Dear Disorder
by Kristin Beckstrom Radcliffe on 06/10/16Sir Winston Churchill once said, "Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen." When it comes to mental health and emotional disorders, the sufferer and those who love them often lack the courage to say what needs to be said, to own the scary and to talk back to the part of the sufferers brain that maintains a vice grip on the entire family.
Empowering any individual to find their courage, as painful as it may be to say or hear, is part of the gift I am lucky enough to give and receive every day in my personal and professional lives. In finding their courage, or perhaps maybe in finding mine, I may use the letter below. It isn't always easy to find the right words or draw a picture to capture the message, but it is most important that we try.
Dear (insert disorder here),
I didn't ask to welcome you into my/our life.
I don't want you here to take over my/our family.
We hate you, we fear you and we are more exasperated with you every day.
You are not (insert individual) the person who I/we love.
We/I have the power to tell you off.
We/I have to power to tell you where to stick it.
We/I have the courage to fight back against you.
We/ I have the courage to love ourselves enough to be better.
We/I have the courage and power to be in control.
You are not (insert name here), you are a beast we/I will banish.
You are not the boss of me/us!
May we all find the courage.
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