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The lowest point

By David Robbins Friday, August 07, 2009

About 11 or 12 years ago, I was at my lowest point. I'm gonna write about the day it started.

 

It was a hot summer day, Blue skies with a nice gentle breeze. The kids and I went to the small creek near the house to play in the cool water.

After a few minutes in the water I discovered two bones. I was horried. My mind went into hyper mode. It raced with thoughts that I had discovered a body.

 

I called the police to report what I had found. When the police pulled up, I ran in front of the car yelling for him to stop. (I used a few choice words that I will not use here). All of a sudden I lost total control. I sprinted to the creek. Next thing I knew there were about 8 officers trying to calm me down. I was handcuffed. I remember one officer saying that if I didn't stand up he would beat me. He beat me. I was placed in the back seat of a police cruiser. The female officer was called a few choice names. She kept her composure and was kind to me. On the way to the hospital I apologized for calling her names.

 

In the hospital I was placed in a room with a security guard at the door. I told him that I could count the number of  items in a box  on the wall. I went through a whole big bunch of delusions.

 

They brought in a counselor from the Crisis Unit. I told him all that had happened. He wrote it down but soon got frustrated. I was yelling and screaming the delusions. I was totally out of control. I remember being wheeled on a gurney to an elevator. I saw lights that were a blur. I said  "wow I'm at the airport."

 

I was placed on the maxium security unit. I don't know what happened, the next three days. I remember one time I was acting up and they had to call code blue. They gave me a shot to calm me down. The third day I came out of it. I went and took a shower and I saw that I was black and blue over a great deal of my body.

 

That was the lowest point I ever had. The good thing about being that low there was only one way to go...UP! I spent about two weeks in the hospital. I learned that even though I was totally "out of it" I could still get through any thing of that magnitude.

Little hurdles are easier to overcome. Big hurdles take time to overcome, but they can be.

 

Writing this was hard. It is something I have thought about for 2 days. I released that demon, stared it down, and now I can be free of it.

 

Life is good.

 

p.s. The bones were from a deer.

 

Live, love, laugh, learn, listen,

 

Dave

Peace among voices
8/ 7/09 9:45am

I went through a similair expereince but not quite as bad. My experience was one I brought on myself and my actions caused the nurses in the unit to put me in restraints. The first time I was hospitalized I kept going to the nurses station asking them questions like when would my doctor come or when visiting were to begin. I was constantly bugging the nurses and kept them from doing their job so after warning me numerous times I had to be put in retraints. Another time while in a different hospital I kept getting out of bed and going to the nurses station again numerous times so they too had to put me in restraints.

While some reading my post may feel putting me in restraints was cruel and unusual punishment but honest to God I feel I brought it upon myself.

Christina Bruni, Health Guide
8/ 7/09 9:04pm

Hello Dave,

 

Your sensitivity, so typical of someone with schizophrenia, is apparent in how you thought the bones belonged to a body.  The beating and the incident and the hospital stay have stayed with you all these years.  You are right in that the hardest hurdle is the worst of all.  Each of us diagnosed and living with schizophrenia has such painful stories.  Your courage and honesty are admirable.  I believe you touch the lives of more people than you will ever know.

 

That was 1997, right?  Twelve years.  A lot can change in 12 years and a lot has changed for you for the better.  That was possibly rock bottom for you.  When a person hits rock bottom, the only way out is up.  The only way out is through.

 

You have also been resilient and were able to bounce back stronger than you were before.  We do not know what we have inside ourselves until we are tested.  You passed the test.

 

Each day we live is another day we get to write a different ending to our story.

 

I wish you to have peace now.

 

And I'm certain that maybe you do.

 

Have a good night.

 

Regards,

Christina

8/ 7/09 10:58pm

What gets me is the willingness or desire of the one affected by sz to try to convince the doctors and others of their delusions. This shows rather clearly that it is not intentional and for some reason the person is believing things that they would not or should not believe. There is always a need to disassociate one's self from what your own mind is telling you but this is particularly true for the person affected by sz. Then there is the problem afterward of being able to trust what your mind is telling you. It is common for the person to resign themselves to allowing other people to think and make decisions for them because of the feeling of inadequacy that results. It takes a long time to get back the confidence to be able to make your own decisions again and that only if you are no longer having delusions and hallucinations

 

Dave's, your determination is inspiring.

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By David Robbins— Last Modified: 12/19/10, First Published: 08/07/09