There is an unbelievable magic when people (especially those who suffer with mental illness) find a sense of value and a sense of purpose. When you find a motivation and something to keep you occupied during your days, it is like a miracle drug. Of course, an occupation and sense of value is no substitution for your psychiatric medication and therapy but the powers are unparalleled.
In order to make it, we have to have a combination of things working on our side. A good psychiatrist is key. A good psychiatrist is needed to help cater a medication regiment to chemically alter the things that we can not alter naturally in our brain. Things such as negative self-talk, fortune telling, violent activities, over-spending, unhealthy eating habits, racing thoughts and the other usual subjects which are too numerous to name in this short blog post. A good therapist is necessary as well. At your therapist appointment you have the ability to vent. You can express your opinion in a non-judgmental atmosphere (well that is if you have a good therapist so it is important to find a connection between you and your therapist).
Surrounding yourself around good people who will take the time to understand you and be there to help you when you need the help. These people also need to understand when to give you a little space and not take it personal. You know that there are some days when you just can't take dealing with people. This feeling is not directed at anyone in general, but to avoid conflict, it is best sometimes to be alone. Just kind of explain to your friends the deal and if they are good friends than they should understand. If not, then these are not the type of people that you should be around.
It may be a while before non-consumers understand mental illness and the stigma that surrounds us consumers is erased but with education, patience and tolerance on both sides we can erase the stigma in the near future. It is not impossible. Look how far we have come with racism in America. Of course, some discrimination will still exist because it is impossible to rid the world completely of idiots but we can make these idiots a small minority.
The last piece of the puzzle is to find something constructive to do with your time. If you can work, than that is wonderful. There is a healing factor and confidence booster that comes with working and earning your money. I have been off of work on disability for a little over a year and although I appreciate the ability to do so in the beginning when I was too far down and unable too work, I have come to a point where if I stayed off work any longer I was going to be disabled from being disabled. I had gotten to a point where I did not want to see sunlight, go outside or be around people. This was very out of the ordinary for me because when I felt down in the past I would go out to cheer me up.
Also, being on a fixed income is depressing as well. I have developed a new want to travel and I am very into fashion so to see new places to go and to watch the designers put out their next seasons collections is a very depressing thing for me to watch. It was depressing because I knew that there was no way I was going to be able to afford to go anywhere new and I definitely couldn't even afford even 1 piece from Alexander McQueen's or Missoni's next collection. I was on the verge of giving up with life. I felt that there was no purpose if I could find no pleasure in it.
Then I got the courage to step out and send some resumes to local businesses. The first interview at a law firm went not so well but what could I expect. I haven't worked in over a year, I had little exposure to people and I hadn't interviewed in over 3 years. If I wasn't anxious about that then I can't call myself a human being. Then I applied at the U.S. headquarters for a national cruise line which is only 3 blocks away. There was an excitement that developed in me because I want to travel more, I would have the opportunity to interact with people and talk to them about travel and there are travel benefits that go along. In addition, they offer a great salary plus commission, vacation and sick pay, health insurance and 401K. So it would be perfect.
When I went into the interview, that excitement, dedication and energy was definitely picked up by my interviewer because I went in on Tuesday at 9:30 am, by the time I arrived home at 10:15 am he had sent me a link to complete a customer service assessment test, at 1:00 pm he asked me if I was available for an interview the next day at 1:00 pm. I went on the interview Wednesday at 1:00 pm and by 3:30 I had a job offer and I begin training on Monday. Now that is the ultimate confidence booster! I am definitely back in action and in a couple of months I will definitely need bigger closets and be planning my next vacation!
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