Goodpaster shares story, hopes to curb perception of mental illness

BY KARYN SPORY

Mt. Pleasant News

Angie Goodpaster wants people to know that mental illness, specifically schizophrenia, is not like how it?s portrayed on the big screen.

?Hollywood has made a terrible (stereotype) of us,? said Goodpaster. ?It?s a very small percentage, one percent, where it can go wrong being a schizophrenic.?

To help correct the perspective of those suffering from mental illness, Goodpaster has been sharing her story.

?My motive is that once diagnosed, recovery starts. It?s not ?my life is over? I tell everyone ?believe me, believe me, now you can recover knowing what?s wrong,?? she said.

Goodpaster was diagnosed with schizophrenia when she was 21 years old. Goodpaster became paranoid and began to isolate herself at home, not wanting to associate with anyone. However, in 1996, a new psychiatric medication called Clozapine came onto the market and it worked for Goodpaster.

After 20 years of living stably with the illness, Goodpaster shares her life experiences in a peer-to-peer support role.

?There was a nurse at the psychiatric ward in Mt. Pleasant, we met each other, and she said ?I believe you?re (a) person who can help people?,? said Goodpaster. So Goodpaster became affiliated with NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Iowa and participated in its training programs to become a peer support specialist.

?I feel like I?ve done something,? said Goodpaster, saying she?s happy she?s found a way to bring good into the world through her illness. ?Personally, I feel rewarded. I?ve helped a lot of people.?

?You?re a hopeful message to others, too, about how successful (someone with) a mental disease as serious and debilitating as schizophrenia can be,? said Lisa Kongable, Associate Professor of Nursing at Iowa Wesleyan University, following a discussion about medication education and compliance at the Henry County Resource Center.

The two met through NAMI of Henry County. However, due to restructuring, the Henry County program ended, but Goodpaster was determined to keep the ?caring and sharing? portion of the program alive. So she continued to meet with peers and eventually, Helping Hands was formed.

?When NAMI had to do some of the structural re-organization, we were able to go to a more informal, private non-profit support group because there is still a need here in the community,? said Kongable.

Kongable added that although Helping Hands is not associated with NAMI Iowa, she and a few others still, individually, have memberships with NAMI of Iowa and NAMI International, and are able to get resources.

?Part of what?s special about Angie,? said Kongable, ?is by her giving her message from a personal point of view to people who have psychiatric disorders, it?s more genuine and more real ? they can relate on the same level with someone who?s lived it rather than maybe us,? she says pointing to her nursing students who were on hand for the discussion at the center, ?who have been reading out of a book and have only experienced it from a professional standpoint, not a personal.?

Helping Hands meets the third Tuesday of every month from 7 to 8 p.m., at the First United Methodist Church, in Mt. Pleasant. It is open to individuals who have a mental illness, family members of those with mental illness, and their friends and support system. ?And also any interested community member,? said Kongable. ?It?s been a strong resource for people. We offer education about mental health, coping skills, emotional support and a place to talk where they don?t feel like they?re alone.?

?The nursing students come in the spring as part of their service learning? to be able to understand the role of what a community mental health support group plays,? she said.

Kongable said one of her student?s first experiences with Helping Hands was when Goodpaster gave her story. ?That next day in class, they were so impressed with what you had to share,? said Kongable to Goodpaster.

?It gave me a better understanding of what (mental illness) is and how you can live a daily life with it,? said junior nursing major Breanna Hall.

?You accepted it,? said fellow junior Monica Jay. ?You accepted it after you were diagnosed and you turned it into a positive rather than letting it get you down.?