Healing For My Long Time Illness

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My Journey Using Alternative Healing For My Mental Illness

Healing For My Long Time Illness
Larisa Birta

My name is Monica Davis. I am a resilience and mental health advocate, an artist, a writer, and possibilitarian and truly believe that being vulnerable with others lifts burdens on both sides.

My journey is Heartbreak. Childhood Trauma. Iraq’s Warzone. Helplessness. Stigma. My journey is survival, finding hope, and sharing my experiences because the vibrations you create will be returned as an even greater echo.

I was born biologically to a man who was the very essence of narcissism and abuse and violence and manipulation. His nick name is sperm donor because that was truly his only contribution to my life

From the age of three until I was in my early twenties, my biological father abused and harassed me, verbally, emotionally and psychologically – he did not respect my boundaries, terrorized my free spirit and gaslighted my sanity through psychological assault – he became my genetic nightmare I would blame for my behaviors, my fears, and ultimately my mental health crises. He is not my BFF.

I was born biologically to a woman who is the very essence of courage and grit and love and survival. Her name is Pam Davis, and she is my BFF.

The man I wasn’t biologically born to – his name is Marc Davis, and he is the very essence of everything dependable and compassionate and creative and honorable and father- – he is my father, my one and only. He too is my BFF.

I am lucky to have two whoa amazing holy moly thank you God, parents in my life who raised me to become the woman I am today – despite the traumatic journey I have experienced. My parents are rock stars, and they have stood by me through it all – and before I start doing the ugly cry – let me tell you why I am sharing this today.

I am done being delicate, so I am sharing my truth, and the alternative ways that help me cope.

For me, I find immense joy and healing through alternative therapies painting, writing, cycling and running, tattoos, puppy love, and my work within the military, mental health, and non-profit communities – and these communities – they naturally came together to form a collective partnership within my life-mission.

One of my many hats working in federal civil service for the U.S. Army is a Master Resilience Trainer – I am able to teach a set of resilience and coping skills that help set the tone for my soldiers –they know they have someone to reach out too and a safe space to just talk it out. They know that I will provide resources, not judgment.

I am also the Social Media Director for the not-for-profit resilience resource Project Rebirth, we use our impactful programs and suite of documentary films to teach hope after tragedy, grief and loss within the Veteran, First Responder, and Education communities.

Via my personal social media footprint, I’ve connected directly with active military and veterans, and starting mid-2014, what began with receiving a call or two a month, turned into a call or two or three or four a week. Conversations about their experiences, their demons, and their lost hope – and nothing but love coming from my end. Have I saved every person – nope.

Will I save every person – nope. So, do I require a massive amount of self-care considering I am sometimes triggered during these conversations – oh yes – especially when I find out someone loses their battle with mental illness.

But does that prevent me from connecting with someone when they choose me to be their person? Heck no.

Kindness is  free, sprinkle that shit everywhere, and impact someone’s life in the most authentic way I know how – be their battle buddy.  

I also fell in love with cycling ( fell in love hard core saved my soul type of fell in love) because of our veterans.

Once you witness an American hero wounded physically and/or mentally – cycling over 400-miles right alongside of you or better yet, leading the pack – yeah sorry not sorry, I have no excuse – Inspired. Motivated. Empowered.

I believe I was placed on this planet to ignite love and foster hope – and my work within these communities has proven to fulfill this desire.

I am a self- taught painter and only after returning home in 2011 from Iraq, after taking an assignment in support of our military, did I find the outlet to purge my experiences onto canvas. I knew I needed a new approach to healing, this was the first time I had painted since I was a little girl in grade school.

In just six months after returning home, I created over one-hundred fifty pieces calling them my ‘Warzone Purging’ collection, which then launched my artist website dyoiart.

com – which stands for Define Your Own Interpretation.

I still create free-spirited work, and also focus on custom requests –all my work is for sale on my website, and a large portion of the proceeds are donated to organizations of the buyers choosing.

Painting saved my life and it continues to do so by giving me a creative outlet to purge my continuing battle with mental illness, and purges the emotional weight that I so often carry for too long

Many times, the Middle East was frightening – but it was the more frequent quiet times that brought to the surface demons that forced me to remember my childhood trauma. In 2014 I began to journal, I felt an escape, a way to connect with my thoughts directly.

It was the start of what I now call my Growth Game Diary.

I began sharing quotes and sayings that lifted my spirit, posting my writings and blogs, became a contributing writer at Thought Catalog, and last November I publicly told my trauma story in detail to the world, which you can see on my website and blog.

It has taken me over twenty years to fully come my shattered shell, and I can credit each of my alternative therapies to saving my life. Although cycling and running, and my furbaby Oakley play a ginormous role, creative outlets have been the most freeing. Painting, writing and then there are my tattoos.

In January of this year, I completed a piece of body art, a full-back tattoo, that made me realize this too was a type of therapy for me – and through the over a year, seventeen-session process, I shared that journey with my social media tribe through photos and truth bombs that I uncovered about my emotional state.

You know that quote “The Ax Forgets what the Tree Remembers” – the Ax is the tattoo gun, and the tree is my body in pain.

Isn’t it strange how we decorate pain? This isn’t my first tattoo, but it wasn’t until this most recent, massive piece covering the entire backside of my body, including my booty, that I was able to uncover a gigantic revelation about myself.

Some people cut themselves, I get tattooed – pretty bold statement I know. I am still in awe of how strong I am, my pain threshold, and where I can take my mind when under such circumstances.

Then there’s the phantom pain – I can go back in time and remember the abuse, and even when the details of a situation are blurry, I remember vividly how I felt or how scared I was – I can also go back to each tattoo session and remember and feel it so clearly.

Even now, my tattoos give me a sense of feeling alive – Kinda fucked up, right?

Let me tell you how empowering it feels to conquer the pain, to mend the wounds as they heal – and then to let that shit go.

Through the pain of all of my bodyart, I have been able to purge emotions and create permanent beauty reminders that have helped my GrowthGame journey.

I am constantly aware that these choices are forever – but I am also aware that my past is not – and as I grow old, and my skin starts to wrinkle – this work will adapt to its new body just as I have with my ever-changing story.

My truth living with bipolar disorder, anxiety, and PTSD is that I am basically a prostitute of feelings – in any given day I have amazing highs, laugh out loud sessions – to ugly cries that purge the day, and those manic episodes that knock me out for days.

It is devastating, yet for me an utterly beautiful human experience – and because of my alternative therapy approach to my journey, my perspective has enabled me to be remain vulnerable, feel free and less caged, but to also know my limitations and triggers – which for me is the most important facets to controlling and coping.

Some of you may have heard the saying – “Fighting for peace is fucking for virginity” these days – So what do we do? How do we cope when, for many of us, the world is one big emotional trigger?  Answer: We wage the struggle by being our best selves, rise above and crusade. So I focus on what heals me, what I consider self-care and therapy, and allows me to be strong enough to continue loving humanity no matter how ugly we get.

Emotional courage in a time of hatred is revolutionary.

Love hard. Be fierce, and never apologize for your superpowers – because that’s what mental illnesses are – superpowers.

You are all ambassadors of hope. 

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Источник: //thoughtcatalog.com/monica-davis/2017/06/my-journey-using-alternative-healing-for-my-mental-illness/

How Meditation Helps You Heal (Plus, a Simple Breathing Practice)

Healing For My Long Time Illness

If you have a chronic condition or are physically struggling, you have to make a clear intention to sit in the initial discomfort and distractions that beginning a healing meditation practice often brings.

In my senior year at college I was involved in a school tradition called “Marathon,” where every freshman was assigned to a senior, and that freshman makes fun of you in a series of theater skits. My freshman’s performance was eye-opening. She whined, “I can’t do this, and I can’t do that.

My neck hurts, my back hurts, my shoulders ache.” Everyone in the audience was laughing, but I was hurt and surprised. That’s how my classmates saw me? As a whiner and a complainer—a joke? A hypochondriac? Everyone else’s skit portrayed something truly funny, but I had a real health problem.

And I was being laughed at for it.

Thanks for watching!

There’s a reason why chronic illnesses are considered the “invisible diseases” and sometimes perceived as hypochondria: if others actually can’t see the pain you’re in, they think you’re a faker.

The truth is, I actually did think of myself as a “sick chick” for a long time, so I bear responsibility for transmitting that message out to the masses.

Until we stop defining ourselves as sick, other people will continue to see us that way too.

Thanks for watching!Thanks for watching!Instead of viewing your condition as a disease in your body, choose to view it as an opportunity to reconnect with yourself and learn to love yourself.

When I discovered the Glow Warrior within, I knew it definitely came directly from the power of the Universe (you can call it God, the One, or Gaia—it all works!). It’s there within you too. You won’t drown, get lost, or lose your way.

You will, however, start seeing yourself as bigger than your physical challenges or limitations.

See also How Rodney + Colleen Saidman Yee Help Sick Patients + Caregivers

Healing Meditation: How to Get Started

First of all, don’t just sit there. Sit there and get comfortable in the present moment. The first step to truly healing is to fully surrender to where you are in this moment. And to let it be. When you allow yourself to be truly present in your body, your heart will soften and open, and you can begin to use that feeling as your guide.

This is how you will begin to heal yourself. Focusing on your breath is what will bring you back to the present at any moment you choose. Your breath is your life force and your anchor, and unfortunately it is something that, for a lot of us, tends to get lost in the shuffle when we are dealing with severe stress in the body.

The first place to start getting reconnected to yourself is through your breath.

Focus on breathing in through your nose, lowering your breath all the way down into your tummy, and expanding your ribcage out to the sides. Then slowly exhale out through your mouth. The first time I sat and did nothing but breathe, I thought I was going to scream hard enough to ace the part of the hysterical heroine in the next zombie apocalypse movie.

After a few tries I started looking forward to it because doing nothing with purpose really does put you in touch with your higher self, your inner guide, the present moment, and the spiritual forces that are all on your side.

It’s called meditating, which is a practice that helps us build and maintain our internal energy and develop patience, forgiveness, and compassion.

If you have a chronic condition or are physically struggling, you have to make a clear intention to sit in the initial discomfort and distractions beginning meditation often brings.

There you are, sitting cross-legged, replaying a particularly annoying conversation at work, or thinking about the laundry you need to pick up (or dry cleaning you need to drop off), and all of a sudden you’re not meditating anymore. Eventually, you re-center yourself and let those random thoughts float by, and you do begin to see yourself differently.

You begin to feel more loving and more forgiving, less critical of yourself. You get yourself the “what ifs” of the future or “coulda shouldas” from the past and get comfortable in the present moment.

Don’t stop even if you feel very uncomfortable and strange in the beginning. Be persistent. Give time and space for your inner voice to make itself heard. That will happen either right in the moment or sometime later during the day.

Doing nothing is so powerful it has an amazing residual effect—sort of taking a time-release capsule of inner peace and wisdom. Some synchronistic event will occur; someone will tell you exactly what you need to hear; you will get a sudden flash of insight.

Along with that, you’ll realize you are so much more than your tingling legs, irritable bowel, or migraine headache.

Connecting with my soul has been one of the best things I have ever done for my physical condition and my mind. Finding my soul was finding my home, and when I found it, everything else started to flow, and my body started to heal.

See also Finding Your Soul’s Purpose: The Four Purusharthas

Practice: A Simple Healing Meditation 

This healing meditation will make a positive difference in your mood.

Sit still and tall somewhere comfortable; a chair with good back support works well. Close your eyes and begin breathing through your nose. Inhale for a count of two, and exhale gently for a count of four. Keep breathing evenly and smoothly. Set a timer and breathe this way for at least five minutes.

One nice element you can add to this exercise is a mantra. On the inhale say to yourself, “I am,” and on the exhale, say to yourself, “perfectly well.” In doing so, you’re tuning into the idea that you’re not just your physical ailments, and you’re making room for your true self to breathe. Afterward you will notice a positive difference in your mood.

See also Stoke Your Spirit: 31 Daily Mantras + Affirmations

Adapted from Kicking Sick: Your Go-To Guide to Thriving with Chronic Health Conditions by Amy Kurtz. Copyright © 2017 by Amy Kurtz. 

About the Author
Amy Kurtz is a wellness expert, an AADP-certified Holistic Health Coach, and a regular contributor on popular wellness websites such as MindBodyGreen and Yoganonymous. She lives in New York City. For more information, visit amykurtz.com.

Источник: //www.yogajournal.com/meditation/using-meditation-heal-chronic-illness

10 Minute Self Healing Meditation for Relief from Injury, Illness, Pain, and Negative Thoughts

Healing For My Long Time Illness

This 10 minute guided Self Healing meditation will support you in manifesting a full physical mind and body healing. Each time you listen, it will initiate a deep healing transformation of every cell in your body.

Other benefits include instant relief from physical pain, healing long-term illnesses, finding deep levels of inner peace, an increased amount of energy, and the quieting of mind chatter.

This Self Healing Meditationwill soothe your body and relieve your mind of any so you can receive a physically transformative healing experience.

Self Healing Meditation

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Depressed, anxious, scared, frustrated, angry, hurt, resentful, hopeless, hurt, in pain, desperate, emotional…

Dealing with pain can make you unravel. I know. I have been there and I want to help you feel better.

As you know, I have been working through a particularly challenging foot injury. Its taken me so many things I love (high heels included) and there have been times when I have felt depressed, hopeless, frustrated, and physically/mentally exhausted.

When I feel this I know that one of the best things I can do to support myself is to meditate. I find that meditation helps me reset and shift my consciousness so that I can find the present moment and view life in a positive light.

 This in turn eases my depression/anxiety/exhaustion; sometimes, it eradicates it completely.

The endurance and uncertainty of an injury is emotionally exhausting. In those times where I feel lost, upset, drained, hopeless, or scared about what’s next, I have turned to meditation and prayer to help.

When you feel stuck in that place of hopelessness and depression you must find a way to shift your state of being. Remember your thoughts and beliefs affect your body’s ability to heal.

If you are caught in a negative thought cycle and obsessed with your pain, you’ll only move downward. What you focus on expands and if you let yourself worry about pain, you are giving more power to it. Both health and illness is a part of life.

When you keep that in mind and have a positive state of mind, then illnesses or injury can change.

If you are feeling hopeless, depressed, or stuck in a state of pain, this quick Self Healing meditation can help you shift your mindset to a more positive place.

This Self Healing meditation is about establishing a different relationship with your thoughts and affirming your body’s ability to heal itself. You’re training yourself to place your attention where and when you want. This is very powerful.

It gives you the ability to direct your thoughts (and mood) in more productive and peaceful directions. This ability has profound self-healing implications for physical and mental health.

The mind is a powerful thing, and our thought and intent are as potent as any medicine.

How this Self Healing Meditation Helps The Body Heal Itself

The body knows how to heal itself. It is equipped with natural self-repair mechanisms that repair broken proteins, kill cancer cells, fight infections, prevent aging, and maintain the homeostasis of the body.

When the body gets sick, whether from the common cold or something more serious, heart disease or cancer, it’s almost always because the body’s self-repair mechanisms have broken down, usually because of stress.

When the nervous system is stressed, as it is during the “fight-or-flight” stress response that is so commonly triggered in modern day life, these self-repair mechanisms are disabled and the body is at risk for disease or injury. Only when the counterbalancing relaxation response is activated, when the sympathetic nervous system is turned off and the parasympathetic nervous system is turned on, can the body heal itself.

So how can you turn on that relaxation response so the body can heal itself? My book, Balanced Body Breakthrough, lists many ways, but one of the simplest and most effective is meditation!  Meditation has been scientifically proven to activate the relaxation response, and as a result, almost every health condition improves. Research has shown meditation is effective in treating angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmias, allergic skin reactions, anxiety, mild to moderate depression, bronchial asthma, herpes simplex, cough, constipation, diabetes mellitus, duodenal ulcers, dizziness, fatigue, hypertension, infertility, insomnia, nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, nervousness, postoperative swelling, premenstrual syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, side effects of cancer, side effects of AIDS, injury and all forms of pain – backaches, headaches, abdominal pain, muscle pain, joint aches, postoperative pain, neck, arm, and leg pain.

Meditation has been shown to decrease stress-related cortisol, reduce respiration and heart rate, reduce the metabolic rate, increase blood flow in the brain, increase activity in the left prefrontal cortex (which is observed in happier people), strengthen the immune system, and lead to a state of relaxation.

Meditation also reduces work stress, anxiety, and depression, promotes cardiovascular health, improves cognitive function, reduces alcohol abuse, improves longevity, promotes healthy weight, improves immune function, and heightens quality of life.

If you are struggling with injury or illness, making a consistent effort to practice Meditation will help your nervous system relax. Doing so will help you heal from injury, pain, illness, or negative stress patterns that hurt your health.

Meditation for Self Healing

Guided Meditation For Self Healing. Heal from Injury, Illness, Pain, and Negative Thoughts

This Self Healing Meditation was inspired by what I have experienced during my own journey to healing, and was specially created to assist those of you who are currently going through physical challenges and dealing with pain.

 I believe in the body’s wisdom and capacity to heal itself. This 10 minute guided meditation will support you in manifesting a full physical mind and body healing. Each time you listen, it will initiate a deep healing transformation of every cell in your body.

Other benefits include instant relief from physical pain, healing long-term illnesses, finding deep levels of inner peace, an increased amount of energy, and the quieting of mind chatter.

This Self Healing Meditationwill soothe your body and relieve your mind of any so you can receive a physically transformative healing experience.

The benefits of practicing this Self Healing Meditation include:

  • Assisting you in releasing your fears by relaxing your mind
  • Giving you more energy to focus toward physical healing
  • Training your mind to support your body and restore wellness
  • Helping your body relax so it can repair itself.

10 Minute Self Healing Meditation for Relief from Injury, Illness, or Negative Thoughts

Try this Self Healing Meditation and let me know how you feel afterwards by leaving me a comment below. I hope this serves you in feeling your best.

The most important thing to remember in our efforts to be good to our body is to remember to love it. In order to heal ourselves, it is essential to remove the negative beliefs that contribute to an unhealthy physical condition.

We need to give ourselves positive messages all of the time and release negative pain. We don’t have to wait until we become thin or build our muscles or lower our cholesterol or reduce our fat ratio. We need to love ourselves right now and listen with love to the needs of our bodies.

We deserve to feel wonderful all of the time and healing is your divine right.

Be well. ♥ Know that you are loved, and that healing is always possible. ♥

Caroline

My mission is to empower feel good fitness inside and out. I am here to be of service in your wellness and help you get your mind, body, and spirit in shape so you can love your life. Contact me at carolinejordanfitness@gmail.com for virtual coaching and let me know how I can help you!

Hurt Foot Fitness Coaching Program

Hurt Foot Fitness e-book 

Strong Body Program

Hip and Hamstring healing e-book

Hurt Foot Workout Videos

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Источник: //carolinejordanfitness.com/guided-meditation-self-healing/

Long term illness – Faith for recovery

Healing For My Long Time Illness

…Continued from Page 3 of Scripture on Healing

I (Katherine T Owen) received healing after 14 years bedbound with severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. Healing bible quotes played an important part in my healing.

I still live with ME but at a far less severe level 🙂

  • Healing Is Possible No Matter How Long Term The Illness
  • Immediate healing is possible
  • I Don't Need To Be Christian To Receive Healing From Jesus

To receive Releasing Judgment, a FREE ebook or just to keep in touch, sign in below.

Your email will definitely not be misusedand you can unsubscribe at any time.With love, Katherine

You may ask: Have I been ill too long to recover now. Is it too late for me?

The bible story of healing of the lame man by Peter:

Please read the bible story in the image below.

The scripture on healing in the image above answers the question: Can I be healed of longterm illness?

This man was lame since birth. Have you been ill longer than that?

The scripture on healing above allows us to practise faith for the possibility that the long term effects of sickness can be removed. The man goes from paralysis to “walking, and leaping”.

For myself, you might think that, after 14 years bedbound, I would not be able to walk normally. I can't tell you how many people told me that permanent damage was being done to my body.

At the time of writing I can't walk far, but I walk just fine.
And I know others, who – after years of illness – do the same.

Return to List of Healing Beliefs

“Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am faint; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are in agony. My soul is in anguish. How long, O LORD, how long? Turn, O LORD, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love.”

(Psalm 6, NIV Bible)

You may ask: How long will it take to recover by faith?

Along with many other healing bible quotes, the scripture on healing of Peter healing thee lame man expands our faith for the possibility that we can recover immediately.

Think about it: Was there a moment when you became ill?
Could there be a moment when you become well?

How would that moment feel?
How does it feel?
Bring those feelings into this moment right now.

For more on this subject, move to We Don't Have To Wait For Healing.

I Don't Need To Be Christian To Receive Healing From Jesus

Perhaps you are asking: do I need to be a Christian to be healed by Jesus?

“Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only,

and my servant shall be healed….

And Jesus said unto the centurion,
Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.
And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.”

(Matthew 8:8,13, KJV esword)

Dear God, I set aside any sense of needing to be worthy to be healed. The Centurion was not a Jew – not one of the chosen people. But he asked Jesus for help and his servant was healed.

Thank you that I don't need to be worthy of healing, I don't need to belong to any particular religion,I only have to ask.

Please heal me. Thank you.

AMEN

What does the above scripture on healing teach you about claiming healing?

i.) Jesus heals gentilesFirstly, the Centurion in the Bible quote above is not a Jew, he is a Roman.

This example of Jesus healing in the Bible lets you know that you do not need to be Jewish to receive healing from Jesus… or Christian.
It is not necessary to belong to any particular religion to receive healing from Jesus.

Jesus heals the Syrophoenician woman, who is also not Jewish.
(Mark 7:25-30)

ii.) Secondly, we can use this scripture on healing to strengthen our belief that distant healing is possible. Jesus is not physically present and yet the servant was still healed.

iii.) Thirdly, this scripture on healing emphasises once again the importance of belief.
Do you believe you can be healed? 

Do you choose to believe you can be healed?

The bible story where Peter heals the lame man highlights another belief we can practice to assist faith healing. This will be explored in a new article coming up soon…

We need to learn to expect something good from God.

Return to Contents List for Scripture On Healing

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My name is Katherine Owen. Please respect my copyright as the author of this website. I am delighted if you choose to share on social media, but please do NOT reproduce any of the contents of this page without permission.

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Yoga can help heal mental illness. Big time

Healing For My Long Time Illness
It’s hard to look happy when you’ve just come the Acute Psych Ward

I need to tell you a story, about a woman coming home after spending eight years overseas.

This woman had left seeking fame & fortune, certain that out there in the world lay her destiny.

She came home broken, tormented by her mind, which had betrayed her and cost her the world. Everything she valued – her fiance, her friends, the town she’d made her home in, her sense of Self… all of it had been torn away.

She came home with nothing, except a diagnosis of bi-polar, her swirling thoughts and feelings of failure

And Yoga.

Yes, there was one thing this woman brought home with her that couldn’t be taken away, no matter what happened to her. In the Acute Psych Ward, after she was committed because cops found her delusional and half-naked running down the back roads of Pemberton, she found her way outside on to the grass and began to practice sun salutations.

Somehow she knew that no matter how broken she was, and no matter how bad things seemed to be, that if she just practiced yoga, everything would be ok.

Nothing the doctors offered her – medication, group therapy and more medication was going to make her well. She knew that. Oh, they might help in the short-term, providing a crutch to get her back on her feet again. But medication couldn’t heal her. Labelling her mentally ill couldn’t heal her. Even therapy couldn’t heal her. Only she could do it – with the right tools.

And so it was. As day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year, I turned up to the mat and I practiced. I practiced through resistance, and I practiced through tears. I practiced even though I had no teacher and I practiced even though I didn’t know what I was doing.

Now when I see people suffering mental illness, I know that yoga could help them too

And this is why I’m so proud of Annie Chapman, as she prepares to walk the Te Araroa Trail – the length of the North Island – from Cape Reinga to Wellington.

She’s on a Hikoi (march) to raise awareness for the need to bring about change in the mental health system.

Over the past two and a half years, in the role of a support worker for a Mental Health Trust Annie has witnessed the following outcomes of a medical-model approach to mental illness:

  • life-long patterns of dependence and disempowerment
  • life-threatening side-effects of many psychiatric medications
  • limited effectiveness and withdrawal problems
  • lack of accurate information re the side-effects for consumers of psychiatric medication

She’s also concerned about continued use of compulsory electro-convulsive therapy and increased prescribing of psychiatric drugs to children.

I share her concerns.

Medication is not the answer for healing mental illness – it’s a tool to help us find the stability required to take the long-term actions that can heal our minds.

Post-psychosis, I was prescribed two drugs – an anti-psychotic and a mood stabilizer. I took both of them for at least four months while I got my life grounded and stable. When I felt ready, in discussion with friends and family, I began to reduce my dose.

During this time, I observed myself, and asked my friends and family to observe me, to ensure I wasn’t falling into mania or depression again. Two months later I was drug free, and have been drug-free (and symptom-free) ever since (eight years almost).

Not everyone who experiences mental illness will be able to be drug-free. That’s not what this is about. What my experience showed me, and what Annie’s Hikoi is about it, is expanding the way we treat mental illness so that people realise they have choices.

Annie’s research suggests that better long-term outcomes can be achieved by offering people a wider range of positive, empowering alternatives, with or without short-term or lower dose medication as part of treatment. For example:

  • Effective personal advocacy
  • Access to psychotherapeutic help
  • Tailored advice regarding diet and exercise
  • Facilitated peer groups
  • Complementary therapies and practices
  • Advice and support to safely reduce or come off medications

One reason why we don’t have this kind of approach in our health system right now is cost. Many of these more progressive ways of dealing with mental health cost more up-front. However the cost long-term is reduced, as the cost of illness is reduced because people are recovering from mental health issues, rather than just medicating the symptoms.

Yoga and meditation are a big part of the complementary therapies and practices that work for mental health

I was fortunate in that I had enough knowledge, and was independent and strong enough to believe I could heal my mental illness. That it wasn’t who I was. Most people don’t feel this way, or know this, unless other people tell them it is so.

It’s bloody scary when your mind doesn’t work right anymore. It’s the most vulnerable a person can be. If you can’t trust the way your mind functions, what can you trust in life? Plus the drugs you’re given as an immediate fix suck the life you. I was a walking corpse when I came back from Canada, a shell of a woman.

And this is what Annie’s been witnessing over the last two years:

For the past two and a half years I have been employed part-time as a mental health support worker in “transition” accommodation in Porirua. I was initially shocked and increasingly angered and saddened by the high doses of medication given to the clients I work with.

What I saw is a sort of a catch 22. People are given high doses of anti-psychotic drugs which in the short term appear “to work” by knocking the worst of the distressing symptoms on the head, but at high dosages they also take away everything else as well!! As one person ruefully put it “they took away my disease but they ruined my life”.

It would be hard to imagine a system better designed to magnify damaging feelings of isolation and disempowerment than the system we have at present. Isolation and disempowerment are clearly not helpful for someone experiencing a mental health crisis.

At no stage of the process are clients offered any alternative. Drugs are the only treatment on offer.

The reliance on psychiatric drugs alone is hard to understand given the impressive record of various centres and programmes overseas.

In the U.S. Soteria houses (these were developed by a U.S.

Psychiatrist Lauren Mosher) where drugs were either avoided or minimally used; The Freedom Center in USA, where yoga and acupuncture along with Hearing Voices groups are offered; In Finland for many years now, open dialogue therapy with either minimal or no medication has yielded remarkable results with psychosis. In many third world countries where drugs are used much less frequently in the treatment of psychosis, the recovery rates are much better than in the West.

Help Annie achieve her aim of Healthy Choices in Mental Health. Here’s how:

  • Help with food and accommodation for the 5 month walk.  If you can give a one-off payment or a weekly automatic payment for the duration of the walk (e.g. $10 per week) please e-mail Annie for the bank account details.

  • Transport  between the Te Araroa trail and population centres as I pass through your district, for meeting and media activity
  • To organize meetings in your town, to raise awareness for this campaign.

  • A bed for the night when I am in your area
  • To walk with me for whichever parts of the walk you can

Please e-mail Annie if you are able to help with any of the above.

Find the Hikio for Healthy Choices in Mental Health page here.

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Источник: //theyogalunchbox.co.nz/yoga-can-help-heal-mental-illness-big-time/

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