In Mariel Hemingway's autobiography, "Out Came the Sun," she spoke of the mental health issues her family has faced - including the suicides of her famous grandfather and her sister, Margaux. She also spoke of a sister diagnosed with bipolar schizophrenia.

“I am a Hemingway," she wrote, "and to me, that means that I have a ticket to understanding a world of darkness, of courage, of sadness, of excitement, and — at times — of complete lunacy. And yet, other people with other names feel these things too. It may just be that they don’t have an American myth to which they can connect themselves.”

Mental health disorders affect nearly 1 in 5 Americans. They are the leading cause of disabilities in the U.S. and Canada. And too often, when a family member is diagnosed with a mental health disease, the entire family suffers.

Brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers. They see wounds that can't be treated. Sufferings that change, sadly, who were are and who we used to be.

To my college son yesterday, I said, "Matt, we are like raw nerves. We sense brightly, see everything, feel everything. And that makes us different - maybe special - but vulnerable."

We're a kind of human high-def display. One that sees the detail of our self-universe - but also all of its flaws and imperfections.

As one of us, you might collapse under the weight of beauty or under the burden of neurotic imperfection. Perhaps the world can keep fewer secrets from us.

We love rain and sunsets. Music and magic. Art.

But we see ghosts.

Mariel knows. Brilliance and lunacy - normalcy and madness - are often separated by a thin line.

And not just among the Hemingways.

Citations:
Author: Hemingway, Mariel
Publisher/Additional Information:
New York, NY: Regan Arts
Link: http://books.simonandschuster.com/Out-Came-the-Sun/Mariel-Hemingway/978194139323...
Year: 2015

#suicide

A Hemmingway Affliction