Perseverance

You probably read an earlier post I wrote called MY RECOVERY. Well I will go from where I am today and some of how I ended up here. My present jobs for MHCD are research assistant and I scan medical records into electronic form. I never dreamed I would be here. I am extremely happy today working for MHCD. Although I did believe I would work full time someday. It all started step by step. My first dream was to go to college and learn computer. All I learned was software. I could not go further, because I lacked math skills. I would learn it than forget it an hour after I learned it. I have not explored it further whether it was the medication at the time. Since then I have been on a new medication which I do know helps me think clearer. I also work on my memory. Well I then switched to Human Services and took up alcohol and drug counseling. I did not take mental health, because I wanted to separate the two from my own distress. For my internships I went to private practice again to separate from the two. The last place I interned for before I graduated really turned me off. I did not even want to counsel after that. I then applied and was accepted into Graduate school of Public Affaires and studied Public Administration. I had new hope that things would still work out. All I knew was I wanted a better life than the first I had before my mental distress. I graduated in 2005, and was ready to work. Read my earlier post for more on that. What I did learn is to achieve your goal or dream. You have to have perseverance, hope, and self determination. Those are also the steps to recovery. Today I have more confidence and with exercise, meditation, and self reflection. I am learning about me and how to use the skills I have. To work on the one’s I do not have. For me this second life is much better than the first. I know with the tools I have learned that what I have material and spiritual will not be taken from me this time.

Excerpts on Spirituality

Spirituality means different things to different people and all express their spirituality in different ways. Spirituality can help keep mental life in a working perspective which can be good and help people beyond the bad scenarios of their life.
Spirituality can mean faith or a way of understanding. A person’s belief in a higher power such as God or Christ, or nature or any power greater than one’s self is Spirituality, a hidden part of our life.
As people who require Mental Health treatment, we need a service of the Mental Health system which responds to our spiritual needs. We require a system in Recovery which lets us openly express our lives in a spiritual context. Consumers of Mental Health need help in understanding and exploring the importance of Spirituality and their associations with others with whom they share their lives.
There is a twist in such soul searching and belief in Spirituality in Mental Health and that some people may not feel well about their spiritual experiences and any beliefs these people may have might not be positive in their Recovery. Believing you can Recover is spiritual and we can all learn from one another, coupled with faith we have the beginning of a foundation which will give us understanding into Mental illness and greater support, as well as an ability to lead a healthier life.
Spirituality is knowledge, which leads our lives through expression.
By Donald Sammons

Meditation Technique

This technique is also out of the book Beyond Fear by Miguel Ruiz. This meditation is to take inventory of your feelings. “The inventory is a meditation exercise. An inventory is not an examination of conscience. There is no judge or victim. It is a review of feelings. Ways to initiate this exercise might be: to put a candle in your room and look at it while focusing on your breath; to look deeply into a mirror; to sit in a darkened room with your feet on the floor and your hand in your lap; to lie down with a blanket over you with your hands crossed over your chest; or to sit on the floor with your arms wrapped around your bent knees while leaning back against a support. These are all techniques for going into a light trance state.” Also the book says you can mediate with your eyes open or closed. “Meditation becomes a way of life. It is a prayer. It is one of the greatest methods for cleaning the mind, not the only method, but it is one of the most powerful and easiest.” This is a way to meditate and help your mental health. Miguel talks a lot in the book about breathing techniques, because that is our source of life. Do you mediate if so what techniques do you use?
By Charles

Changing

This is a blog from a Coworker of mine. My name is Donald. I am in recovery. I have been in recovery since the 1990’s, when I took my first step in denying myself the so-called pleasures that are inherent in this society. I was nothing more than a lowly drug addict, who was afraid to face reality and lived in one I didn’t want to face. I was lost.
Changing your life isn’t converting. It’s accepting the truth of reality. It’s finding peace in the wake of adversity, not throwing your life away, not hiding in never-never-land. Acceptance is part of the changing. Spring turns to summer, to fall then winter, our lives grow in this manner, we understand waking and becoming with the world and verily we accept this.
Going beyond Recovery is believing that we finally have rid ourselves of the webbings of the spider and have caused the clouds to part to accept the warming light our most real and truthful dreams, not the saddening of a winter’s day where one might be entrapped in a hall of mirrors without escape.
Mental health is not only about definition, yet what one believes.
By Donald Sammons

Exercise and Meditation

For exercise, I ride a stationary bike that has the distance I go and how many calories I burn. I am also lucky in the fact this bike is in my building which I live. It also will check your heart rate as you are exercising. The reason I am writing about this is that I finally reached a goal in my exercising. That is to burn 100 Calories in a half hour, which is how long the bike is timed for. Also in the timing is how much distance a person goes, my distance always says 5.3. Before I would get about 5 minutes away from it being over and say I will not make it and I would not. This time I said I’m going to keep going at this speed and I made it. Now I have to set a new goal of at least 105 calories burned. I like to work out best in the mornings, after breakfast. If you do not eat before you work out, then you will be hungry after and eat more than you want. I do exercise in the evening though sometimes. Now I will switch to meditation. I recently after reading a paragraph in the book I am reading called Beyond Fear by Miguel Ruiz. I mentioned it in an earlier posting. It talked about meditation by saying it does not matter if you’re a meat eater of a vegetarian you can still meditate. I use to mediate years ago for hours till I read in another book which I forgot the name. You do not have to meditate for hours to get the same benefit in less time. It is not the quantity but the quality. I am meditating again and hopefully get the quality of it to better myself. I will let you know how it goes.

Elemental Visit

We at MHCD had visitors from Elemental group located in the United Kingdom. We showed them what we do here in Research Department. Although mostly they talked to us about their training in Crazy Diamond, in which they believe people are mentally distressed, not mentally ill. Also which is on their Elemental website and also they talked about THRIVE which stand for Time-Healing-Resilience-Interdependence-Vivacity-Emancipation. We also took them to one of our clinical sites which was Clermont and let them meet and talk to clinicians and psychiatrist. It went great every loved the humor and what the Elemental group does. We can all use humor to make the day feel better, especially if you are a consumer. I would also like to point out that what Thrive and MHCD’s idea of recovery are basically the same principle. I would also like to mention from hearing them talk is that they do not follow the typical “medical model” but believe in it is your choice if you want to take medication to recover or thrive. I feel great that they feel that way. After Clermont we went to 2Succceed, where we had lunch and met with the survey team and the consumer partnership council. We also learned about 2Succeeds education and employment model. It was a great visit and very good learning day. I was glad to finally meet Marion Aslan from Elemental and Crazy Diamond trainer, Rowland Urey, who was here two years ago. Mike Smith who also is a trainer for Crazy Diamond.

Recovery Story

This is a story from a Co-worker of mine at evaluation and Research.
We all have bad days. Sometimes they last for a short while, some longer than others. Sometimes those confused states never end; the gray and dark days of accelerated hours that carry us into the distance while we are still trying to decide what is right, are real.
When these scenarios occur, we know deep inside we need someone, life has become overwhelming and we need to return to the starting point from where we took our first step.
The law speaks; those who want situations resolved that cannot be handled by citizens who “want no trouble”. You or I, who are mentally ill, are seeking peace and someone to understand with. The psychiatrist will listen and diagnose the situations that twist reality, and during this process they are hopeful that you or I will begin to recover from our lack of understanding through our emotional needs and through education. Wanting us to grow is a step beyond sitting in jail.
There are a great number of facilities which deal / help people who are suffering from mental illness. The far reaching hand of Mental Health ranges from Public Schools, universities to solicitation on the streets. There are people who want to help the down trodden; there are people who reach out and take their hand who want to believe they can be helped.
I once believed I was not mentally ill. Drugs, alcohol and endless days and nights rushing to keep a peace of mind were my only reality. That began when I was very young. It took me over 28 years to realize my mirror was clouded as I began to see that I carried a weight that would not let me exist.
I am a statistic of hope to those who want to see someone rest from their distressful life, and I am grateful for this hope in my recovery. With the guidance of others, who did not believe in incarceration, I survived with their guidance, I have not only new found friends, not only people I can trust, yet case managers and clinicians, who can help someone as myself look up to themselves and trust.
By Donald Sammons