There Are a Lot of Alternative Medicines

During your mental health care, have you often felt hopeless about your chance of getting better?

I was always told that I would have to take medication for the rest of my life in order to manage whatever they consider to be symptoms. Even with the medications, I was told that I would have episodes of what was considered mental illness that could never be predicted.

Has a mental health provider ever told you that you could reach a personal goal despite your psychiatric diagnosis (for example, education, career, independent housing, relationship, children, etc.)?

I have had some good therapists who have given the general sense that I was an intelligent being who could reach whatever goals I wanted to reach.

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.)?

I was told by a psychiatrist that I would have to quit graduate school for a while. He proceeded to make this come true by confining me to the mental hospital. A couple of psychiatrists have also told me that my relationship with my lover was just a symptom of mental illness, that I was going through a period of hypersexuality, that my relationship wouldn’t last. This was done about 6 years ago – I am still with the same guy in a thriving relationship!

If you overcame hopelessness that you could get better from a mental health or emotional problem, was there a turning point for you? 

The turning point was when I realized how wrong my diagnosis was. I realized that my father had indeed been a child molester and that was the source of all the turmoil that I went through as an adult. I just knew this truth, which gave me a lot of strength. I also read my medical records regarding these issues and saw how I was labeled as delusional regarding this. I could totally dismiss the system, the diagnosis, the predictions of the medical community. I basically [think] psychiatry is a blunt instrument that is used to medicate souls and spirits in pain.

Tell us what recovery means to you. How would you define recovery from mental health or emotional problems in your own words?

Recovery means coming to terms, accepting and understanding what has happened to me in terms of individual evil and a nasty psychiatric system. It has also meant that I forgive myself for the way I have dealt with it – no matter what I feel that individuals blame themselves for ways they have acted. Recovery also means getting fit physically. finding jobs, careers, hobbies that interest me, and reaching out to friends and family.

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?

Psychiatrists and psychologists are not gods. They are nowhere near knowing even a basic understanding of how our brains and spirits work. There are a lot of alternative medicines, knowledge, and wisdom out there that will emerge as you search for it.

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?

My main example is that I feel happy through most of my days. When I do feel a dark mood coming on, I just start doing something I enjoy – getting coffee, sleeping, going out, watching a movie, taking a bath, or lighting a candle. This keeps that feeling of hopelessness at bay. I also notice that I do the same thing with people. If they say something hurtful, I would let it fester and let it become something that casts a cloud on a whole day. I am starting to use humor and friends. I now will myself to have a good mood, and have a pleasant time, no matter what. Since my incarceration in a mental institution nearly 2 years ago, I am financially stable and able to pay my basic mortgage and bills. I learned a new skill as a bartender that allows me to work part-time. I am learning HTML and dreamweaver in order to be able to design webpages, my next venture. I have a good group of friends and a great lover. A few things I have done in the past couple of weeks that show my well-being: camping, hiking through the woods at night time, helping to host a gathering of women on the new moon, making pizza from scratch for 5 people, and drumming at a drum circle.