Stop Running, Randall on THIS IS US

Randall is running to try to keep his sanity, but inside, he is screaming bloody murder.

His friends, colleagues, and wife could see what was happening but he wouldn’t listen, wouldn’t connect.

The longer the program went on, the more the pressures that came to bear on Randall and he began having insomnia and bad dreams.

You have to give Randall credit, though. When things got really, really tough and his inside feelings began too surface, he called brother Kevin and cried out to him for help.

Remembering back to his last breakdown, he couldn’t do that, remember? Kevin left his performance to find him crippled in silence in his office.

Insomnia Is A Red Flag 

One of the most important thing I noticed during the episode is that Randall couldn’t sleep. There’s a saying that even if generals in the army are deprived of five nights of sleep, they’ll crack up.

Randall’s insomnia went on for weeks, it seemed. And, whenever he tried to induce sleep through running or working harder, it never worked.

That’s such an awful feeling. At that point, one may slip from depression into psychosis. That happened to me years ago.

Adoptees who are at that point need medical and psychiatric intervention. I was hospitalized in the a local lock-down unit and given a huge shot, which was the only thing that would jolt me back into reality.

By the next morning, I regained reality, which was quite a miracle. Of course, I was put on heavy psychotic drugs for the ten day stay. I don’t know where I’d be if there hadn’t been intervention.

Randall teaches us important insights into many adoptee’s brains and behaviors:

1. Randall couldn’t  get free of  past losses. He was full of grief over the loss of Jack, his father.

2. Randall  kept fantasizing about Jack, his late father. Randall needed some professional help from a counselor on this. Every time he got sad, memories of his dad flashed before him–times when Jack was there to sleep beside him or cheer him on.

3. Randall was terrified to look at the pain inside. Remember his screaming face, but him telling his friend that running was all that he needed.

4. Because Randall already had experienced an emotional breakdown, he was terrified of another.

How many of we adoptees love Sterling Brown for portraying in vivid terms how we feel.

If you know an adopted person who is showing symptoms that reveal they are on the brink of falling into unreality, insist that they get help.

How to Help the Randalls of the World

If you know an adopted person who is suffering like Randall, here are some practical steps:

• Take the person to see their general practitioner doc. This doc will be able to assess what kind of psychiatric help is needed.

• Ask them if they feel suicidal. If they do, don’t leave them alone and take them to the nearest psychiatric pavilion.

• Assure the adopted person that you have his/her back.

• Visit them if they’re hospitalized.