The Status of a Mental Health Consumer
Circumstances are difficult to accept
NEW YORK CITYVOICES: Winter 2006
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By Craig Bayer A long time ago, when I decided to be a writer and political activist, I knew that I might spend some, if not the rest of my life in a low economic bracket.
What I didn�t realize is that my �vow of poverty� would not be completely voluntary. I was, in a sense, destined because of my standards, politics, personality, interests and abilities to be at the lowest end of the totem pole.
In the years since my �vow of poverty,� my biggest struggle has been with coming to terms with living in a �low� economic position where I have little money, little status and little power.
Of course, when I was younger, I came to sincerely believe that being able to live amongst the poor and oppressed was a sign of spiritual strength and intellectual integrity.
What I didn�t realize is that it was also going to be essential to my mental health to adjust to being poor.
I am not saying that I am resigned to living off government assistance for the rest of my life�although that might be an eventuality. But I am saying that I am going to have to get used to not dreaming of incredible wealth and power. I�m not going to be a famous writer or radical. I am not going to win a Nobel Prize or be elected president. I�m not going to make a lot of money off of my writing or activism.
So what, indeed, am I going to do?
I�ve decided to work as hard as I can and see what happens.
I want to write and organize as much as possible, of course, because that�s what fulfills me. I also plan to re-enter the workforce because that�s where I am going to earn the money to socialize, to travel, to invest in my literary and political ambitions. I�m probably going to be just a lowly office worker because that�s how my business career has evolved.
I�ll have to work hard for my money, save hard for my travels, and budget more self-consciously because I�m probably never going to hit the literary or political lottery (and I refuse to play the economic one).
But all the sweat and stress I have to endure living life like this, beats the stress and sweat and toll it takes on my mental health when I am busy raging at myself or the world over my lack of political, economic and social status.
How do you feel about being a mental health consumer? NYC Voices wants to know. You may use the information on page two to contact us.
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