Reverend John Payson: Fitchburg’s First Minister
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Reverend John Payson was the first minister hired by the town of Fitchburg. He was originally from Walpole, MA, located in eastern Massachusetts right below Boston. He was married to Anna Perkins Payson, and the two of them had a daughter and a son. Reverend John Payson was 59 when he took his own life. His death occurred in Leominster at his brother-in-law's house, while there on a visit.
Reverend Payson suffered from depression which then led to a mental breakdown. Yet he continued to push through and preached for several years. One person said in the artifact that he would often apologize for not being in condition to preach. His mental illness worsened as time went on. He resigned from ministry after twenty-six years.
It was a shock to the whole community when Payson took his own life. There is a lot of stigma behind mental illness, especially for men. The gender roles assigned to men contribute to the way they deal with mental illness. Men are taught at a very young age to be tough, independent, and not to express their feelings. This contributes to why many men who are struggling with some type of mental disability do everything they can to hide it from the world out of fear of being perceived as weak or failing at being a “man.” An article in Psychology Today, "Men's Mental Health: A Silent Crisis," by Dr. Rob Whitley, states that “men make up over 75 percent of suicide victims in the United States, with one man killing himself every 20 minutes. Men living in small towns and rural areas have particularly high rates of suicide.”
Mental illness is an insidious disability because, more often than not, it can be invisible and the people around you will never know. That is why it is so dangerous; the happiest person on the outside could be struggling everyday internally. Reverend Payson tried to inspire people for a living and make them hopeful. Sometimes the same type of people who are trying their hardest to make others happy are the ones who are saddest. Many people were taken off guard by the death of Payson, which refers to my point of mental illness being invisible to those around you who even see you everyday.
He suffered from depression, which is one of the most common mental illnesses. Depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. People of all ages, genders, races, religious views can suffer from depression or any mental illness. Most people think of the stereotypical people who get categorized as being “crazy.” This is also why many people are afraid to open up and seek help about their mental illness. Looking back on the years, mental illness is more accepted and there is a lot of more resources in 2019 then there was even 20 years ago. Mental illness was taboo to talk about which is why many people tried fighting their battle on their own. Payson was a well-respected man; if he had come out about his depression, there would be the fear of losing many followers of the church. Also his credibility could also decrease, if people are ignorant and do not want to listen to what a person with a mental illness has to say. The fear of losing members of the church and ruining his reputation is what most likely kept Payson from seeking help, which is very sad, that he felt alone and could not get the support everyone deserves, no matter who you are or what you do. Personally, I believe that, if Reverend Payson did speak out about his mental struggles, it could be very powerful and inspirational to not only the people within his communities but his story could spread to other communities around Fitchburg. It could have helped other leaders and mentors who feel like they need to hold up this front of being strong, speak out. This is why I personally believe speaking out and voicing stories of disability is the strongest thing a person can do.
Here in Fitchburg, there are local support groups along with private practices for counseling. Students who attend Fitchburg State University are offered free counseling services. This is an extremely important system to have set up because it is at the students' convenience on campus with no charge. College can be very stressful for many different reasons. Being away from home for the first time can cause anxiety to raise in students or the stress of classes. Having a strong support is crucial to have students succeed. If society starts to normalize going to therapy, people will not have to bottle up their feelings to the point where they are at a breaking point.
Overall, mental illness is a very severe disability that impacts many people’s lives. It is a very controversial disability being that some people do not classify it as one because it is invisible. It is one of the most serious ones in my opinion because a lot of times there sometimes is no cure or solution. Reverend John Payson was not alone, and these issues are still occurring today. But if society comes together and educates themselves on mental disability then we can have better opportunities to help people like Payson, so no one has to feel alone.
Bibliography
Bourbeau, Bill. "Rev John Payson." Find a Grave, 28 Jun. 2012, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/92716309/john-payson.
Whitley, Rob. "Men's Mental Health: A Silent Crisis. Psychology Today, 6 Feb. 2017, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/talking-about-men/201702/mens-mental-health-silent-crisis.