I am very proud - yesterday somebody pointed me to the Schizophrenia Commission website. My recovery story has been highlighted in the 'Personal Perspectives' section, and they have referred to my 'fantastic' blog and book. My head is growing as I type...
Here's the link:
http://www.schizophreniacommission.org.uk/personal-perspectives/
Hi Louise, very best wishes in your work.
ReplyDeleteI was very struck by your comment; "I see psychosis as the mind's way of escaping from reality, when reality becomes so awful that one cannot cope."
This exactly fits my bargain thesis, - bargainthesis.blogspot.co.uk - which has caused interest among academics and maybe points a way out.
Very best wishes
Adrian
Thanks Adrian
ReplyDeleteI have commented on your blog - I think you are right to say that there is definitely more hope of recovery than people recognise. I don't think anyone deliberately chooses to remain mentally unwell, but a combination of medication (with its side effects of lethary, weight gain and other physical symptoms) and financial benefits can conspire to ensure that expectations of recovery are low, which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Recovery from severe mental illness is a big subject, and hopefully there will soon be more information about how more people can achieve their full potential in time.
I am not sure that the issue of recovery is as simple as your 'bargain' thesis, but it may be that you have filled in part of the picture. I don't think that the 'bargain' theory fits the falling into psychosis - I think the mind escapes from reality when it is too much to bear, and when there is simply no other option. I truly think I would have died had I not gone mad - my body was under too much strain from my nervous system to survive. I had no idea what would happen to me in madness - fear was a big part of the picture - there was certainly no notion that I would be cared for and made safe by the psychiatric system, so there was no element of bargain, conscious or subconscious.
You pose an interesting theory though, which certainly adds to the debate about serious mental illnesses.
All the best, Louise