For several years I was a member of on on-line schizophrenia community. Many of my opinions about schizophrenia were formed from what I learned there. After a while, I began to notice that most of the people there were what I would call professional schizophrenics, because they accepted the label and all that is involved with being a patient. They knew everything about medications, but not much about other ways of looking at the problem. In many cases, the meds didn’t work, yet they persisted in trying more. Many of them were taking staggeringly large doses of a number of antipsychotics. To this they added antidepressants and other drugs. Their lives were desperate and generally chaotic. They had abandoned hope.
For many of the members of the group, a lot of the chaos was due to inadequate health insurance or no insurance. This only adds insult to injury by compounding the problems of the mentally ill while bearing no relationship to achieving mental health. Bad health insurance or no health insurance distracts people. They end up fighting with their insurers rather than concentrating on the real issues. They are worn out from the fight. At the same time, they fervently believe that they have a brain disease, so they think there is nothing they can do. They often considered themselves a “special case,” much harder to cure than other people with schizophrenia.
None of these particular problems are insurmountable, though, depending on your attitude. It also helps to have someone who trusts in you and believes in your recovery.
I noticed that the people in the group who were actually doing well were the ones who didn’t consider themselves patients, who had little time for the meds and had found their sanity through either going the vitamin route or the therapeutic route or a combination of both. They were well versed in the principles of Buddhism, Eastern mysticism and shamanic traditions. One man highly recommended reading Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements, because he said it helped him come to terms with himself. They liked the group of people termed the “antipsychiatrists,” because the antipsychiatrists “got” the idea that there is a largely psychospiritual element to schizophrenia. Yes, it helps to have a psychiatrist, but I noticed the people who seemed to be in charge of their lives were the same people who were also critical of the role of the psychiatrist in their lives.
These people didn’t generally last long in the group, because not enough people were receptive to their message. A lot of them were blunt in their opinions, therefore not particularly likeable. Yet, these were the people who had recovered and wanted to show other people that they could do it, too. Few seemed to listen.
.