I don't often watch television since I've left behind "illness" for this new, full life of "wellness"...
I don't watch a lot of television but one day earlier this week I got home and flipped on the tv to a program on Oprah. The story was heart-wrenching - when he was just 9, Aaron's twin brother died of a brain tumor.
Aaron told his Mom that he "didn't want to be here anymore".
Aaron's Mom of course, calls the pediatrician who saved Aaron's life in more ways than one.
First, instead of labeling him "mentally ill" with "suicidal ideation" and "clinical depression" and so on....
she listened to him and heard his pain, saw his grief.
Then she helped Nate to make meaning from this horrendous loss and honor his brothers memory by using his pain to fuel his passion for cooking.
Grief is a normal human emotion....
a normal human response to loss
not an illness.
Aaron missed the "magic bullet" and the drugs that would have changed him and his life forever.
Three cheers and a whole bunch of hurrahs for a doctor who listened and allowed this boy his tears instead of labeling him "disordered" and giving him that lifetime membership to "Club MI".
