TWO months ago we shared the story of Mr Gemmar McFarlane, a film-maker who was diagnosed with bipolar type 1 disorder at the age of 16.

Mr McFarlane, who is now 27 years old, was very candid about his experience after being diagnosed. He became delusional, he said, as there were times when he actually believed he was seeing demons.

Luckily, Mr McFarlane received strong support from his family and friends. His parents, in particular, approached his illness as a challenge rather than seeking to get rid of him. As such they got him therapy and medication.

Not many people diagnosed with a mental illness are as fortunate as Mr McFarlane, whose parents, family, and friends took the sensible and responsible route of caring for him.

That sort of support system, Mr McFarlane told this newspaper, is crucial for people diagnosed with a mental illness.

“The worst thing you can do is isolate — and the bipolar person is going to want to isolate, which is a very bad thing. You leave someone like that alone with their thoughts and they don’t have any pushback or any sort of contingency, then that is when the real problem starts. That is when it escalates and it gets worse,” Mr McFarlane said.

“But if you have a support system that knows how to get them help and bring them down then you are in a much better position, and everybody benefits more at that point,” he added.

We are moved to highlight Mr McFarlane’s story after reading the comments of police Superintendent Lloyd Darby made at last Thursday’s monthly meeting of the Portland Municipal Corporation in relation to people living on the streets of that parish.

Although Superintendent Darby was giving the corporation an update on homeless people engaged in indecent exposure, he made an appeal for better care to be given to both homeless people and individuals with mental disorders.

He recommended “a holistic approach” in helping these unfortunate people.

“I am willing, and we are engaging in some other talks with some partners [to determine] how we can have a better fix to the problem of those who need help to get the help so that we don’t have occurrences of these incidents,” Superintendent Darby said.

One of the avenues to be pursued, he told the meeting, would be to convince relatives to take care of their mentally ill family members. We are not suggesting that it is easy, because many families do not have the wherewithal. But where there is a will there is often a way.

“Just as how they would have cared for them if they had a [routine] medical issue, they should care for them when they have a mental issue also,” Mr Darby said.

We couldn’t agree with him more.

While psychiatric patients need medical attention, there is more than ample proof that home and community care can have a positive effect on their mental health and emotional well-being, as they experience social connectedness and a sense of belonging.

Mr McFarlane’s experience is a perfect example of what can be achieved by families and communities who genuinely care for and provide support to people who are ill. That, combined with a State that meets its World Health Organization commitment to take specific actions to promote mental well-being, prevent mental disorders, provide care, enhance recovery, and reduce the mortality and disability of people with mental disorders, offers hope.