Call me crazy

My mother, my sister and  I  watched a drama last night
It was called Call Me Crazy
And was on Lifetime
I had seen in advertised on tv and thought it looked good
It followed the stories of 5 people whose lives have been effected by mental health issues
First we were introduced to Lucy
Lucy was a petite blonde in her thirties
She had schizophrenia
When we picked up her story
She was being admitted to hospital
And was trying to decide whether to give up studying law or not
She confessed that she heard voices
And hallucinated
She admitted that she had stopped taking her meds
Because of the side effects
She also talked about her younger sister
And how she kept her distance and hadn't been to visit her
I could really relate to that
At end of her story
She was being discharged
And going back to live with her family




Next we met mother and daughter
Amy and Megan
Megan's mother Amy suffered from bi-polar disorder



This story focused on how Amy's illness effected Megan
As she was very young
And trying to manage school and teenager-dom
As well as a mentally ill mother
We say how Amy's moods bounced up and down
From euphoria to depression
When she was high
She was manic
Talking fast
Spending money
And when she crashed
She took to her bed
Needless to say it really effected Megan
But she did her best to help her mother



Next we met Alison




She was coming home from college
And bringing her boyfriend home for the first time
When she arrived home
She realized that her sister was there too
Her sister turned out to be Lucy from the first story
Alison was really upset that she was home
We were told how when Lucy was very unwell
She tried to strangle Alison
Alison became very upset
And spoke about how her sister got all the attention
And she was kind of forgotten about
I know this can happen in families
I know my own sister (The other sister) has often mentioned that she felt that I got more attention and love than she did
I guess it does happen that the sick member of the family soaks up a lot of the families time and attention
But it was clear that Alison and Lucy loved each other
And they were trying hard to get on with each other

Next up was Eddie
Eddie was a stand up comedian
And married
We saw how when he was on stage
He was loud and brash and outspoken
But he was hiding a secret
He was battling depression
When he wasn't on stage
He was tired and listless
And spent a lot of time in bed
His wife didn't understand what was happening
And Eddie didn't tell her much
It wasn't until his wife found a suicide note and pills that she realized how bad things were
That's the thing about mental illness
You can look perfectly fine from the outside
Even though you are dying on the inside
People presume that if you look well on the outside
Then you must be fine on the inside

Last we Maggie (Played by Jennifer Hudson)



As we picked up her story
She was just back from a war zone
And was trying to adjust back to life with her father and her son
Soon after returning home
She got news that her commanding officer had been killed
But she refused to go to the funeral
We then found out that he had been sexually assaulting her
And she was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder
She was having night terrors
And one night she attacked her father
Her son called the police
And Maggie began to unravel
Her son was taken  off her
And she was living on her own in a motel
She was drinking
And generally wasn't well
Then her lawyer arrived
And it turned out to be Lucy from the first story
Lucy was very kind to Maggie
And told her her story
It gave Maggie hope
And she began to put her life back together

I thought this drama was good
Although I thought they would have included an eating disorder story
Given that it has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness
I thought it was interesting that they showed how family members are effected
I think it's really true that when one member of the family gets sick
The whole family gets sick
Sometimes it was hard to watch
As I could relate so much
But there was also humour
Which I thought was really good

I took a lot from this drama
Mostly that there is hope
No matter how bad things get
No matter how low you sink
No matter how dark it gets
There is always hope
I am proof of that
For the longest time I was so lost
So unwell
So low
I really thought that there was no way back
That people like me didn't make it out
But I did
I made it out
I still struggle
I still have days when I want to get in to bed and sleep forever
But I keep going
I keep putting one foot in front of the other
And move forward
I have suffered long enough
It's my time to live now

Have you seen the drama Call me crazy?
What did you think of it?