WHO IS MADISON?

Written by Anne Kittendorf, MD, Michigan Medicine Dept of Family Medicine

As we approach One Big Thing, it can be a struggle to grasp the complexity of improving mental health. This commitment takes a firm understanding of root causes, available resources, and the needs and wants of our communities. The multiple pieces can be overwhelming, and sometimes it can be easy to think that those struggling are different than us, or unique in some way. But the reality is, we are all at risk, and the factors that drive mental health impact us all. We have found that thinking about experiences upstream from a mental health crisis helps us to consider the big picture in how we improve resiliency and connection. That is where Madison has helped us.

Madison, a young adult in Western Washtenaw County, loses her job and has to move back home with her family. How do we help her get back on her feet? How do we make sure she doesn’t slide into addictive behaviors of the past? How do we get her the treatment she needs? What programs or resources are out there already and how do we make sure Madison can connect with them?

But her story doesn’t occur in isolation. We consider her teenage brother, who is struggling in school and anxious about the future and contemplate how substances are a tempting temporary relief from his own life. We consider Madison’s parents who are struggling with their own stressors of work, taking care of elderly parents, and their own health concerns, while worrying about their kids and each other.

We contemplate how this family is transitioning out of the pandemic, with new challenges that weren’t there before-like working from home, understaffing at work, and experiencing loneliness. How do Madison’s parents find the time and energy to reconnect in their communities, return to healthy eating and exercise behaviors, avoid substances themselves?

This narrative gives us the inspiration we need. It helps inform our work in identifying what programs and partners currently exist, and how we can identify unique opportunities to connect Madison to existing resources and support. It identifies what is missing, and strategies for how our communities can better support each other.

Madison and her family allow us to recognize that resiliency is not static, and does not live in isolation, and makes us hopeful that our work will help many Madisons in the future.