Left of the Dial: Embracing Mental Health

Ashley posted a new blog entry so click on my link to her and read it. She talks about barriers to treatment. I would submit the most dangerous barrier is the refusal to acceptance your diagnosis.

You will heal when you bring forth that which is inside you: the glorious one and only you, the person you are in this lifetime.

By accepting the diagnosis, you free yourself of the shackles of doubt and shame and guilt about being crazy. I wanted to prove I was normal: so I discontinued the medication. I wanted to prove I was normal: so I spent seven long years in the gray flannel insurance field. A career that was a total mismatch with my personality.

I fled a psychiatrist's office and didn't go back after he propositioned me. He was the only doctor I met who wasn't a professional and I couldn't be honest with.

Our providers need to embrace the idea that people with a diagnosis can recover and be in remission. The ex cathedra nature of their relationship can alienate and intimidate patients who are afraid to speak up.

Dr. A sits in a chair across from me not in a chair in back of his desk. The one time he tried to mirror back what I told him he didn't get it right so I clarified what I said.

Am I harsh in claiming each of us needs to get empowered to take control of our health? Embracing mental health ultimately lies within every one of us.

I had a unique experience early in my recovery because I did do battle with the staff in the mental health system. I had the balls to duke it out.

The question becomes:

How does an ordinary person with SZ or another MI gain the courage, strength and confidence to self-monitor their mental healthcare and get his or her needs met?

What if what we want is at odds with what our providers want for us? This is the focus of my first news article at the HealthCentral website for August.

It's our right to be competitive shoppers in the mental health market and shop around until we find the doctor that is right for us.

In a world where the mental health system is broken, it's up to us to use the tools at our disposal to heal and become whole and well.

What tools? Some tools:

Employment, whether that be from a paid job or volunteer work.

Getting "credentialed"-and I talk about this in detail in a news article at HealthCentral in early August too.

Health and Fitness habits.

And:

Doing the things that are under our control instead of lamenting the things that we can't control.

Standing together in the light of the truth instead of cutting each other down to feel better.

No doubt exists that the system is broken so we can't give up the fight to reclaim our mental health.

I will always recommend a person get trained so he or she can find a job, and that a person risk working at a job to see if it will work out. If it doesn't, you can always go back to collecting a government disability check.

I'm a fan of employment because it will enable you to afford to see a private doctor and therapist, thus effectively opting out of the public health system.

The way I see it: it doesn't hurt to try to work, to set this goal and see if you can do it.

Regardless of your job status though, everyone deserves to have the best competent mental healthcare.

Yet this is why I won't comment on "The Joker." I won't comment or report on the endless crimes committed by people with SZ who go untreated: I regret there's no solution.

What's the solution? I'd love to hear your ideas on fixing things.

Source: http://chrisbruni.blogspot.com/2012/07/embracing-mental-health.html

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