There are worse things than MS
Last week, a very delightful young man of my acquaintance had a psychotic break. He became increasingly paranoid and confused. He is now in a hospital. And his future is grim.
Working with him for several days really made me stop and reflect on my own illness. From my point of view, it is far less limiting than the schizophrenia that is his most likely diagnosis. It made me look at all the ways I am lucky, so I decided to start writing some of them down. And I encourage you all to spend some time thinking about your own good fortune.
So ... I am still able to think rationally and in an orderly fashion and make reasonable decisions. I have wonderful relationships with my friends and family. I am free of delusions, hallucinations, paranoia. All of these are things that my young friend may never fully experience again.
He may be spared some of my physical problems but perhaps those are less important than they seemed a week ago. I am still able to walk for several blocks and that makes so many things possible. I can plan and cook my own meals (although I am a bit dangerous with a knife, so lots of chopping of things is to be avoided!). I can read and understand most things I need to.
Now it's your turn. What do you have to be thankful for?
Related Links: Brief Psychotic Disorder, Psychotic Disorders, Boost Your Health With a Dose of Gratitude
Technorati Tags: Schizophrenia, Psychosis, Paranoia, Gratitude
Working with him for several days really made me stop and reflect on my own illness. From my point of view, it is far less limiting than the schizophrenia that is his most likely diagnosis. It made me look at all the ways I am lucky, so I decided to start writing some of them down. And I encourage you all to spend some time thinking about your own good fortune.
So ... I am still able to think rationally and in an orderly fashion and make reasonable decisions. I have wonderful relationships with my friends and family. I am free of delusions, hallucinations, paranoia. All of these are things that my young friend may never fully experience again.
He may be spared some of my physical problems but perhaps those are less important than they seemed a week ago. I am still able to walk for several blocks and that makes so many things possible. I can plan and cook my own meals (although I am a bit dangerous with a knife, so lots of chopping of things is to be avoided!). I can read and understand most things I need to.
Now it's your turn. What do you have to be thankful for?
Related Links: Brief Psychotic Disorder, Psychotic Disorders, Boost Your Health With a Dose of Gratitude
Technorati Tags: Schizophrenia, Psychosis, Paranoia, Gratitude
3 Comments:
I am thankful that when I went through a psychotic break a few years ago I didn't know that's what it was called in this culture. As a result, I didn't seek medical care and therefore, didn't receive anti-psychotic medication, formal therapy, or someone telling me that I could never get well without committing to a lifetime of drugs or substantially lowering my expectations in regard to what I could expect from my life.
That was more than four years ago. I've been working for the past three years, my relationships are all stable and I've continued my education. To date, I have not had any neuroleptic medication or formal therapy but I did require about 18 months to recover from that breakdown.
I spent that time actively researching what it was that had happened to me, and why. I've since organized a collection of articles on my blog that I found helpful in understanding, interpreting, and moving through my own psychotic break to full recovery. Your young friend is welcome to take a look through them to see if anything there might be helpful for him.
As a social worker and a person with a family member with schizophrenia I as very disapointed with your post. It is completely unfair to prounouce someone's entire future as "grim". I am sure you would not want someone new dx w/ MS to hear that their future is "grim", why would you do that to someone else. Most people with schizophrenia are able to live very fine lives with proper treatment. They may have episodes of pschosis but this is no more disruptive that a bad "flare" or "excerbation". As a person ages these episodes are typically less frequent and more managable. It is comments like yours that promote the continuing stigma of mental illness. Please, don't make yourself feel better by piting and stigmatizing another group - and certainly don't do so as a medical authority in a public forum.
I understand what you mean. I was talking w/ a counselor friend that found out I have MS. She was so worried about me getting into my emotions and how much I should be grieving about it. I assured her I wasn't happy about the situation, but others have problems too. Alcoholism, mean spirits or destructive behaviors in general. She wasn't buying it. Six months later that woman killed herself and I realized what i said originally was very true. We have no idea how things really bother people and what they can live with.I am not there with my emotions...so there are worse things.
KC
Post a Comment