“It’s like with Bert Nash; the help is always there”

Missie donated a piece of her art to the Bert Nash Center.

For Missie, art can be therapeutic. It can also be a way to give back.

Missie recently donated a piece of her art to the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center.

The piece is titled Life: A Beautiful Chaos.

Missie can relate.

For years she struggled with feeling hopeless, worthless, not good enough.

She was diagnosed with ADHD (Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) when she was in her mid-30s.

“That helped make sense of out of a lot of the things I was feeling,” Missie said. “Before, I thought I was losing my mind. I would think, why do I feel like this?”

Missie had tried going to college before, but she found it hard to concentrate. Once she got her diagnosis and began treating the condition, she was motivated to return to school. She earned her degree in 2010.

As part of her ADHD, Missie has rejection sensitive dysphoria. For someone who is a perfectionist, that can be particularly difficult.

“If somebody didn’t like something, I took it really hard,” Missie said.

That’s what led her to Bert Nash in March. Family members were concerned about her and suggested she get help.

She started seeing Jill, a therapist.

“It’s been very helpful,” Missie said. “It’s taught me methods to stay calm and step back and look at a situation. I have to give myself love, rather than being so hard on myself. Because negativity can spread to other people, and I don’t want to be that person.”

Missie paints at home and collaborates with her husband, who is a woodworker.

“The art gives me something to focus on,” she said. “If it starts to feel like work, I put it down for a while.”

The piece Missie donated to the Bert Nash Center is particularly meaningful to her.

“It’s about connection and how we’re all connected,” she said. “This lets people know they are not alone. Even if they are isolated, they are still connected in some way. Sometimes it’s hard to reach out to people; it can be a challenge. But I’ve had those people for me.

“It’s like with Bert Nash,” Missie said. “The help is always there. You just have to go and find it.”