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Hitting the Trail

© Amy Hillgren Peterson

Shara Wilkey-Sato is pulling on her hiking boots and hitting the trail. I hope to catch up with her on the trail to find out how the hike is going and get stories of her experience trekking for mental illness awareness. Here is what she had to say before she took off March 31.

I will be hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) to raise awareness for Mental Illness, and hopefully to raise donations for the National Institute of Mental Health and for the national and local chapters of the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) to name a few. Please see the donation link on the left for more.

The hike will be the traditional North to South route, Mexico to Canada, approximately 2,650 miles. The hike will start at the end of March until mid-August, 2001.

My hike is an effort to raise public awareness that mental illness is a treatable disease just like diabetes or heart problems. I am not trying to downplay its seriousness. It can shatter your life if you are afflicted, and the lives of those closest to you. But, it has been my experience that the stigma and denial that goes hand in hand with mental illness can be just as damaging as the illness itself.

Statistically, one in five people will be affected with some sort of mental illness or brain disorder at some point in their lives. The most serious are schizophrenia, psychosis, and bipolar (manic-depressions) disorders, but also includes depression, panic and anxiety attacks, compulsive-obsessive behaviors, and others. These disorders can take years to build up and chip away your life a little bit at a time, or can strike suddenly and strip away your dignity, self-confidence, job, and family all at once. I can tell you that the fear and feeling of helplessness when you see yourself losing everything can be overwhelming.

Personally, I lost my career as an officer in the United States Marine Corps, and has taken several tries over several years to overcome multiple relapses to build a second career. But, I have succeeded. I have brought my disorder under control at this point in my life, saved my marriage, kept the support of my family, and I am growing professionally.

As bad as my experience has been, I know that I have been luckier than most. So many people with mental disorders are never properly diagnosed, never get the proper treatment, or suffer far too long because of an uncaring society and misinformed public.

The copyright of the article Hitting the Trail in Mental Illness is owned by Amy Hillgren Peterson. Permission to republish Hitting the Trail in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.