Crossing Thresholds: #4 Emerging Adults with Mental Illness

Proem

We continuously cross thresholds in our lives; a beginning, a change — before we weren’t, now we are. We transverse a physical threshold when entering a building, a room, or a town; when we enter a community, a relationship, or an experience. We step over a threshold as we enter a clinic, go for a test; when the doctor or nurse enters the room or responds to a text; when we call our insurance company; when someone asks, how are you? We cross a threshold when we feel a lump, hear a diagnosis, throw up, panic, feel pain, or fall. Before, we didn’t. Now we do. Thresholds can be barriers or opportunities or barriers and opportunities. Crossing a threshold can present us with limitless possibilities. Who knows what might happen? Anticipation, excitement, hope. Some thresholds upset our sense of balance, our inertia. Why me? Distraction, hopelessness, annoyance, frustration, fatigue, even rage. Crossing a threshold can energize or suck energy, depending on the moment and perspective.

Welcome to the fourth episode in a series about Emerging Adults with Mental Illness. We met Emeka Chima and his mom Erika Blair. They shared a story of fear, hope…