A while ago, a thought crossed my mind that I should look up some information on mental illness. Why? There were two people that I had run into that either had come from tough family upbringings or perhaps had developed some sort of mental illness.
One guy (let's call him Guy #1) is someone that I played basketball with and against on a semi-regular basis. He has a habit of talking and mumbling to himself when he is alone. In addition, when he plays basketball, he gets very distracted and doesn't play defense. So, many of the guys get frustrated and so they don't pick him up to play.
I don't know if he necessarily had a mental illness but he is a very distracted individual. I understood the others frustrations on the court and I admit I got frustrated too. Off the court, I am a pretty easy going individual and tried to talk to Guy #1. I felt being friendly would be a good approach. After all, sometimes people just need someone to talk to. Alas, that didn't get me too far. Guy #1 is not the type to reflect and look at himself.
The second guy (Guy #2) is a former high school classmate of mine. I hadn't seen him in years but ran into him at the mall one day. Like Guy #1, Guy #2 tended to mumble to himself as well. When I talked to him, he stuttered a lot and was very high strung.
The interesting thing is that Guy #2 actually recognized me and we talked a bit. Unlike Guy #1, Guy #2 seemed to be a little more in touch with himself. However, I don't know what issues Guy #2 had in his life as he was working a part time job as a ticket taker at the local theater near the mall. There's absolutely nothing wrong with what he was doing. However, when I asked him what he has been doing since high school, he said had been going to school but never finished. I didn't mean to make him feel guilty but I was just curious.
All in all, I can't say for sure these two individuals had mental illness. They could have just come from some tough circumstances in their family lives. The one thing that does tie these two guys together is that they are drifting through life. Guy #1 indicated that his family had moved back to Asia leaving him and his sister here. Guy #1 is not working and I assume is living off his sister or something. Guy #2 is working a low level job and doesn't seem to have any plan for the future.
For myself, I see these guys and wonder "Why can't anyone help them?" or "Why don't they realize they might need some help?" I am seeing a lot of people these days that are like these two individuals. They wander around and drift through life aimlessly.
Sometimes I wonder if I should be doing more but I am but one individual and I'm not trained to help people in life matters. Plus, sometimes, friends and/or family need to step up and realize that these individuals need to get help.
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