family, friends, and neighbors.
• We need to pay attention to our relatives, friends, and neighbors, and offer to support them and help them seek treatment if they have a mental illness. And we need to fight for better access to care for all people.

Thanks for listening. :)