Find the People Who Have Got Better and Learn From Them
Fred Abbe; Reedsport, OR
To the best of your knowledge, have you ever been given a psychiatric diagnosis?
Yes; Bipolar, Schizophrenia, Manic Deppresive
Are you currently taking any prescribed psychiatric medications?
No
About how long has it been since the last time you took any psychiatric medication?
5 to 10 years.
In what ways have you found psychiatric medication(s) helpful, if any?
At times helpful for sleep. At times helpful in stopping voices.
In what ways have you found psychiatric medication(s) harmful, if any?
Dummies the human being down. Induces fatigue, sleep, obesity, interferes with energy levels and ability to focus. Addictive, stigmatizing, enslaving, prevents a normal restful sleep and results in fatigue upon awakening, side effects, mucsle tightening, shifting weight from right to left, dry mouth, nullifies thirst reflex, skin rashes, only G-d knows what else.
During your mental health care, have you often felt hopeless about your chance of getting better?
Many times things felt so dark and hopeless and suicidal.
Has a mental health provider ever told you that you could not reach a personal goal because of your psychiatric diagnosis (for example, education, career, independent housing, relationship, children, etc.)?
Yes — They considered me permanently disabled. They were happy if I took a walk around the block.
During your mental health care, have you often felt hopeful about your chance of getting better?
Many times have I believed I would figure out why this has happened to me and that if I was persistent and determined I could find both the cause and the cure.
Tell us what recovery means to you. How would you define recovery from mental health or emotional problems in your own words?
Natural sleep, no drugs, no hearing voices, ability and willingness to help others, a feeling of gratitude throughout each day and a sense of happiness for being alive, and a feeling that I could do anything if I made up my mind to do it.
How recovered do you consider yourself from any mental health or emotional problems on a 10-point scale (with 10 being “fully recovered”)? Please use your own definition of recovered.
10
If you could send a brief message to someone receiving mental health care today who is feeling hopeless about getting better, what would you say?
During one of my many hospitalizations during a dark and confused period a fellow patient whom I’d never seen before looked over at me, saw my distress and said to me “It all flows back to peace” and he shook his head emphasizing “yes it does”.
Find the people who have got better and learn from them. We are living in a time when the road to recovery has been walked and marked and there are people living wanting to illuminate this for others.
Can you give examples showing you have gotten better from a mental or emotional problem, such as how you are doing well or accomplishing goals you have chosen?
I have reached my goal of understanding causes and finding real cure of mental emotional distresses.
I have not reached my goal of being believed and understood and have only been able to help a small handful of people. But I have not given up.