Lived Experience Forum

[simply_me]

I need to head off - many thanks for the great thoughts and discussions - look forward to catching up again. 

[CherryBomb]

Byyeeee @simply_me, thanks for popping in. Hope to 'see' your around again.

[Paige]

@Rosie

I'm the type of person who continually likes to learn and grow, and I do that everyday. You can be successful, you just need to define what you being successful looks like.

I agree with what @CherryBomb said about placing standards outside of yourself places happiness outside of yourself.

Thank you for the welcome.
I've noticed that a lot of my opinions seem to challenge some standard notions in society. I like to question things. Why do we do this, what does it serve, does it serve me? I feel that my own mental health experiences has given me first hand knowledge in different sectors that I may not have had without it. It gives me a new perspective, which I love. Like I said, I like to learn, and each episode was a learning experience, which I used to help others.

As for what I would say to others, hmm. I would perhaps say that we can learn something from every situation. And also, having a mental illness in other cultures isn't considered a disadvantage. In other cultures, if someone presents with schizophrenic symptoms they train and care for that person, helping them on their journey. Those people become important figures in the community, some of them becoming shamans, which members of the community turn to for advice. It's how we view mental illness (even saying mental illness is saying something about societies views!) that can make a huge impact. I believe that every experience is simply that- an experience. Good or bad, or depth of experience. And every experience is valid, it is real. And it is normal.

[Crazy_Bug_Lady]

Whoops, came in late...
For me, when I think of recovery, I don't really think of being "normal" anymore. I think of recovery as being able to manage my MI. I spent ages feeling like I'd lowered my standards, and feeling horrible because of it, however I'm finally starting to realise that I'm not lowering my expectations, I'm setting far more reasonable ones.

[Rosie]

@Paige I understand that thankyou for your thoughts, I am just having a giant learning experience atm, and I'm trying to digest it all.

I haven't really questioned my notions of success before. And I haven't been a part of something where its very dependent on a true strength of knowing your own definition of success.

And wellness and unwellness.

And then staying true to your values is something I have been working on this week, but I am not sure I was ready for such a steep learning curve tonight.

[-karma-]

Tell me I'm here...

the journey of a mother and her adult son, their relationship, the rollercoaster ride they both experience that schizophrenia takes them on, both of their battles.

An extremely moving book, a very talented and beautiful man.

Anne went on to do work with Schizophrenia Australia, (isn't that now Sane??)

I was googling it before, as it's over 10yrs ago that I read it. I must read it again!

[CherryBomb]

Great points @Paige and @Crazy_Bug_Lady

Mental illness and diangoses are a name given to a set of symptoms that don't occur with the majority of the population. It doesn't mean that it's a downfall.

[Paige]

@CherryBomb

Some of the obstacles that come to mind for me are:
- the fear of not knowing whether I would get better or what my journey would look like. I think one of the main notions underlying this was the fear of not being strong enough to handle things.
- finding the right treatment for me, that I was confident in
- facing other people's looks and judgement

[Paige]

@Rosie

Learning curves can be tough and frightening! That's fantastic that you're sticking to your values 🙂 sometimes it's easy to lose sight of that when things are happening at once! Everything can be foggy and unknown. That was one of the hardest things for me.

[CherryBomb]

@Rosie sounds like you're going through of quite a bit self-learning right now (though this never really stops) It can exciting and scary! It's like unravelling an onion, so many layers... with a few tears. Quite often, the biggest lessons come from the biggest challenges.

@Paige - what do you do in your daily life now to manage those obstacles?

@Crazy_Bug_Lady - I find steering clear of the idea of 'normal' really helpful. What is it anyway?! It's just something that doesn't fit into the majority of the population. Acceptance starts with the self.