BFRB - Blog Posts

I lost an uncle due to suicide because of his bipolar disorder, my family couldn’t accept his mental health issues and now I’m living the same.

Always enjoy, appreciate and give back everything you get from family love.

Here’s a little bit of a story I want to tell to raise mental health awareness. I grew up in Poland. I was always told my uncle died from a heart attack. I never got to meet him. When I was older, I learned that he committed suicide 5 years before I was born. He suffered with schizophrenia. The mental health system in Poland in the 70-80s was more than just incompetent. They did nothing for my uncle other than make him the laughing stock of the small village we lived in. My family stopped talking to him. He was considered the disgrace of the family that only caused problems. He didn’t get the help he needed. And he was driven to suicide. This summer was the first time I visited his grave. Shortly after I dug up this picture. All I could do is cry. The boy on the left is my uncle, the one in the middle is my father, and on the far right my grandmother. My uncle was a good man. And he’s still rarely spoke of in parts of my family. Even though I never met him, I feel like that chance was taken from me. Please, make sure your family members that suffer from mental illness get the help they need. Spread awareness that ignoring a problem can bring. Please, help me honor my uncle. I wish he was still around to smile like he did in this picture.