Sometimes I wish that I could return to the state I was in before Chris and I embarked on the schizophrenic journey, the journey of awakening. I was superficially happy; I didn't want to know about life's darker side. I can't go back to what was, and I also know that my life is much richer now, but still, there is this tinge of wishing that I didn't know so much, perceive so much. If I feel this way, as a mere observer on this journey, imagine what the full experience must be like for Chris and others.
Most writers, poets and artists of all kinds have experienced what happens when everyday reality is stripped away. Aldous Huxley and Percy Bysshe Shelley come to mind:
“The man who comes back through the Door in the Wall will never be quite the same as the man who went out. He will be wiser but less sure, happier but less self-satisfied, humbler in acknowledging his ignorance yet better equipped to understand the relationship of words to things, of systematic reasoning to the unfathomable mystery which it tries, forever vainly, to comprehend”
― Aldous Huxley
Lift not the painted veil which those who live
Call Life: though unreal shapes be pictured there,
And it but mimic all we would believe
With colours idly spread,--behind, lurk Fear
And Hope, twin Destinies; who ever weave
Their shadows, o'er the chasm, sightless and drear.
I knew one who had lifted it--he sought,
For his lost heart was tender, things to love,
But found them not, alas! nor was there aught
The world contains, the which he could approve.
Through the unheeding many he did move,
A splendour among shadows, a bright blot
Upon this gloomy scene, a Spirit that strove
For truth, and like the Preacher found it not.
―Percy Bysshe Shelley
More on Huxley quote in this blog
Mother and Child (by Paul Klee, 1938)
The tension of anxiety, when present in the mothering one, induces anxiety in the infant. (Harry Stack Sullivan)
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Thursday, February 2, 2012
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Your daily reinforcement
Do you feel sometimes that you are mostly alone in your belief that your relative does not have a diseased brain? The insightful blogger Alt_mentalities has reminded me once more of Dr. Loren Mosher's important contribution to viewing schizophrenia as a psycho/spiritual breakdown and healing process rather than a real "disease" as mainstream psychiatry would have us believe.
If you aren't already familiar with his work, the two must read articles are
Still Crazy After All These Years - Jeanette De Wyze interview with Dr. Mosher
San Diego Weekly Reader, Vol. 32, No. 2, Jan. 9, 2003
and
Dr. Mosher's letter of resignation from the American Psychiatric Association - accusing psychiatry and pharma of getting into bed together. The letter was written in 1998, when psychiatry and pharma were still indulging in foreplay by today's standards!
Some extracts - but the letter is chock full of memorable quotes, so read it in full.
No longer do we seek to understand whole persons in their social contexts — rather we are there to realign our patients’ neurotransmitters. The problem is that it is very difficult to have a relationship with a neurotransmitter — whatever its configuration.......
.......In addition, APA has entered into an unholy alliance with NAMI (I don’t remember the members being asked if they supported such an association) such that the two organizations have adopted similar public belief systems about the nature of madness. While professing itself the “champion of their clients” the APA is supporting non-clients, the parents, in their wishes to be in control, via legally enforced dependency, of their mad/bad offspring: NAMI with tacit APA approval, has set out a pro-neuroleptic drug and easy commitment-institutionalization agenda that violates the civil rights of their offspring.
........“Biologically based brain diseases” are certainly convenient for families and practitioners alike. It is no-fault insurance against personal responsibility. We are all just helplessly caught up in a swirl of brain pathology for which no one, except DNA, is responsible.
If you aren't already familiar with his work, the two must read articles are
Still Crazy After All These Years - Jeanette De Wyze interview with Dr. Mosher
San Diego Weekly Reader, Vol. 32, No. 2, Jan. 9, 2003
and
Dr. Mosher's letter of resignation from the American Psychiatric Association - accusing psychiatry and pharma of getting into bed together. The letter was written in 1998, when psychiatry and pharma were still indulging in foreplay by today's standards!
Some extracts - but the letter is chock full of memorable quotes, so read it in full.
No longer do we seek to understand whole persons in their social contexts — rather we are there to realign our patients’ neurotransmitters. The problem is that it is very difficult to have a relationship with a neurotransmitter — whatever its configuration.......
.......In addition, APA has entered into an unholy alliance with NAMI (I don’t remember the members being asked if they supported such an association) such that the two organizations have adopted similar public belief systems about the nature of madness. While professing itself the “champion of their clients” the APA is supporting non-clients, the parents, in their wishes to be in control, via legally enforced dependency, of their mad/bad offspring: NAMI with tacit APA approval, has set out a pro-neuroleptic drug and easy commitment-institutionalization agenda that violates the civil rights of their offspring.
........“Biologically based brain diseases” are certainly convenient for families and practitioners alike. It is no-fault insurance against personal responsibility. We are all just helplessly caught up in a swirl of brain pathology for which no one, except DNA, is responsible.
Alt_mentalities has posted a must-read piece on the work of Dr. Loren Mosher (Soteria) and of John Weir Perry.
It's worth saying, again and again and again, that schizophrenia is a self-healing process. I have posted an extract from Alt_mentalities post below, part of a more in-depth interview with John Weir Perry.
Schizophrenia as a self-healing process:
“Schizophrenia” is a self-healing process – one in which, specifically, the pathological complexes dissolve themselves. The whole schizophrenic turmoil is really a self-organising, healing experience. It’s like a molten state. Everything seems to be made of free energy, an inner free play of imagery through which the alienated psyche spontaneously re-organises itself – in such a way that the conscious ego is brought back into communication with the unconscious again…
It [psychosis] is like the mythological image in a perfect stained-glass window being smashed, and all the bits and pieces being scattered. The effect is very colourful, but it’s very hard to discern how the pieces belong to each other. Any attempt to make sense of it is an exercise in abstraction from the actual experience. The important thing is to find the process running through it all.
“Chronic schizophrenia” – a cultural construct:
[Interviewer:] So are you saying that the reason we have so-called “chronic schizophrenia” in our society, – where a person is medicated, distressed or hospitalized for decades – is really cultural? A society which refuses to understand the healing nature of the phenomenon?
Yes, it seems so. Of course, there are some unusual cases where the individual simply can’t handle the impact of all this unconscious content, or doesn’t know what to do with it, and freaks out. But from my experience at Diabasis, I’ve seen so many people go the other way that I really do feel “chronic schizophrenia” is created by society’s negative response to what is actually a perfectly natural and healthy process.
It's worth saying, again and again and again, that schizophrenia is a self-healing process. I have posted an extract from Alt_mentalities post below, part of a more in-depth interview with John Weir Perry.
Schizophrenia as a self-healing process:
“Schizophrenia” is a self-healing process – one in which, specifically, the pathological complexes dissolve themselves. The whole schizophrenic turmoil is really a self-organising, healing experience. It’s like a molten state. Everything seems to be made of free energy, an inner free play of imagery through which the alienated psyche spontaneously re-organises itself – in such a way that the conscious ego is brought back into communication with the unconscious again…
It [psychosis] is like the mythological image in a perfect stained-glass window being smashed, and all the bits and pieces being scattered. The effect is very colourful, but it’s very hard to discern how the pieces belong to each other. Any attempt to make sense of it is an exercise in abstraction from the actual experience. The important thing is to find the process running through it all.
“Chronic schizophrenia” – a cultural construct:
[Interviewer:] So are you saying that the reason we have so-called “chronic schizophrenia” in our society, – where a person is medicated, distressed or hospitalized for decades – is really cultural? A society which refuses to understand the healing nature of the phenomenon?
Yes, it seems so. Of course, there are some unusual cases where the individual simply can’t handle the impact of all this unconscious content, or doesn’t know what to do with it, and freaks out. But from my experience at Diabasis, I’ve seen so many people go the other way that I really do feel “chronic schizophrenia” is created by society’s negative response to what is actually a perfectly natural and healthy process.
Monday, January 30, 2012
A mother's survival tricks
I know I've repeated what I am about to say many times in other blog posts, but I'm running out of ideas for this blog (LOL) and I figure it never hurts to reinforce what worked for me to keep my head above water in this journey. If it works for me, it might work for other parents in the same boat.
1. My husband, Ian, and I have kept our promise to each other, going on three years now, not to discuss Chris in any way that would signal there is a PROBLEM with him that needs fixing. We don't discuss Chris's current job search, his unfinished university degree, his hanging around the house during the daylight hours without much to do. Because if we did, we would soon start to WORRY and FEAR would gain the upper hand. Chris would bear the brunt of our anxiety, which would not help him to move forward. Ian and I refuse to get sucked into this anxiety inducing zero sum game. Chris is moving in the right directions, on his own initiative, and doesn't need us to prod him.
2. Entrusting Chris to the hands of other professionals. There was a time when Ian and I needed to get involved with Chris's doctors, but this regular contact was anxiety provoking for us. Ian and I disagreed about the value of the medications, and it was traumatizing for me, at least, to continually interact with doctors in a clinical setting. Chris is no longer being treated in a clinical setting. His psychiatrist, Dr. Stern, is a private therapist. Though I'm wary about the danger of Chris becoming a perpetual patient the longer he continues to see Dr. Stern, I had to trust her enough to let her get on with her job. So, I haven't corresponded with Dr. Stern for at least two years now. She's doing her job, I'm doing mine. Chris also sees an occupational therapist. While I may wonder what we are paying her for since Chris doesn't yet have an occupation (LOL), I generally keep my mouth shut and let her get on with her job.
3. Trusting Chris more. This strategy(?) worked better as soon as Chris was able to function better. I remember when Chris left the hospital (for the third time) and I felt that I had "had it." All the hard work to get him to take his meds, then all the hard work getting him off his meds, still resulted in his landing back in the hospital and back on meds. I was sick of being his nurse. He still needed guidance, but a line had been crossed. The old way of working with him simply wasn't working. I stopped asking about whether he was taking his meds. He knew very well what the consequences were for going off them cold turkey. I had to trust him enough to figure that he had learned something from this latest ordeal.
4. Letting go through yoga and meditation.
5. Reading only the good news that other people write about schizophrenia and mental distress. This is becoming easier as there is now more good news on the Internet than when I first got started.
6. Giving Chris daily hugs and praise.
1. My husband, Ian, and I have kept our promise to each other, going on three years now, not to discuss Chris in any way that would signal there is a PROBLEM with him that needs fixing. We don't discuss Chris's current job search, his unfinished university degree, his hanging around the house during the daylight hours without much to do. Because if we did, we would soon start to WORRY and FEAR would gain the upper hand. Chris would bear the brunt of our anxiety, which would not help him to move forward. Ian and I refuse to get sucked into this anxiety inducing zero sum game. Chris is moving in the right directions, on his own initiative, and doesn't need us to prod him.
2. Entrusting Chris to the hands of other professionals. There was a time when Ian and I needed to get involved with Chris's doctors, but this regular contact was anxiety provoking for us. Ian and I disagreed about the value of the medications, and it was traumatizing for me, at least, to continually interact with doctors in a clinical setting. Chris is no longer being treated in a clinical setting. His psychiatrist, Dr. Stern, is a private therapist. Though I'm wary about the danger of Chris becoming a perpetual patient the longer he continues to see Dr. Stern, I had to trust her enough to let her get on with her job. So, I haven't corresponded with Dr. Stern for at least two years now. She's doing her job, I'm doing mine. Chris also sees an occupational therapist. While I may wonder what we are paying her for since Chris doesn't yet have an occupation (LOL), I generally keep my mouth shut and let her get on with her job.
3. Trusting Chris more. This strategy(?) worked better as soon as Chris was able to function better. I remember when Chris left the hospital (for the third time) and I felt that I had "had it." All the hard work to get him to take his meds, then all the hard work getting him off his meds, still resulted in his landing back in the hospital and back on meds. I was sick of being his nurse. He still needed guidance, but a line had been crossed. The old way of working with him simply wasn't working. I stopped asking about whether he was taking his meds. He knew very well what the consequences were for going off them cold turkey. I had to trust him enough to figure that he had learned something from this latest ordeal.
4. Letting go through yoga and meditation.
5. Reading only the good news that other people write about schizophrenia and mental distress. This is becoming easier as there is now more good news on the Internet than when I first got started.
6. Giving Chris daily hugs and praise.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
First step: Stop looking at the person as mentally ill
Discover and Recover: Resources for Mental and Overall Wellness is a excellent "go to" place for people wanting further information on alternative therapies and empowering their own recovery. I'm reprinting a recent comment(s) to another of my posts from its founder, Duane Sherry.
Discover and Recover Jan 27, 2012 02:32 PM
Rossa,
I’ve been taking an online course through the University of North Texas, WISE Program -Workplace Inclusion and Sustainable Employment – http://pacs.unt.edu/wise/ UNT was the largest rehabilitation counseling program in the world until very recently... It is no longer the largest, but still has a sizeable graduate degree program.
Last night, I read a great article – ‘Strategies for Healthy Relationships and Mental Wellness’ by George Nostrand.
I wanted to share with you and your readers some of what the article was about…
He describes “mental illness” in a refreshing way:
“The first step in working with someone who has been diagnosed with a mental illness is to stop looking at the person as ‘mentally ill.’ Everyone struggles at some point with varying degrees of mental illness. We all feel depressed, anxious, paranoid, and angry. In addition to dealing with a host of other emotions, our thinking also becomes confused, we get lost in our thoughts, and we just plain have days when our brains doen’t want to function.”
“As a result, mental illness is normal. A person becomes mentally ill when normal thoughts and emotions go beyond a point of ‘comfortability’ and self-management. In these instances, thoughts and emotions cause extreme disruptions in people’s lives. When it comes to work, these interruptions to healthy functioning can lead to embarrassing situations, sporadic work history, and take a serious toll on people’s self-esteem.”
He also has some good things to say about the therapeutic value of work:
“Work plays a crucial role in recovering from these periods of disruption. Nothing: not medications, therapy, or any other element of treatment, can provide the wide-ranging and crucial elements of recovey that work can. It is the only way for people to regain their independence and reintegrate into their respective communities. This is why it is so important that vocationial services be provided in a way that is empowering to the individual.”
My thoughts:
The article by George Nostrand, Strategies for Healthy Relationships and Mental Wellness will be read by people around the world, through the UNT WISE online program. I find it encouraging that so many people will be reading his words about "mental illness"... Hopefully, professionals will begin to think of "mental illness" in a new light.
I have long-thought that the paradigm shift that is needed to transform the mental health system will likely come through self-directed programs and those that offer peer support. I won’t hold my breath waiting for psychiatry to promote the concept of recovery… and psychology seems to be slow out of the gate as well.
But I do think rehabilitation programs such as the one at the University of North Texas offer some hope, along with those at Boston University and Temple University.
We have a long way to go, but at least it’s a start:
Boston University – Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation – Repository of Recovery Resources: http://www.bu.edu/cpr/repository/index.html
Temple University – Collaborative on Community Reintegration (Rehabilitation and Research Center: http://tucollaborative.org/
Be well,
Duane
Friday, January 27, 2012
Friday fun
It may be time for you to "do the needful" by sizing up your marriage prospects using an Indian dowry calculator! This calculator is Dedicated to all the match making aunties of India
http://www.dowrycalculator.com/ Like 78,788 people like this.
Chris's comment:
I think "skin colour" is a huge bump on the scale. I did it for me (little do they know) skin colour: "wheatish" caste Kshatriya (warrior) unemployed, no alma mater height 6' father's profession "teacher" dowry: 25 Lakh (is this the price of a Big Mac?")
Chris's results:
Getting there, slowly but surely. Right now, your dowry rate is
25 Lakh. If you want your dream dowry, this might not be the most optimum time for you to get married. There are times in life when we are standing on crossroad and need to take some tough decisions. You could go either way from here. Be the master of your destiny and steer it towards your dream dowry. Best of luck!
http://www.dowrycalculator.com/ Like 78,788 people like this.
Chris's comment:
I think "skin colour" is a huge bump on the scale. I did it for me (little do they know) skin colour: "wheatish" caste Kshatriya (warrior) unemployed, no alma mater height 6' father's profession "teacher" dowry: 25 Lakh (is this the price of a Big Mac?")
Chris's results:
Getting there, slowly but surely. Right now, your dowry rate is
25 Lakh. If you want your dream dowry, this might not be the most optimum time for you to get married. There are times in life when we are standing on crossroad and need to take some tough decisions. You could go either way from here. Be the master of your destiny and steer it towards your dream dowry. Best of luck!
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Astonishing rise of mental illness - is it a global phenomenon?
Has anyone noticed that Robert Whitaker's latest book has undergone a name change?
Old title: Anatomy of an Epidemic: Psychiatric Drugs, Magic Bullets, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America
New title: Anatomy of an Epidemic: Psychiatric Drugs, Magic Bullets and the Astonishing Rise of
Mental Illness
Does the name change reflect the observation that there is an astonishing rise of mental illness in other countries, as Robert Whitaker perhaps has learned over the course of his international speaking engagements?
Old title: Anatomy of an Epidemic: Psychiatric Drugs, Magic Bullets, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America
New title: Anatomy of an Epidemic: Psychiatric Drugs, Magic Bullets and the Astonishing Rise of
Mental Illness
Does the name change reflect the observation that there is an astonishing rise of mental illness in other countries, as Robert Whitaker perhaps has learned over the course of his international speaking engagements?
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