A woman made a powerful video of her mom to show the world what schizophrenia is like.
Emily Robinson's mom has had schizophrenia since before Emily was born.
"She went off her meds because she was pregnant with me," Emily told Upworthy. "One day, she got really sick and wandered off in the snow. They found her, and gave her medicine, and I was born the next day."
From there on out, nearly every day has been a struggle.
But Emily wants the world to know there's so much more to her mother than her mental illness.
"She’s just a really good person. She’s a really good mom. She puts cards in the mail, and she calls and tells me she loves me and that she's proud of me," Emily says.
At the same time, she knows that schizophrenia is and always will be a part of her mother's life.
Which is why Emily wanted to find a way to show the world both sides of her mom — a complex and wonderful woman — with honesty and dignity.
"We don’t talk about [mental illness]. That’s the point of putting this out there. I need people to see mental illness from a place of love."
She started a project called You Are in This World, where she documented her relationship with her mother: the ups and downs and everything in between.
She kicked off the project with a raw and emotional video in which her mom talks about her immense love for her grandchildren (Emily's kids) while fighting through tremors (a side effect of her medication) and bouts of feeling confused and overwhelmed.
So far, the response to the video has been enormous. Emily says her mom is glad her story is being shared and making such a positive impact.
"I’d say people don’t get it, but thousands of people do, millions of people do," Emily says. "But we don’t talk about [mental illness]. That’s the point of putting this out there. I need people to see mental illness from a place of love."