Skip to main content

Support Groups Play an Intricate Role in my Recovery

Lately I've been slacking in recovery and not participating in support groups for a number of reasons. I think depression has been creeping up on me as a result of not going to support groups and working as much. I lacked motivation to carry out house chores and to complete other easy tasks until recently (yesterday). For me I must have a productive schedule in order to stay well. Being productive to me is either volunteering or working, and engaging in advocacy. I recognize that I must stay involved in support groups to maintain and strengthen my coping skills like other treatment regimens such as taking my medication.

Last night I went to a support group which made me analyze what was going on with me. I had not been to a support group in about a month and being back was refreshing. Now I realize that going to support groups every week is still vital to my recovery.

If you would like to participate in a support group whether you are an individual living with mental illness or a family member I strongly encourage you to visit the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) for free educational classes and support groups.

To learn more about schizophrenia visit NAMI, Choices in Recovery, and Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia (Canada).

Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
Your blog is very interesting and enlightening - my younger sister had a 'break' about 3-4 months ago. She is 32 and never had anything like this happen - but she was slowly doing and saying odd things - until finally she spoke about being fearful of the rapture, that God told her she was an angel, and paranoia about the government creating terror acts like the Boston bombing being fake. My mom and I and her husband all were alarmed and concerned - we spoke to her to try to get her help. She finally agreed but only went for a month and now she is in denial that anything is wrong with her. She has three young daughters, ages 12, 7 and 3, and we are very concerned for her and them. She has now pushed me, my mom and her husband away and wont call us or see us. We are having a hard time getting her to see she has some kind of illnesss- we dont know what because she only saw psychologist and psychiatrist a few times in a month and didnt get to diagnose her. My mom and I have been to a few NAMI meetings and have been helpful. Any advice on how to reach her at this point? Your story gives me hope that she can get better with medication and treatment - but until we can get her to agree to that, its very difficult. Thanks for any thoughts you can share.
June 30, 2013 at 7:39 PM
Anonymous said…
I know that feeling. It's hard to stay on top of such a demanding mental illness but it's well worth it in terms of life success and self improvement.
July 3, 2013 at 3:23 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Religious Preoccupation

After a talk, a woman asked me if my faith contributed to my recovery because she noticed that I mentioned it throughout my speech. In addition to that, she told me that she observed people with faith as having a better outcome in their mental health recovery. First, I came from a family with Christian values. My faith in God started to get intense during the latter years of high school, which in my opinion, is when I started having symptoms. In my experience religion plays a major role in my mental health- its delusions, its coping skills, and in my recovery. In medical terms they call my religious rituals and delusions "religious preoccupation." Before I was diagnosed I was highly religious. In fact, I wanted to be an evangelist and to go to a Christian college. I would read my Bible for several hours a day throughout the day, listen to hymns, and meditate. Sometimes I would ignore people if they wanted my attention while I was meditating I was in such deep thought. Also, I...
15 comments
Read more

The Path that God Chose for Me

I am not upset that I have schizophrenia, this is the life God chose for me. The other day I was telling my mother I am glad I took a break from school, but I wish I had taken it sooner so that I could have recognized my illness sooner. She reminded me that everything happens for a reason, and that had I took a break sooner I would not have been able to know my full potential in college and in life. I went to college and got really involved in it through sports, internships, and mentoring peers. I was involved in so many things, school, church, home, friends, family, you name it! She was right, I am glad I took the path I took. I did not always have schizophrenia, but now that I have it I will work hard to overcome it. I try not to use the word schizophrenic because that identifies the person by their illness and that isn't fair. I am Ashley and I have schizophrenia. I will not let it limit my potential or define who I am. I can and will overcome these symptoms with medication, the...
23 comments
Read more

Learning more about my Symptoms and Diagnosis

A few weeks ago I asked the question: "Mania or Something Else?" ... Well, I got an answer to my question, plus some! I visited my doctor a couple of weeks ago and he confirmed I was experiencing "hypo-mania," which is what fellow blogger assumed I was experiencing. To my understanding hypo-mania is similar to mania however not as extreme where incidents lead to harsh consequences like arrests. When I was in this state of mind I was obsessed with working on my laptop, I blogged more frequently than usual, and I felt like I was on an upward swing, which was a little unusual, this lasted for about a week and then quickly spiraled down into irritability. After sharing how I was feeling with my doctor we tweaked my medication... I am glad I have a better understanding of myself, now I know how to identify my hypo-mania moments! However, my discussion with my doctor lead to another indept discussion- I shared previous moments of hypo-mania which as a result m...
20 comments
Read more