Erin Donaldson and therapist Jackie Torrance talk about Donaldson’s journey to mental wellness recently in Elizabethtown. Donaldson hopes telling her story will make it easier for others to reach out.
ELIZABETHTOWN | Honeysuckle, vanilla and possibly amber.
A hug of warm scents embrace you as you enter the Essex County Mental Health Office in Elizabethtown. From the initial entrance into the building, aromatherapy works its magic on those that come here. The building is filled with natural light and warm faces, creating an invitation to many hesitant hopefuls on the road to recovery.
Essex County Mental Health serves county residents in need of mental health counseling and coordinates services in conjunction with the Mental Health Association in Westport, as a supportive entity.
May was Mental Health Awareness month. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness or NAMI, 1 in 5 adult Americans and 1 in 5 youth 13-18 years of age have a serious mental illness. Fifty percent of lifetime cases present by age 14. Suicide is the third-leading cause of death by youth 10-24 years old.
Often, as a society, the words “mental health” bring to mind cinematic portrayals of mental illness. Stereotypical visuals of psychiatric patients in hospital gowns, pacing around, verbalizing incoherently, held down by orderlies to receive injections, anguish written upon their faces, lend to the stigma that has surrounded mental health for decades.
DONALDSON’S STORY
Erin Donaldson is not this stereotype.
Donaldson, 30, of Schroon Lake, presents herself well-groomed, with a broad smile, versed in language and calculated speaking that could rival any motivational speaker. A spark in her eye. She only moderately shows a twinge of nervousness that anyone could exhibit when put on display.
As a young girl, Donaldson described herself as “defiant” and “hard to handle.”
“From about 9 years old, I think the fourth grade; I was behaviorally and emotionally unstable. I was also on several medications; they just medicated to control this.”
“In about ninth grade, I started with very unhealthy coping skills; thoughts of suicide and self-harm entered my world. At 15, I tried to end my life,” Donaldson said.
She was admitted into Four Winds of Saratoga Springs, a mental health facility.
“I spent two weeks at Four Winds and then two weeks after I returned home, my father ended his life. Before that I didn’t know what suicide truly meant; I just felt I wanted to die.”
Roy Donaldson was in his mid-40s. Her life began to spiral even more.
“People say I’m a lot like him, I even look like him,” she said, tearing up, remembering her dad.
“It was from there I went to a group home. Throughout my group home stay, my mom decided it was enough with the medications. That was the first time my eyes were open to what was really going on in my head. Sometimes medication can mask what is really going on. As with any substance, you don’t fully experience everything.”
Erin eventually returned home and graduated with a regent’s diploma and was living her life without medication. But that was short-lived.
“In young adulthood, I started to struggle again. I’d say I had more than 10 suicide attempts. Anything not going your way can seem more intense — a breakup; you didn’t get the job — could put you into a suicidal state. It was then that I was diagnosed with bipolar and borderline personality disorder.”
In one word, “death” was how Erin described her view of life 10 years ago.
A NEW APPROACH, THERAPY
Donaldson began going to Essex County Public Health nine years ago. It has been four years since she has successfully combined a couple of new medications with intensive therapies, including Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and tapping. DBT therapy, founded by Marsha M. Linehan, is a form of CBT, or cognitive behavior therapy, that works to identify and change negative thinking patterns. DBT is more intensive than CBT. Tapping is a therapy technique founded by Dr. Roger Callahan that stimulates the release of stored emotions.
Therapist Jackie Torrance described tapping therapy.
“It’s a modality, an emotional freedom technique, in which one is tapping on meridians or pressure points. Most of our clinic has been recently trained in this technique. It’s relaxing and meditative. While tapping, we talk throughout and state, ‘Although I have this anxiety, I deeply and completely love and accept myself.’”
Donaldson and her therapist are working toward Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing technique (EDMR).
EMDR is a form of psychotherapy that helps to reprocess and resolve trauma that has occurred in one’s life.
Donaldson has been called a success story by her therapists.
“That’s what they say. I can say I have had some big life changes. I used to be on disability. I started working a year ago at Saratoga Bridges, and accepted a new position at Mountain Lake Academy.”
Her jobs require her to be a support to others, which she said also helps her with her continued treatment. Her support system includes her therapists but also her mom and friends, some she has met through her group supports.
ADVICE
Donaldson gives this advice to others like her and to those trying to help someone struggling.
“When you feel off, find a good routine for self-care. Reach out for help. Talk with others. And to those helping, be careful with your words. Be open-minded.”
Donaldson describes her life now in one word as “thriving.”
“There is always a new day. In May, I make it a tradition to visit my dad and just talk to him and meditate.”
Donaldson hopes telling her story will make it easier for others to reach out, for those that may have reservations about seeking help or feel that there are no options available to them.
STIGMA
May’s Mental Health Awareness also links with September’s Suicide Prevention and Awareness, as both issues often go hand in hand. Both, however, are issues that the local Mental Health Association and Essex County Mental Health keep at their forefronts and make their mission to prevent all year long.
Director of ECMH Terri Morse gave a perspective on the words “mental health.”
“When we use the term ‘mental health,’ we associate it negatively, whereas when we use the words ‘physical health,’ we think positive — ‘I’m strong and healthy.’ What we also need to realize is that just as we need to work on our physical health, so do we all need to put work into our mental well-being or mental health. That is where the stigma lies and we need to work to erase that perception. Health of mind as well as health of body.”
Essex County Mental Health located on Main Street near Ticonderoga Federal Credit Union in Elizabethtown offers counseling and psychiatric treatment, and heads the clinical approach to mental health in the county.
The Mental Health Association in Westport offers a range of services supportive to the clinical aspect, which include housing support, job assistance and community centers to assist in establishing relationships and friendships, along with an array of classes that are supportive to mental health and suicide prevention.
A full list of services and their mission is located on their website at mhainessex.com. Essex County Mental Health can also be viewed online at co.essex.ny.us.com.
Both programs offer hot lines available on the websites, for emergency/crisis purposes 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
OTHER INFORMATIVE SOURCES:
mentalhealthamerica.net
nami.org
omh.state.ny.us
Facebook: Essex County Mental Health
IF YOU ARE IN CRISIS:
24/7 Hope line 1-800-440-8074 Essex Mental Health Association
24/7 Hotline 1-888-854-3773 Essex County Mental Health
