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CONSUMER RECOVERY STORIES & ARTWORK ARTWORK
RECOVERY STORIES My Journey Toward Recovery Another winter season has come upon us. They seem to pass quickly, but they are not without painful challenges. When I was in the spring of my life, in my youth, I never considered the intense complexities of the human brain, and how irreversible brain damage would affect me during my adult years. I did not know that I would become mentally and physically debilitated. I needed to rely on doctors, therapists, counselors and different medications. After immense adjustments, I found and began to trust “the me” that was lost in time. I resorted to self-help books and spiritual renewal and wellness healing. My family tried to respect my needs and offered me what support they could. I don’t wish to repeat this experience. A lot of hard work has been accomplished and there is still a way to go. With the wisdom I’ve gathered, and knowing what I can expect from life, the challenge will continue. Although there is no known cure for my conditions, I have a better understanding of how to endure whatever comes.
The Daily Challenge of Recovery I read that a certain autistic young man knew if he wanted to be treated normally, he had to act normal. So he copied the behavior of the people he watched. He got so good at acting, that people hardly knew that he was autistic. That is recovery. When you can act so well, that you blend in with the normal population. The problem is that there is no normal. It is a myth, based on mathematical statistics about an average a set of behaviors. Society created normalcy as something that doesn’t really exist. If normalcy is mandatory, then diversity is lost. Yet, society needs diversity for its survival. It is the normalcy that society doesn’t need.
My Story Around My Mental Illness Picture someone laying on her living room couch for hours everyday, not sleeping nights and listening to voices in her head, laughing for hours on end. I tried to watch television but couldn’t grasp what was going on because I was too busy listening to voices and I simply could not think or function. I couldn’t make myself an easy meal to eat. I was unemployed. I hardly went out of the house because I’d see things that weren’t there. I thought I was possessed by demons. I went to a priest to talk about it. I realize, now, that I wasn’t possessed by demons, I was just mentally ill. Finally, I went to the hospital and saw a psychiatrist and started on a medication called Narvane. Shortly, after starting on this medication, I felt 100% better. I still had some of my symptoms, but they drastically reduced. This was my beginning of sanity. I also started to go to psychotherapy, which helped tremendously. Today I am on Zyprexia, and have been for several years. I am seeing a therapist and a case manager. Seacoast Mental Health and my other supports, such as family, friends, job and caring acquaintances have helped tremendously. I am very happy and I’m going to college to obtain a certificate in human services. I have a debt of gratitude for those who have helped me, especially God, who was there all the time.
Schizophrenia In dealing with a mental illness called schizophrenia, I had to learn to let go of the past and all it’s pains. Schizophrenia is intensified from past trauma. Due to my illness, life barely existed. I did not talk to family and I had no friends to speak of. I heard voices and this affected my paranoia since I thought people were against me. This caused isolation to the point that I only found comfort when I was alone in my room. My only companion was the television. The small amount of company I found in the television was twisted by the voices I heard, some even coming from the television. With finding the right medication and therapeutic intervention, the fog that shrouded my world slowly began to lift. This allowed the sunlight of knowledge to seep through, enabling me to begin to create more of a life for myself. I now know the past traumas belong in the past and have no place in my life today. I learned this through living each present moment, for now. My life today is better, because the things that once frighten me have become more manageable. For the first time in ten years, I am able to socialize and not retreat from the world. I have discovered that the world is OK and it is OK to be living in it. If you have schizophrenia, you must learn to be open, to accept, to let go, and move on.
Personal Thoughts Regarding Recovery
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