Language Barriers

     If you have ever traveled to another area that speaks a language you do not know, it's kind of hard to get your message across. Yes you can use a language dictionary and muddle your way through and there might be a chance that the person you are talking to figure out what you need and help you out. What if you didn't have a dictionary to help you out? There may still be a chance that you can do the whole charades thing and if you got someone who has played it before and is good at it, you again might get the help you need. Now what if there is such a language barrier that signalling or acting out your needs does not help, what do you do then?
      You walk around trying to communicate with anyone who makes eye contact with you. What if it is a real emergency and you add a little bit of panic to your voice or your actions are so quick that you are scaring people away? How is that going to make you feel? You may feel a whole variety of emotions like being overwhelmed, scared, angry, frustrated, confused as to what to do and many more. If you were to see someone exhibiting these things, what would you be thinking? What would you do? How would you act?
      To someone with MI these are common daily experiences, maybe not in the same outwardly manner but it is going on inside them. It is difficult for some people to express what is going on inside them whether it is an emotional thing or if it is a psychological thing or even a physical thing. If you do not know the words to put with the feeling, you might as well be speaking in another language. This can happen to anyone regardless of having MI or not, but this does exacerbate things when you throw MI into the bag.
      Once you realize this and can learn to be able to "read between the lines" it makes it somewhat easier for those who are dealing with MI to be able to get their needs across to the right people. We have jails and prisons full of people who have MI that failed to get their needs met. Sometimes it is at the fault of the MI one who doesn't take their medications due to the inability to buy them and sometimes it is because they think they don't need medications. There are so many out there that don't even know they have MI because no one took the time to talk to them or to connect MI to one's actions.
      There are also those out there that have their hands ties by the laws of the land and can not legally do anything to change it. Another group of people are those who just have not learned the language of MI and do not even know how to notice it or refuse to see it. These are some of the things that need to be changed in order for MI individuals to get the help they need. People need to be willing to learn to recognise this and emergency personal need to learn the language and what to do once they see it. Investigate what is the best and quickest way to get people to a stable place.
      Just because individuals learn the language also does not guarantee that all people with MI can be helped it just means that we can do a better job of helping those who want the help. I believe that the majority of people who deal with MI, don't like how it makes them feel and want it to stop. Some want to work and be a productive member of society but can't because they either don't know how to or don't have the support network to do so. MI can be a crippling disease but it doesn't have to be. People with MI can learn to live a long happy life if we would just learn their language.