Personal experience is often required for some individuals to acknowledge a different life path. An old Washington Post newspaper article reported that England's Prince William stepped out of his privileged life one Christmas Eve and fed the homeless at a British youth center. He is quoted as stating, "I can't, after one night, even begin to imagine what it must be like to sleep on the London streets night after night." As a psychiatrist, it is common to hear the struggle for unconditional acceptance of a mental illness.

Why are the symptoms of mental illness so hard to accept? Ignorance about the illness and fear of the unknown quickly come to mind. People ask how mental illness can be in their family. The answer is easy. It is a reality that mental illness is an equal opportunity illness. The disease crosses all levels of social, economic and racial barriers. Could mental illness be a family curse or punishment for a legacy of misdeeds? Despite the scientific data, many still believe mental illness is just bad behavior and poor moral values. A segment of our society assumes that the symptoms of mental illness are just manipulative games played in order to avoid responsibilities.

Our society's limited acceptance of mental illness can pose barriers to individuals developing their necessary support networks. This process of identifying an emotional support system can be painful. The person or groups identified for emotional support should accept your illness unconditionally. Those you can guarantee will trigger your self doubt and insecurities about your emotional well being should probably not a have a number on your cell phone speed dial.

If you had a heart attack and needed a support system, who would you ask for help? This is the same concept of support needed for your brain disease. What is good for your heart is good for your brain!

My first blog from the Mindsupport Minute is Embrace Your Emotional illness. Being a parent can be rewarding but also be emotionally challenging. The presence of active symptoms of illness can have a negative impact on your ability to be the best parent for a kid Just because you believe that motherhood will bring you happiness, it will not cure your chronic medical problem.

The media have informed us about the importance of post-partum issues. The image of Andrea Yates and her dead children gave us graphic visuals of the devastating impact of untreated disease. The potential consequences of untreated emotional illness do not end with the post-partum period. It is important to address your emotional illness and its impact upon parenting your child for years beyond post-partum. What are you going to do when you feel so horrible that you can't tolerate even hearing the voices of people and your kid seeks your undivided attention?

The message for this blog is your emotional illness is not a weakness, it is a medical problem. Get help for yourself. You an your child deserve it

The good news is that planning offers the best option. I have repeatedly witnessed my patients doing good jobs of raising their children. This requires them to adopt a daily life practice for managing their illness. When they are symptomatic, many have an identified support network to assist them with their parenting.

Treatment works. It has been wonderful to get holiday pictures of my patients' kids over the years. They appear happy and are reportedly doing well in school. My personal experience with motherhood changed my clinical practice of pre-pregnancy counseling. Now my question is, "Ok, if you want to be a mother, what are your plans for controlling your symptoms?" The message is to recognize that your emotional illness is real. Now what are you going to do to keep your symptoms in check for motherhood?