Growing beyond a patient and becoming a participant in life By Tony Foster III Over the course of 10 years working with mental health consumers, I’m often surprised by the responses I get when I ask them about their passions and dreams. Some are rendered speechless as they try to reach for something to anchor to, but there isn’t anything there. It’s as if my line of questioning was the first time they had ever been faced with the task of introspection and uncovering those treasures from within. These are spirited people who are med compliant and never miss a doctor’s appointment. They are painstakingly punctual to every case manager visit. Through many years of routine, they glance at their watch, and thumb-pop the daily lid on their med box and take their medications at the prescribed hour. Such folks have mastered the role of patient like an accomplished violinist playing a Mozart concerto, but when you ask them about their dreams and passions, they shrug their shoulders with an air of uncertainty. They don’t know the answer, and it’s because, traditionally, the mental health community has not encouraged this line of thought. It’s as if nobody told them they could have a life. Perhaps, we thought that being a “good patient” was enough, but true recovery means stepping beyond the patient role and becoming a participant in life. I firmly believe a person can be a “good patient” but not be in recovery. How do I know this? Because I’ve seen people stabilized with medication; perhaps they were even assigned to a psychosocial rehab program, but they didn’t know anything else outside the confines of being a patient. Existing in the patient microcosm they could not pinpoint their dreams, goals, or aspirations, nor were they encouraged by their circle of influence to take risks, make their marks, earn some scars, and stand defiant at death’s door. Maintenance and stabilization through medications is not the best gauge of recovery. Remission of symptoms, yet languishing away in one’s home is not a good indicator of living life to the fullest. If the totality of one’s life consists only of eating, sleeping, and purging; that’s just existing; that’s scraping by. Peers with mental illness want to thrive, not merely survive. Recovery icon, Dan Fisher, articulates that medications and psychiatry give us a strong footing or foundation, but it’s up to us to build our house. It’s very liberating to realize we don’t have to be encapsulated by the patient role. We are not damaged goods, nor are we merely a batch of symptoms and walking diseases. There is no such thing as Dissociative Identity Dan, or Bipolar Bill, or Schizophrenic Sally. All the former HAVE a mental illness but are not solely defined by it. We must be careful not to paint ourselves with the broad brush of DSM diagnoses. For example, I’m Tony Foster, I have panic disorder, but I’m also an artist, a husband, a mathematician, a weight lifter, and a writer. Though panic disorder can be dispiriting and impactful, it is only part of who I am. It would be nice to envision ourselves as multi-faceted gems. Indeed, one facet is mental illness, another facet may be our role as a patient, but look at all the other shiny, sparkly facets that make up the aggregate that is you. Some of us are writers, artists, musicians, spouses, students, and have careers. An integral part of recovery is getting back out into life again and discovering ourselves. So the question is what are you passionate about? What do you love to do? Where do you see yourself in the next couple of years? You are much more than a diagnosis.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 02:09:49 +0000
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