Disabled Angel

I happily put on the hat of roving Reporter within the world of Mental Health… again.
Breaking News! POD
can build bridges between Caregivers and Patients in Psychiatric Care.

Paraphrasing from the POD website in the UK:  Many people – service users, carers, and staff of all disciplines – have a strong sense that we can do better in the services we provide for people with mental health difficulties, and the current way of working can be improved upon, towards a more holistic and collaborative approach to mental health care…. It is a less hierarchical approach, where everyone is seen as a partner in the process from day one. …peer support has been made integral to service delivery …

I attended a POD, Peer-Assisted Open Dialogue, Conference March 2015, in London, England. Relatively new to my awareness yet The Open Dialogue aspect has existed for over a decade in Finland. To sum up the Finnish experience: 74% of the acutely psychotic patients were either working or educating at two years. Ten times higher than the British results in a more traditional Biomedical Model of care. The Conference was a gathering together of six teams from different National Trusts, subsections of English  National Healthcare System serving their geopraphic portion of the population. A Research Project to explore the POD model involving nearly twenty Psychiatrists is now underway.

A multidisciplinary team of Health Care Workers is assembled around each acute case. This could be four or more people: A Psychiatrist, A Nurse, a Psychologist, an Occupational Therapist,  or any Mental Healthcare worker from the team. A person experiencing their first case of Psychosis, although is used effectively to treat acute and non-acute cases alike, first or subsequent acute episodes, would benefit from the collaboration with the team and any friends/family members that would like to be involved (always with the Patient’s consent). Lastly, a Peer with their own personal experience of crisis within the system, is a part of this Non-heirarchical Circle. It is not always possible but the aim is not to prescribe medications until at least three meetings have occurred and with the collective agreement from the group. The Patient’s belief about medications is important and relevant in this decision. The meetings occur as frequently as deemed necessary. In acute cases this could be daily.

Psychiatric Upgrades of the Peer-Assisted Open Dialogue.  Key points of how POD is different.

1. Psychiatrists Listen to Patients – Essential to Develop a Trusting Therapeutic Alliance.
   

2. Psychiatrists and Mental Healthcare Workers: Develop Awareness of themselves through Mindfulness Training.

3. Non-Heirarchichal Healthcare Teams

A Circle: no one above, no one below. Each takes their place in the Circle.

4. Peers – an Invaluable Resource.
   By Peers, I mean a person who has had a similar crisis within the Psychiatric System. Also known as a former Patient.  I consider as a possible translator – my own speculation.

To repeat, the key elements are:
Physician Wellness and Evolution via Mindfulness Training.
Multidisciplinary, non-heirarchal team approach.
Listening to the patient. Yes! Listen.
Too Simple to be True?
It is Simple. And it is True.
Include a Peer.  Someone with experience as a Patient in Crisis.

Russell Razzaque on Breakdowns and Spirituality. 30 minute talk from the London-based Psychiatrist, Russell Razzaque.  He leads the Research Team in England.
Open Dialogue is a System Transformation.
It is a Whole System Change.
It is about Everyone coming together in a Different Way.

Transcribed, partly Paraphrased:

Rather than try to get the Patient back to where they originally started, …perhaps there is somewhere this experience is taking the Patient.
Be open to the variation of each individual.
We do need a different attitude to the Suffering we have. Because it is ubiquitous to the way we run ourselves as a Society today.
…Epic scale of inequality we are seeing everywhere.
…Recalibrate our Relationship with Suffering.
Not something to push away or deny, try to remove and get rid of. Look at it as something that contains some Real Healing for us, as well.

Pain equals “Attention Here”.
…Wherever possible, try to find the message in pain … to learn about our True Nature.
True Nature is different for Everybody.
Enabling Everyone to have their Journey: find their Reality through their Pain. We can All Learn from each other.
My Pain takes Me to My Understanding.
Your Pain takes You to Your Understanding.
We can Respect Each Other’s Understanding.

We, as a Society, can start Learning from each other.
…Respect Everybody’s Individual Wisdom.
There is not One Truth that we are going to follow.
Allow everybody to have their Truth.

Practically: What to do about this?

He describes research findings: two groups of people with OOE, Out of the Ordinary Experiences. One got into the Psychiatric System ending up on Antipsychotic Medications and remained in the system for decades. The other managed to Integrate their experiences and stayed out of the Psychiatric System. Biggest difference between the two groups was that the second was surrounded by a system of Acceptance & Validation. They were Listened to and Respected.
Should not be about whether something is Real but whether it Serves a Compassionate Purpose.

Dr. Razzaque sees a day when Psychiatrists will stop being the Reality Police.

Open Dialogue, originating in Finland, is a good Avenue to start to change the way Mental Health Services are delivered.
74% of the Patients who suffered an Acute Episode of Psychosis were back to work or study at two years. And Out of the System. Ten Times higher than the results of the British Mental Health System.
The Experimentation occurred on the backdrop of some of the worst Mental Health Services in the World, Finland. Set an environment of being willing to try something completely different.
Everybody sits together to find meaning in what is going on. Anyone who wants to be involved is welcomed to the Process.
Open Dialogue has started to setup in various places around the World.
Four Locations starting Pilot Projects within the U.K. 50-60 Clinicians. 10-15 Psychiatrists.

Most Important thing we are teaching people is to become an Expert in Not Being an Expert. To Unlearn What We Have Learned.
…We can grow as much as anybody else through this process.
…There is no “Them” and “Us”. … All of us have Our Wounds.
We all benefit from sharing the process rather than pretending to be the Fixer: the Healer and the Wounded. It is more a relationship of Equals.

Conference March 11, 2015 in Central London 600 people registered. A lot of interest in this.
If we can Change the way we Deliver Our Mental Healthcare, it can have a Fundamental Ripple Effect on the rest of Society as a whole.
We can start to all Listen to Each Other rather than consider this is Normal, this is Not Normal.

If someone says that a Mental Illness is just like a Physical Illness, just ask: What is the Physical Test to know that someone is Mentally Ill?
There isn’t one. There never has been one.
…There is no way of discerning that somebody has this physical change going on.
There is a huge debate as to whether there are actually things that are happening.
Different Schools of Thought on this. There is no clear cut answer.

Recently heard a talk from a Neuroscience Expert. There are Theories of various Chemical Imbalances. They are just Theories – Reverse-Engineered by the fact that certain drugs had effects on the Symptoms. Lots of debate on this.
Some people find some comfort to think of the Biological Illness Construct. It helps them. Then it can work.
But other people vehemently reject it. They find that it doesn’t help them.
Working with People in a way that Allows them to Lead, working on a way to Understand their Experiences – very Important.
We have to admit with some Humility that we do not have the same level of Technical Certainty that other Branches of Medicine have.
We can be in that Uncertain place and allow others to offer their input.
…This is a Grey Area. I think it is Important to Treat it as Such.

WHO, World Health Organization 10 years ago
– outcomes of Psychosis compared between Undeveloped Countries and Developed Western Countries. Relapse Rate lower in the Undeveloped Countries.
Taught in Medical School. Kind of brushed under the Carpet. Kind of Embarrassing.
When you go to those undeveloped Countries, they are doing these kinds of things (similar to Open Dialogue). …
If it works, it works. I am for anything that works for whatever person.
It will be that Person and their Belief System that helps them Define that.

Recounted working with Patients with Violent Tendencies. Varied results: sometimes settled in 2-4 weeks, other times 2-6 months. Dr. Razzaque would ask Patients, what do you think got you better? About half of them at least said: it’s the Spirits, they are gone now. “Who am I to say that is wrong? What do I really know?” Dr. Razzaque asked himself.
To Know that We Don’t Know is the most Important Thing … in terms of the Clinician.

Described Ram Dass asking his Teacher about LSD. The Teacher sampled it and felt nothing different. Even a handful of LSD doses had no impact. Was felt that he always existed in the place that LSD can take a person – a shortcut. For most people the LSD trip is not longlasting. Other methods get one there in a more permanent fashion. Taking a drug like LSD feels very violent when you exist far away from that (enlightened or expanded consciousness, my addition) place.

Open Dialogue is a System Transformation. It is a Whole System Change. It is about Everyone coming together in a Different Way.

…Mindfulness also very valuable for Clinicians to own their own stuff and not let it get in the way. Not a lot of Emotional Education in Healthcare. I advocate Mindfulness (if it works for you). Voluntary.
…Recognizing your Thoughts are not who you really Are. For me, the most Important Part.
Dr. Razzaque ran a 15 minute Daily Mindfulness Practice on a Psychiatric Inpatient Ward. Open to anyone who wanted to turn up, staff or patient. The Staff did not come, but some of the Patients did. Must be voluntary. No one can feel pressured to Engage in the Spiritual Journey.

He recommends Pema Chodron’s book “Wisdom of No Escape” as it helped him.
Also notes another of her books “The Places That Scare You”.
Talking about the Messiness etc make us Who We Are. We can’t be anything unless we are all these messy things too. The Challenge is not to remove these parts of us. The challenge is to find a way to be present with them and to allow them to be as they are. We stop being dominated by the need to remove them.
*********** End Dr. Razzaque video paraphrasing.

Author, Jeremy Wallace MD, British Trained Psychiatrist, notes, “…only by taking an approach which isn’t focused on getting to the right diagnosis, … to map the many pathways into and out of psychosis.”

Author states: Within Psychiatry the biggest obstacle to change is the pervasive biological dogma, that is so pervasive.
I echo that sentiment as a Canadian Trained Family Doctor.

“Love is the Force”. Jaako Seikula, a Psychiatrist and one of the original Doctors in Open Dialogue in Finland. Made this statement while delivering a talk in the Medical Conference setting.

Enjoyed reading the book Spiritual Psychiatries where Natalie Tobert shared her experiences as a Medical Anthropologist.
“In India the use of a multiplicity of medical, alternative, complementary, religious and/or spiritual strategies to address human suffering is not controversial,” Tobert writes. “It is normal syncretic practice for people to try a plurality of treatments to address their well being.” The author also finds that this practice stems, at least in part, from a cultural view that sees mental illness as an almost entirely transitory state—and one that can be overcome.  Natalie Tobert, Spiritual Psychiatries

Important to distinguish that Psychiatric Episodes are regarded as a transitory state in India. Alternate viable models exist. Contrasts starkly with the Biomedical Model I have experienced as both a Doctor and a Psychiatric Patient.

Close Encounter with a Bear …

My Utopic Dream

Be Mindful of the Lesson. Challenge what you Believe to be True.
Fear perpetuates Fear. Stay Calm.
When you Understand your Fear, you can Act Cooperatively.
The Result: Harmony & Holistic Health.
Upgrade Normal to Optimal.

In a Nutshell: When you Treat a Bear without Understanding the Bear, it is Dangerous for both You and the Bear.  The Bear represents the person in acute crisis presenting to the Mental Health System.

Brings up an important question: What is Normal?
Who gets to decide this?
To my experience, the lines are many shades of grey. Caregivers in the Inpatient system had a more black and white approach. Language used is extremely biased. New terminology use offers new opportunities for effectual communication. I am a big fan of the use of  the terms shared reality and unshared reality.

Concept of Normal: not a fan. I love to consider optimal. Optimal is different for each one of us. Optimal cannot be dictated from someone else. The missing link in the Psychiatric System that I experienced as a Patient is the ability to connect to a Human Being in crisis. Despite the intentions, care feels more like imprisonment. One viable mindset holding another viable mindset captive. It does not have to continue. Excitement always rises when I consider that there are caregivers right now in different parts of the world creating Therapeutic Alliances with People in Crisis. We can argue over whether that crisis is Spiritual Emergency, Psychosis or other. Integrative Psychiatry, Transpersonal Psychology, Spiritual Emergency. I will not go into any of these terms but love that they exist as a signpost to show there may be more than one way to look at the issues. The terminology debate continues. Perhaps there are many different processes under the same name when actually more terms are required. I do not know. I do not know is an empowering statement within any Field of Medicine. When we admit we do not know, we are open to learn. We are more likely to look with fresh eyes, heart and mind. When we wonder what is happening with our patients, we can connect to the best options for care. Medicine lumps patients into large groupings. Pragmatic, yes. Optimal. Likely not.

Lovely that the National Health Service in England is embarking on a large study of the promising POD, Peer-Assisted Open Dialogue, style of delivering Acute Care Psychiatry. I consider what this could mean for the Acute Care System in Canada, my home at the moment.
We could start to implement aspects of this care immediately. No Research required. I learned in Medical School the importance of listening to my Patients. Somehow, the Psychiatric World felt immune to this important rule in developing a Healthy Therapeutic Relationship. Yes, unshared reality exists with Patients and Psychiatrists. It does not negate the essential therapeutic role of being heard. Not simply answering the Biomedical Model questions that railroad you into a corner.  I learned about the importance of open questions in Medical School.  As a patient in Psychiatry, I am shocked at the high percentage of closed, assuming, judgmental questions I have been asked to answer – especially when in crisis.  POD offers the ability to compassionately review the unshared reality. I challenge the assumption that the Clinician’s view of Reality is the only viable one on offer in this world. Truth looks differently from each perspective.

Ricky Martin, Cup Of Life.
“Here we Go. Allez, Allez, Allez. Go, Go, Go! Allez, Allez, Allez.”

Cheers!

Addendum September 21, 2015:
Thinking about the above picture where Truth as a 3D tube gives off true shadows shaped as either a 2 Dimensional square or circle, depending on the perspective.  Imagine Truth originating from the 4th Dimension, 5D or even higher?  It is quite difficult for our minds to be able to conceptualize.  Reality will be perceived within the parameters of our physical and mental abilities to perceive.  It is not surprising the grand variety of perceptions that exist among us.  Food for thought.

It is not about right or wrong, but many versions of right.

If you are Crazy, then I want to go to Crazytown!  A jovial conversation with an esthetician April 2015 led to this remark.  Turns out this was only a few days before I was, yet again, admitted involuntarily to a Psychiatric Hospital. My experiences of unshared reality – Psychiatrists term Psychosis- negate many rights and freedoms instantaneously. I keep getting caught. Ha ha. This was my 3^rd time in captivity within the Mental Health System. Each visit had been progressively less distressing and less severe. Even the first time, within a couple of days I returned to shared reality.

With an increase in Lithium side effects January 2015, I reduced to a subtherapeutic dose of 300mg. Five months later, the Crazytown visit. I have a Scientific mind. I need to know. Do I really need medications? Only one way to find out. I am convinced I will not always need them. It was proven that this dose allowed me to go there, that unshared Reality place, again …at this time.  My experience there was very positive. A roadtrip with my daughter to test for her Karate Black Belt, achieved, proceeded this spell.  My regular communication with the people around me was not flowing, as was communication with Spirits.  I was tuned to an alternate radio station so to speak. My family tried to handle things at home.  Very reluctant to take me to the Hospital.  Sadly, I had not written out the notes I had promised to so they did not know what to do.  Notes have been written now. The Lithium dose was increased to 900mg, tripled,  to address this acute state of what is termed Mania with features of Unshared Reality. I bumped down to the shared consensus reality promptly in less than a day. I often think that I take medication for the comfort of others.  My perception is my escapades in unshared reality serve me very well, in an Evolutionary sense. Call me Crazy. I love saying/writing that. Brings a smile to my face every time.  Yes, I am aware that this sounds very crazy to others.  Perceptions vary.

At the Hospital, I knew where I was, why I was there and what to expect. No need to freak out. Mindfulness is a powerful style of living. Circumstances that I cannot control were/are optimally not to be focused upon. Focus on the positives while staying at the Relaxation Spa, otherwise known as Hospital.

Fun Fact: I awoke that second morning to 3 inches of snow (May 2015 – unseasonable to say the least) and an NDP Government. After 44 years of Right Wing political rule, the election the prior day yielded a shocking turnaround with the Left Wing taking power. Has Hell Frozen Over? read the headline. I shook my head a few times thinking perhaps I was still in unshared reality. Tickled with the result. Some new energy in the air that day. This was the first ever election that I did not cast a vote. There was an offer in Hospital but I chose not to exercise my citizen right that time. Truth is Stranger than Fiction they say.

Hands of Time  by Rachel Diggs

Some fun little experiences:

Two close friends were visiting, each of us happy to be together. There were not enough chairs for everyone so we were all standing. I always wear my clothes just like at home. I am not the lay around in pajamas type. I did not even wear pyjamas thoughout my stay – leggings at night with a tshirt. Call me Crazy … it is official after all. I felt well and ready to go home by the second or third day. The nurses had changed shifts. My nurse was coming in to meet me for the first time. Looking at the gaggle of ladies, she asked, “which one of you is the patient?” We all had a good laugh. I probably would not even remember but my girlfriend keeps bringing it up for a chuckle ever since. These friends fully support me and see the challenges within the Mental Health System as I do.

The gentleman friend in my life in that era visited a couple of times. One of my Best Friends. One Friday night we just laid side by side for hours enjoying each other’s company and talking. Similar to if I was at home. I was very thankful for that long visit. I made the best of the situation I found myself in. On another visit, a kiss we shared happened to be witnessed by my Nurse. Checking and charting, as was her job. She returned to announce that fornicating (she actually chose to use this word) was not allowed in the hospital. My eyes wide. Ok. It was not really on my mind but good to know. He and I had such a good laugh over the nurse’s monologue. A lot of stumbling over words, not making proper sentences, then landing on the word fornication.  There is a puritanical ring to that word choice.  Maybe you had to be there. Another Truth is Stranger than Fiction moment.

Days later, my mom and I were having a serious discussion with the Psychiatrist. His scare tactics did not work on my mom this time as they had after the first admission. She had learned via direct experience, the very best kind, that what he says was not necessarily the Gospel Truth. I had already defied his prior advice and my brain, by some miracle, was still functioning.  It was not a pile of ashes as was his prediction if I ever tried to stop my medications. By then, my mom had heard many alternate ways of looking at my episodes. He made strategic use of the getting caught kissing incident. Relevant to note that the kiss occurred with my friend lying on top of me. …Now that was a lovely kiss and cuddle. Surprised even me how my Psychiatrist read out the nursing note to my mom, with my permission, in the context of “see, she is really unwell. Her behavior is very inappropriate.”  There was that puritanical ring again. It was Epic. My mom, taken aback, clearly stated that she did not feel it was inappropriate at all. He had some backpedaling to do. That remark pounded the last nail into the coffin that was my mom’s allegiance with the Psychiatric System. Smiling ear to ear, I was. Made the entire 3^rd admission worthwhile.

Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts. (Sign hanging in Einstein’s office at Princeton)

The checking and charting was incessant this time around. Reflecting back it was due to my refusal to take anti-psychotic medication. I was on q15min observation. Meaning they had to check me every 15 minutes. First admission, after refusal for a few days I took prescribed meds and proceeded to have almost no affect – doctor talk for showing no emotions- and gained 25 pounds around my waist. The meds actually caused Depression but I recognized it for what it was and weaned myself off all antipsychotics quite rapidly once I was home. Depression was cured. The old name for Bipolar was Manic-Depression. Treat Mania with a sledgehammer of multiple medications, then you will see depression. Viola!
Second hospitalization, I was held down and injected with Haldol, an antipsychotic putting me into a light coma for 2 days -something to recover from thereafter. Took a few days.  I captured my assaulting experience in a story It’s All Fun & Games.

So this time around, I felt in control to choose. Nice.  I very neutrally picked which med I would take.  Leaving behind the rejects.  Even when I was completely in my unshared Reality, I knew what Lithium looked like. I noticed my quick return to consensus reality with simply tripling the Lithium. So why take the anti-psychotic? Made sense.
This resulted in my Psychiatrist requesting the assessment of a second Psychiatrist. When she agreed that I required the anti-psychotic medications (two different ones) as well, I was given one last chance to comply. Communication turned around somewhere. I had agreed with her that I would take the one I was familiar with, knowing I would discontinue it upon discharge. When offered meds, the familiar one was not there so I refused again. This resulted in a New Upgraded Removal of my Freedom. A Legally Empowered Certificate was officially prepared Certifying me Incompetent to Make my own Treatment Decisions. When you do not agree with the Doctor, they get the Law on their side. You are deemed wrong, too sick to make your own decisions. Serious loss of your Rights & Freedoms. A lot of Power given to two Doctors in tandem. ***Interject an enormous recommendation: This Power would more optimally sit in the hands of a Multidisciplinary Group, including a Peer.****** Allowing such significant Rights to be removed to rest in the hands of two people who share the same Mindset and training after years of indoctrination does not hold a lot of Logic. The idea that there needs to be two Psychiatrists originates with the intention of protecting the Patient from a rogue Doctor.  What if they are both rogues?  Just asking. In a worst case scenario, this could lead to being injected with long-acting antipsychotic medication. A frightening prospect. With the amount of uncertainty with the safety and efficacy of this category of medications, it would be assault to force injection. The Anatomy of an Epidemic author Robert Whitaker reviews the Scientific literature in this one hour talk, Global Psychiatric Epidemic.
By chance, my Medical School Classmate, now a Psychiatrist, happened to walk by my room within a minute of my learning my new Legally Backed Label: Incompetent. It was official. In my panic, I engaged in conversation about this. Not the best choice. He was taken aback and clearly could not get involved. He had a soundbite at the ready reminding me that this would also be appealed at my hearing. Whew!! There was time. My imagination saw my checking and charting nurse coming around the corner with a giant syringe. The gavel of a Judge upright in the other hand. Dum da dum dum!!

…two different instruments of the United Nations have declared involuntary neurolepticization a form of torture. Neurolepticization is another way of saying treating with antipsychotic medication, the long term injectible types especially. It would be so much harder and inconvenient to force daily oral medications. Excerpt from an article Yes, the Tide is Turning Against Psychiatry by Bonnie Burstow, PhD.  She paints a very unsettling picture.  I cannot help but feel great compassion for those treated involuntarily in this system.  I have been that person on three occasions.  Not highlights of my Life.  The Power Balance between Doctor and Patient needs treatment, Stat!!

First action I took upon admission was to Appeal the Involuntary Order in my care. So my hearing date was set and ready. This time around it took only 8 days for my turn to be heard. A fairly long sentence if you value Freedom. Thus, I remained in Hospital for 8 days. What a coincidence! Not. I struck a deal… offered by my Psychiatrist on Day 6.  I agreed to take the antipsychotics. In return, he would cancel the two certificates and discharge me … on the 8th day. I pretended to take one of the two prescribed types of antipsychotic pills on these last couple of days prior to discharge. I tucked the pill under my tongue … and proceeded to flush it down the toilet. Another patient reminded me of this effective option. Felt so childish. Childish is as childish does. So rather than going through the Appeal process, I was just discharged.  Legally, I was probably free to discharge myself after the deal.  Thinking about Goodwill, I decided as much as I did not need the Hospital, I could honor the deal in this way.  This whole line of thinking sounds so unlike Healthcare to me.  But then again, what do I know about Healthcare?  As a fully trained Family Physician, quite a lot!   By some Miracle, I was very well upon discharge without any antipsychotic medication.  I have since changed Psychiatrists.  He was thrice my Captor.  He had his turns.  Nothing personal.  I ended up learning a lot about the System as a result.  I met another version of the mindset in another Psychiatrist, no surprise.  I was asked for the very first time to describe what happened to me in my own words.  Impressed.  And surprised! I tested the water with a guarded response.  Turned out it she did not really want the full answer.  Fair enough.  Now I also am connected with an Occupational Health Practitioner.  I see them as having a key role to play in an Upgraded Mental Health System. 

It is such a challenge for the caregivers and the patients in this system. My connection and inspiration by the knowledge that there is an alternate approach to Mental Healthcare being used right now in both Finland for over ten years and England started this year puts wind in my sails to empower my personal choices. Even when they do not match the Caregivers’ ideas. I have written an article about the Peer-Assisted Open Dialogue, POD, concept now being studied in six separate National Health Trusts in England. The key concepts are: The Patient along with chosen family/friends sit in a non-heirarchal meetings along with a Psychiatrist and one or more other Mental Healthcare Workers as often as is needed to make care decisions.  Could include Occupational Health Workers.   A Peer – someone who has personal experience as a Patient- also sits in the therapeutic circle. Medication use is minimized, ideally meeting several times before decisions are made. Extreme states of unshared reality are often treated with medications but with the view to minimize medication use. Notable is that all Healthcare Staff would receive Mindfulness training. Key!

Addendum #1:

Cool Coincidence: I met my special friend again from my first hospitalization, October 2012. After being caught lying next to him in bed – on top of all covers, holding hands (to be clear, nothing to do with sex) – I was sent to lockdown. It was my third strike following hugging other patients and smoking in the bathroom with a patient. My behavior was deemed out of control. I agree it was truly outside their control. Benevolent to say the least. I stepped over a line of what had been socially agreed upon by English Protestants hundreds of years ago. Shame on me. I say this lightly with a smile, no hard feelings (anymore). My caregivers followed a rule book that did not match mine. It was authentic for me to act like a Hippie – loving, free with hugs and affection. It scared them to see me expressing my Humanity in that way. There are likely many that will think I am joking. I wish I was.

Each soul is on its own perfect journey and everyone experiences exactly what they are meant to when they are meant to. Panache Desai

My friend and I ended up on opposite wards so it was only by chance he was walking through my ward. Mutual enthusiasm to see each other again. We each remembered the other’s name – quite a feat considering meds we were both bombarded with on the first, for both of us, admission. I have no explanation for the fact that he was in for the second time within a week of me in July 2013. My third was also his third admission. One little difference is his Psychiatrist “undiagnosed” him. The Doctor recognized that what my friend was experiencing was not Schizophrenia. I had thought he shared my label but apparently not. He was all Quantum Physics/Human Evolution in our talk: shared Philosophy with myself. So now we are Facebook Friends. Will keep in touch. What are the chances that we both would follow the same Psychotic Schedule aka Unshared Reality Schedule? Unlikely timing. Hypothesis: Environmental Energy or possibly the Collective Consciousness does influence our Personal Experiences. The Left Wing Politicians came into power during that same time. Wow! Unprecedented in my Lifetime.  Definitely was something in the air May 2015.

Read an article giving advice on raising Conscious, Aware children. If we could apply this to Patients, for lack of a better word, in the Psychiatric World, it would be an upgrade.
#1. Teach them emotions are OK.
#2. Remove programming of good or bad behavior.
#3. Listen to them.
Do not laugh or discard what they tell you, no matter how unrealistic or “off” it may sound. There is so much you can learn from your child and if you can learn to perceive without judgement or rationalizing what they are saying you can pierce beyond the veil. It is your programming, that rationalizes, children do not lie.
#4. They have a gift to give.

This is just great advice on how one Human Being would treat another. Whether Prisoner, Ill, Uneducated, Hurt Feelings, Angry outbursts … you get the idea. History would show that until a person feels heard, nothing will change within them. No matter how badly they appear in need of help.

For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them. Thich Nhat Hanh

Patient Passivity of the Biomedical Model disempowers Recovery. I learned that via my own experience in the Medical System as a Family Doctor. Passive Patients: settle into their illnesses. True Recovery requires Agency from the patient where they actively contribute and create their Recovery.
Most Psychiatrists are so saturated in the Passivity model that they do not recognize when someone presents from the Agency model. Lewis Mehl-Madrona MD, Barbara Mainguay MA from The International Society for the Psychological and Social Approaches to Psychosis, United States Chapter.

Insanity is defined as doing the same thing again and again expecting a different result. Albert Einstein

Manic episodes — those times of euphoria, grandiosity and impulsiveness — are triggered by the collapsing of the ego or mask. It is as though the soul is allowed to be free for the first time. Just like a dog that is tied to a chain its entire life and then finally breaks free, it runs wild, explores, and does whatever it can, because it can finally be the animal it was meant to be.

A spiritual awakening is much the same process. Like those times of mania, it involves taking off the mask and living as our true self for the first time. If treated as a spiritual dis-ease, this is the unexpected gift that bipolar disorder can offer — a short-cut to enlightenment. The mania pole can reveal to us our strongest and deepest desires, and exactly how our personal energy truly wishes to be expressed, while the depression pole shows us – in no uncertain terms – the areas of our lives that are not being lived in total alignment with our most honest truth.  Quote taken from an article by Cortland Pfeffer with Irwin Ozborne.  Bipolar? or Gifted?

Summarized by envisioning the tender young shoot that springs up when the rock is first lifted.  Paul Levy’s Analogy.  An increased energy flows through the body system for the first time.  It is a time of crisis as the body is overwhelmed with this change occurring faster than adaptation can adjust.  My hypothesis is that some people live out a steady rise in the energy and get to the same place without the dramatic Health Crisis that many Bipoloar Manic Patients experience.

Bottom Line:  We have a lot to talk about in Crazytown.  It would be beneficial to gather many perspectives and talk about what Crazy is … and what Crazy isn’t.  Most importantly, what about the Balance of Power?  Again, many perspectives are required to tackle that one.

It is no measure of Health to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick Society.  Krishnamurti