Question of the Week - Treating the Whole Person

Hello everyone,

I was awake early in the morning once and listened to an interview with the author Jodi Picoult who was asked about how she researches the hot topics she explores in her novels, most notably My Sister's Keeper which was turned into a movie.

She said, "Individuals are more than the sum of their disability."

I interpreted that to mean we are human beings first with our own quirks, traits and personalities; not the label we're given when we're diagnosed.

As such, psychiatric interventions need to treat the whole person.  We each of us have strengths that we bring to the table in our recovery, skills and life experiences that we can use to help us do well.

One tool I've always used is music, which is second only to writing as one of my great passions.  My first therapist suggested that because I was a disc jockey in college, doing something I loved that gave me great joy, it halted the schizophrenia from happening sooner.

I can remember dreary afternoons living in the housing project where I would turn on the Verlaines album and dance to the song "Death and the Maiden."  I would listen to music and dance around the room.

One mode of therapy I employed as a teen and young person was drawing and painting.  I would never be Picasso yet that didn't matter: I could express myself on canvas and paper.  It is my hope that I can get back into this at some point.  For Christmas I want to buy myself a table top easel.

I haven't tried Reiki or massage or essential oils or anything like that.  I used to do yoga once a week.

Right now I go to the gym between two and four times a week.  I intend to go later today because yesterday I was too tired when I came home from work.

These kinds of things-hobbies that have become passions-are what sustains me.

I also try to eat as healthfully as possible: I buy organic vegetables and chicken, and have fruit and yogurt for snacks every day or nearly every day sometimes.  Canned and frozen fruit is just as good because they are flash-frozen at the peak of freshness.  So I like to buy organic frozen strawberries which taste so good.

I'd be interested in hearing what works for you.

Regards,

Christina

I use music to soothe my soul or bring me up. In my teenage years music was my escape from the family chaos.

Writing has always been a passion. I just started journaling a couple of years ago. I find this to be a valuable tool. I get feedback and support when needed.

For few short months ago I began baking. I love to cook and so baking really fit in. (Today I made oatmeal raisin cookies with a brown icing.)

I stay away from drugs and alcohol. I use alot of what I learned in AA in most areas of my life. I quit cigarettes and cut back on caffeine.

I reflect what was, turning it into what is. I look and see if I'm doing something that could be done different or better.

I listen and read what works for other people. I'll try it and if I like it I will incorporate it into my life.

The biggest thing is that I have vision, determination, and a willingness to fix whatever needs tending to.

Self talk is important. I'm turning around what I say to myself.

And I will NEVER EVER GIVE UP!

Dave

I continue to spend more time in the "consumer peer specialist" movement. Currently, concentrating on four states (IL., Va., Ga. & FL.) & the national level (DBSA & USPRA). These relationships become mutually benefical & promote advocacy, support, recovery & exploit stigma.    Regards;  Jim Blaha

From the very moment I was diagnosed with sz, I sought all the info I could find on the subject.  I learned I was not alone, that approx 1 in 100 people have sz.  Wow, I thought.  Of course, I would rather it be zero cases per 100, but I felt at once part of a special group of survivors.  That gave me a sense of belonging, rather than what I had been experiencing -- the feeling of being an outcast among people and a stranger in my own skin.

In about 2001, my therapist taught me relaxation techniques -- deep breating, progressive muscle relaxation, and grounding.  I use these every day, especially when trying to go to sleep.  Also when in an especially tense situation.  Sometimes I incorporate yoga routines into my weekly fitness program.

Speaking of which, I believe that exercise and a healthy diet have also contributed to my well-being.  I walk for 30 minutes 6 times per week, either on a treadmill or outside.  I don't kid myself that it is really cardio work because I don't force myself to get my heart rate up.  But I have no doubt it helps me keep sane -- I enjoy looking at nature, hearing the birds sing -- it helps relieve tension and is a good way to start the day.  It is also a time of prayer for my loved ones and thanksgiving to God.

And although I could keep going, I will add music as my final adjunct therapy.  I'm not sure I could go through a day without music.  The first thing every morning, I choose from a variety of classical and rock music, whatever appeals to me that day.  I am fascinated that human beings can create something so beautiful and I really feel joy from listening to almost any kind of music.

Carolyn

I say this so often, but I really believe that creativity is an essential treatment for mental illness and should never be overlooked.  It is just as important as the medication.  The fact is that many, many people who suffer from schizophrenia related disorders will not take their medications for years at a time.  I was very fortunate in that it took me only 3 years, but the average is closer to 8 years!  So what do you tell someone who will not take the medications??  In my case I began therapy almost from the start.  I went to support groups (though not for psychotic disorders because there were no support groups in my area and still aren't yet...).  I also continued being creative in any way I could:  I wrote in a journal, when I found I couldn't paint, draw or shoot photographs (which I had done before I became incapacitated) I switched over to craft work--I learned to crochet and made afghans for my family and also shirts, bags, hats, gloves.  I made jewelry.  I sculpted little figurines out of colored clay.  Later on, I returned to drawing, painting and photography when I went back to college to get my BFA degree.  Several years before I got ill, I sang, wrote songs and played guitar.  Very early in my illness I was writing some good songs, but was under the sway of delusional thinking and soon had to stop. More recently I have returned to singing and songwriting and have found it to be something I still love to do.  

The computer has been an important tool in being both creative and in connecting to other people and lessening my extreme isolation.  There were times when I would spend many hours online using message boards, often dedicated to schizophrenia. The best message boards I've found are on the NAMI (National Alliance On Mental Illness)website.  NAMI has a wide variety of message boards for people with all kinds of mental illness and for their friends and families and many of them are quite active.

I also highly recommend writing in a blog.  I started my blog Yin And Yang on Blogger in November 2006 after being inspired by Pamela Spiro Wagner's blog (and by her book DIVIDED MINDS).  Writing in my blog has been a wonderful creative and therapeutic outlet.  It has also given me a circle of friends with their own blogs and it is they, more than anything, that have greatly lessened my sense of isolation and given me encouragement when I most needed it.  Writing in a blog and reading other people's blogs has given me an online support network that I have yet to find offline and in my community.  It has also given me a place to share not only my writing but my art work.  

I think two key words in recovery are Expression and Community.  If you can express yourself in some creative fashion, which covers a very wide range of activities, and if you can find a community to belong to, preferably both online and offline, you will have come far.  Be very honest and share your story with others, which I think is one of the best ways to fight stigma and to give yourself a very necessary dose of confidence.  Again, the internet is a good place to start your creative endeavors because it allows for self expression and a certain amount of privacy, at least in the beginning, when you are more delicate and unsure. 

even though some of my friends may wonder but I feel good when I eat good. The same goes for conscience. I have to do all of the right things in order to feel good. Other than that, I try to be as normal as possible going to church, keeping up with current affairs, doing a good job at work, helping others when I can (without jeopardizing myself or my safety).

From what I gather, the symptoms of sz really seem to be out of a person's control and sz seems very often unaffected by what you might do. Usually the mind works together with you on your side but if your mind starts attacking you and betraying you, then you really have to wonder what is going on. I don't really suggest "fighting it" because then you give it credibility. The thing that seems to work the best is to ignore and believe that it doesn't even exist. It is not enough to act like it isn't there. You have to believe it isn't real. In fact, it doesn't exist because it seems to be a creation of the subconscious mind. It is in no way intentional.

The interesting (or strange) thing is that when you believe in the hallucinations, it produces actual symptoms. You get the paranoia and the dilating pupils and the symptoms seem to be authenticated or realized. IOW, if it wasn't true before, it is now but it is your mind that made it into what have become actual visible symptoms.

Am I making any sense?