Many window cleaners are living with mental health disorders or have a loved one with Depression, Bipolar Disorder or other mood disorders. It’s more common then we may want to believe. I, myself, live with Bipolar Disorder and PTSD. Why does the window cleaning industry have more then some other jobs? Simple, for many of us, this is a business that can work around the illness and requires less restriction… Not to mention, it can be a cash business. Window cleaning does attract many people from all walks of life. Since studies say 1 and 9 people live with or have been diagnosed with a mental illness, you can understand, we as an industry have a higher influx of those working with an mental illness.
In 2008, I started to over-lap the Window Cleaning Cartoons with my own grass roots project called, Mental Health Humor Project. It was my goal with the project to bring a little humor into the lives of my fellow peers. The cartoons, much like the window cleaning cartoons, focus on a clean and positive message. This past year, I’ve been honored by winning a few awards for the Mental Health Humor cartoons. I’m particularly proud of two. First, the 2009 national Facing Us contest. To enter, we had to tell our mental health recovery story using a hand held camera. Here, take a look at the video on YouTube.
Winning this allowed me to receive a sponsorship to go to the Depression Bipolar Support Alliance 25th Anniversary Conference at the end of April 2010. At the conference, I received another award for being part of “Stand Up for Mental health.” It was the first time I ever did stand up comedy. I’m happy to say, I did not totally bomb!
Here is the point, no matter who you are if you are reading this, then you know some one with a mental disorder. Could be a friend, a loved one or even yourself. I believe in community out reach for advocacy. We need to be able to talk about mental illness and help find ways toward recovery…Yes, recovery! It’s not a cure… Mental illness can’t be cured but it can be controlled. With medication or therapy and a network of support…Recovery is possible.
The mental health humor cartoons do not make fun of the illness. We look for ways to laugh while living with it. All this month of May 2010, I will be volunteering over 100 hours to draw caricatures of Heroes in the Mental Health Community. I encourage you to come and see these heroes! You will see, they are as normal as you. The only difference, we have a chemical imbalance that (at times) limits what we can do.
Would you like to know more about Chato B . Stewart?
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