The best advice I’ve come across about how to help someone recover from a mental illness is from Pat Deegan, Director of Training and Education at The National Empowerment Center. The entire article is available for a nominal fee from the National Empowerment Center. If you know someone who is experiencing a mental health crisis, you can become their powerful ally by absorbing the message in Recovery as a Journey of the Heart. Her article explains how people like herself who have been labelled mentally ill defend themselves againt profound disappointment and hurt.
“The fact that I was unmotivated was seen as a problem by the people who worked with me. But for me, giving up was not a problem, it was a solution. It was a solution because it protected me from wanting anything. If I didn’t want anything, then it couldn’t be taken away. If I didn’t try, then I wouldn’t have to undergo another failure. If I didn’t care, then nothing could hurt me again.”
Think about how Pat Deegan’s observations might apply to your own relative.
The best advice I’ve come across about how to help someone restore from a psychological sickness is from Pat Deegan, Home of Training and Knowledge at The National Empowerment Center.
Psychiatrist