The Red Balloon

The Lifeatarian - The Red Balloon In this episode, Monique shares her experience raising a child with mental health disorders. Every parent, she says, fears the possibility of receiving a phone call informing them that something tragic has happened to their kids. This fear turned into a reality for Monique on September 12, 2018, when she was told that her son had been airlifted to a local hospital and was placed on life support in the ICU. As Monique watched her helpless son laying in that hospital bed, images from Albert Lamorisse’s 1956 short film, The Red Balloon, all of a sudden flashed through her mind. The French film features a little boy who, throughout the short, follows, is followed by, is separated from, or is vying for the attention of, a red balloon. Monique likens the red balloon, in this case, to mental health disorders. Her son was born prematurely and suffered a traumatic brain injury at birth, leading him to be diagnosed with autism, bipolar disorder, and some form of schizophrenia. He is also a Type 1 diabetic. Needless to say, he is on constant medication in order to maintain life. As if this was not a rough enough life for a teenager, Monique’s son has to endure all this as an African American teenager living in the United States of America. There is a dire lack of support and services for children who suffer with mental health issues in the country. Monique calls for more voices to come together and rally for legislation to be put in place to help these children gain support. To this end, Monique created a change.org campaign to address this very issue (linked below). In addition, Monique hopes that this raised awareness will lead to a “Red Balloon Day”. Monique describes this as “a day in which we come together for massive Red Balloon releases to bring awareness to this mental health crisis as it relates to our youth.” Red Balloon Day will also serve as a fundraising platform that will allow for the building of educational programs to better inform educators, law enforcement officers, and families on how to care for youth with mental health disorders. http://chng.it/cX54dPxkyM https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_crisis_of_youth_mental_health https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Carl_Bell/publication/247584972_Prison_Madness_The_Mental_Health_Crisis_Behind_Bars_and_What_We_Must_Do_About_It/links/54a2a2cb0cf267bdb9041dc4/Prison-Madness-The-Mental-Health-Crisis-Behind-Bars-and-What-We-Must-Do-About-It?origin=publication_detail https://youtu.be/V12H2mteniE