What is the Mental Health Recovery Project? by Laurie Berkshire, M.A.

I have created this site to promote mental health and take the focus off of "illness."

As both a former counselor and client in the mental health system, I've learned the value of "insight." We need to be aware of our symptoms and work through our past issues. We can't face our challenges and address our problems if we don't know what they are.

But I've also learned that focusing too much on our "sickness" is a slow train to hell. Constantly being told we're "sick" (by others, and especially ourselves) can ruin our hope for recovery.

This isn't a new concept. The next time you watch TV, notice how you're constantly beings sent messages that there's something wrong with you. Corporate America NEEDS you to feel old, fat, depressed, impotent, pre-menstrual, under-educated, acne-prone, frizzy-haired and nicotine-addicted. And if you don't already feel this way, they try very hard to convince you otherwise. They're not going to get rich telling you you're fine just the way you are.

Yes, these products can be helpful, but only if we use them to target "the problem." They won't help your self-esteem. They won't help you appreciate the good things in life. And they won't help you realize how strong and beautiful you are despite "the problem."

This is what recovery is all about -- balancing problem-management with self-appreciation. Remember, for every limitation we have, we also have a strength. It's trite, but true. Our brains are hard-wired to make up for what's lacking. It's what has kept the species alive.

So learn about your symptoms or find out how trauma and abuse has affected you. But also pay attention to the Other Side -- the side where you are MORE than your problems and symptoms. This isn't just "positive thinking," because only looking at positives will also put you out of balance.

True recovery is finding YOUR comfort-level with being human. You are full of beauty and imperfections, intelligence and mistakes, happiness and despair, accomplishments and challenges, love and hate, dreams and reality.

Allow yourself to "be." Accept as much bad as you can take, realize how good you actually are, and make changes accordingly. It's much easier to handle the bad if you know you've got the strength to do it.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Depressed? Then open your wallet, please.

Note: This blog is not intended to replace your doctor's advice or your own inner wisdom and common sense.
Instead, it is my opinion, based on my own personal & professional experiences.

There are 2 commercials currently running on mainstream t.v. for depression medication that really get to me. I won't mention the actual names of the meds, which doesn't really matter. You'll get the gist....

The first commercial starts something like this:
"If you're taking medication for depression but your symptoms aren't getting better, talk to your doctor about adding [this med]"

Now, to be sure, it IS possible that taking an additional medication might help improve your symptoms.

However, I saw this so, so many times when I was a counselor....people looking for that "magic bullet" to transform them from depressed to happy in one easy dose.

Unfortunately, this rarely happens.

Depression medications are very useful for getting back on the road to recovery. Usually, people suffering from depression have felt that way for so long that their bodies are biochemically "set" into depression mode. So meds can help re-balance that.

However, meds will only do so much. Instead, behavioral changes are also needed, or else the body will continue to fight against the usefulness of the meds.

In other words, if you do not change such things as negative thinking and your lifestyle (exercise, toxic relationships, diet, work habits, etc.) you're brain & body will still undergo the biochemical process that results in depression, regardless of medications.

But there's no t.v. commercial to tell you this. And why would there be? That information doesn't help drug companies make money.

On that note, here's the second commercial that drives me even MORE crazy (yes, I said crazy...it's ok):
"Where does depression hurt? Everywhere. Who does depression hurt, EVERYONE [insert pictures of un-walked dogs and neglected family members here]"

Well, there you go....why not target the poor depressed person who already feels negative, ashamed and guilty. You think you feel bad, poor consumer....well look how you're making other people suffer!

Again, this is my opinion, but this has got to be the worst commercial in the history of advertising!!!

I, myself, have suffered from clinical depression. At the pinnacle of this two-year period in my life, I remember feeling so guilty that I wasn't "there" for all the people in my life.

I repeatedly chastised myself for not being the best for my clients, my family, my friends, my boyfriend, and my dogs. And without going into detail, this was one of the repeated thoughts that ended up pushing me to the "edge."

This is why I hate this commercial (yes, I said hate...it's ok.) Altho it is, again, meant to squeeze money out of the suffering, I think it also has the potential to do the opposite. Reminding a depression sufferer how much he/she is letting people down might not be the best marketing technique....can't get money from a dead person, after all.

This is why we need to take responsibility for our own recovery. The drug companies aren't "against" you. Our country is based on free enterprise and, as a result, caveat emptor - buyer beware.

So the buyer must beware...or be aware that meds are only a small part of recovery (if you choose for them to be.) There's so much more that we have to do....for ourselves.

If you don't manage your life, who will?


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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Excellent post...you should not stop at medication. Yes meds can help and even save your life but our site like yours is dedicated to suicide and depression prevention and cure!. We also show that you must play your part in the cure.

Anonymous said...

Nice projects started i always appreciate these sort projects :)

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Therapy4help said...

Deep breathing, meditation, exercise, and such are basically just modified to sound a little different from the other site but the methodology or reasoning behind the method is still the same.

Therapy4help said...

The point is that you find the methods for yourself and see which ones work. You can combine anger management techniques as well, say avoidance added with deep breathing, or thought modification plus avoidance in order to make your approach more effective.

Nina said...

Thoughtful article!
Medicine plays a significant role in the treatment of depression, you just have to find the right medication for you with the help of your doctor.
Just recently, i have read about Ketamine being tested as a depression medicine and it is having good results.