stuck

it seems as though some people like to stay stuck.  isn't that strange?  i work at a community mental health agency and the population we work with are something like 200% below the poverty level, they either have no income and therefore meet financial criteria to receive free behavioral health services, or they have medicaid/soonercare.  granted, i meet individuals that really are at the bottom of a pit in their lives and they are so grateful for help, for support, for someone to give them a glimmer of hope.  however, lately (and it seems to come in spurts), many clients have seemed rather...what's the best word...entitled, ungrateful, unmotivated.  if i ever go back and get my doctorate, i will do a paper on motivation, because it fascinates me.  but today, i was doing a treatment plan with an individual that has been receiving services for some time.  they told me that they have Bipolar Disorder and so they will never get better. i looked in their chart, and well, they don't have Bipolar Disorder (at least not that we have diagnosed), they have Major Depressive Disorder...which in my book, not as bad. i tell this individual, hey, good news, looks like you in fact DON"T meet criteria for Bipolar Disorder. which wasn't good news to her, b/c she did have it, as she corrected me several times after that.
other people, this individual included, tell me as i am reviewing the treatment they have had the past 6 months, and progress made, tell me straight up "I am always going to come here, I'm never getting better."  really?  really?
i have seen 20 somethings in my office that tell me that they are here (at my agency) because they want to get disability, they can't work b/c they don't get along with other people, or because they have mood swings (which they assume means you automatically have bipolar disorder, not true)...20 something years old, wanting to not work, hoping to get a mental health diagnosis to ensure they receive a check each month.  i simply tell them, in a very therapeutic fashion, that our hope at my agency is to be able to provide clients with the tools and resources necessary to lead a self-sufficient and productive life, we believe most people can meet their definition of "normal", which is different for everyone.  that we exist to help people gain coping skills, to encourage, to empower.
these are the things that get me down at work.  people who don't want to get better.  who think they have no hope.  i enjoy asking people what they have hope in..."what gets you up in the morning and keeps you going throughout your day?"  often times it's their kids, it's their friend, their parents, their spouse, a niece or nephew...it's relational. 
   i also ask about spiritual beliefs, religious preferences, as part of the assessment i do when clts first come in for services.  SO many times people have been burned by "the church", or they don't feel good enough to go, they feel judged...yet they believe in God, they read their Bibles (not everyone, but some of course), they have some sort of faith.  so where are we as Christians failing our fellow man? 
another thing that is striking, and i realize i am all over the place with this post, is how many people i have seen in the 5 1/2 years i have worked there, so many people, such a huge part of my town's population, and yet, when I am with my church family on sundays, man, our body just doesn't reflect that part of the population.  somewhere we have missed the boat.  somewhere i have become disconnected and missed the boat.  and that's all for now.  time to work out.