Therapy | Montana's Peer Network https://mtpeernetwork.org Tue, 10 Sep 2024 22:44:49 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.2 https://i0.wp.com/mtpeernetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-512-round-logo.jpg?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 Therapy | Montana's Peer Network https://mtpeernetwork.org 32 32 152317302 Mental Health Recovery https://mtpeernetwork.org/091024_ad/ https://mtpeernetwork.org/091024_ad/#respond Tue, 10 Sep 2024 22:40:17 +0000 https://mtpeernetwork.org/?p=15726

by Andi Daniel, Technology Coordinator

September 10, 2024

How do we define recovery for mental health? Recovery is generally a well understood concept when it relates to physical illnesses or injuries or substance use. The timeline for recovery is definable as the date that an illness was diagnosed, an injury occurred, or a person stops  using substances (or reduces use in harm reduction). Some recovery programs, such as 12-step, acknowledge that time with a physical item given at specific intervals (30 days, 60 days, 1 year, etc.). Mental health recovery is a bit more nebulous.

I have struggled with mental health issues as long as I can remember but wasn't diagnosed or treated for them until I was in my 20s. Therapy wasn't common when I was growing up and there was significant stigma attached to seeing a mental health professional. Even adult resources were limited. Many people were prescribed "tranquilizers" or anti-psychotics, given electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), or institutionalized for long periods of time. Recovery could potentially be measured from the time someone started taking medication, received ECT, or was released from institutionalization although the concept of recovery wasn't really promoted at the time. We are often told that this is just the way our lives are going to be and that there is no "cure." While it is true that many mental illnesses are not cured, it is also true that we can live in recovery and manage our symptoms. This is like someone with a physical condition that will be lifelong but the symptoms and negative impacts can be mitigated. One of the most common analogies is that of diabetes. There is no cure but people can control the symptoms and do most things that people without diabetes can do. We can measure recovery in quantitative terms such as when a person maintains a healthy blood sugar level for a certain amount of time.

There is no blood sugar equivalent for mental health. There isn't really a quantitative description for when someone is in recovery in regard to mental health. Does recovery begin at diagnosis? That is difficult because there is no specific measure of mental illness. Diagnosis is based on observations or reported symptoms but there is no definitive test. Also, recovery looks different for everyone and the only way to determine progress is observation and reported symptoms again which may not be reliable. I remember being given the Beck Depression Inventory in college and thinking "how depressed do I want to appear today?" I was a psychology student and had learned about the test but even people without a background in psychology could choose to answer the questions in a way that could make them appear more or less impaired by their illness. If someone is concerned about being institutionalized, they are unlikely to choose answers that will make institutionalization more likely. If I complete the form in one way, it will look like I am recovering when I may not be whereas a person can't fake their blood sugar levels.

In simple terms, recovery can be defined as returning to a "normal" state. Normal looks different for everyone so that isn't a very good description of mental health recovery. How do I know what normal is if I have been struggling for a long time or have had symptoms for as long as I can remember?

I have decided to count my recovery from the time I last purposely injured myself. I could have chosen the day I left an inpatient setting or recovered physically from a suicide attempt but I really wasn't getting better after those events. I was still experiencing symptoms of my mental illness in a way that was disruptive to my life. I still had suicidal thoughts and injured myself. I can't pinpoint the exact day that the symptoms were less disruptive and I still have suicidal thoughts from time to time. I have a plan and I do things that help me control my symptoms. I am in recovery.

]]> https://mtpeernetwork.org/091024_ad/feed/ 0 15726 Forgiveness https://mtpeernetwork.org/042523_km/ https://mtpeernetwork.org/042523_km/#respond Tue, 25 Apr 2023 19:32:07 +0000 https://mtpeernetwork.org/?p=13316

by Kayla Myers, Family Peer Supporter

April 25, 2023

Forgiveness should be a journey, not a destination. What I mean by that is, whether we need to forgive ourselves, friends/family, or people who have wronged us in our life, that can be very difficult task. That physical pain we felt, the emotional toll we went through, and the way our bodies grasped those feelings and held onto to them tight, it can feel like something you will truly never get over. The old saying goes, “Time heals everything.” Well, it sure doesn’t. The reason I say this is because over time, life keeps throwing us curveballs, or as experts, unlike myself like to call it, trauma. It starts stacking inside of us and piling up like deskwork in our brain. When this happens, we are walking through life with unresolved hurt inside of us, and then turn around and project onto others. So, the very things that hurt us in the beginning, we are now doing those same things to the ones we love, friends, our children, etc.

Counseling, self-reflection, trauma work, EMDR, and a self-wellness plan have been the steps that made a difference for me. Everyone’s journey is different, so remember that. Any effort we put into improving our overall mental health is going to make you a more forgiving person. I have learned so much about myself and been able to forgive the hurt others have caused me, that I never thought I could. Whenever forgiveness is given, that’s when the healing begins. When you can feel yourself not reacting in self-destructive ways, as a response to the doings of others, you start to feel and see the differences in yourself, and the way others perceive you. While navigating the world of forgiveness, it is also important to offer yourself an immense amount of grace. I must constantly remind myself, “I am doing the best job I know how. And if I don’t get it right, I will learn from it and not hang onto it for dear life.” At the end of the day, we oversee ourselves, right? No one else is going to come save us, I mean they can try. But if we don’t want to heal or forgive, someone else can’t do that self-work for us. When we start to process, reflect, self-reflect, and forgive, that is the example we are showing others. In return, your resilience will radiate onto others and become an example to them. Offering forgiveness after hurt is heroic, takes strength, and gives us our power back.

Forgiveness should be a journey, and offering ourselves grace while doing so, that’s the destination.

]]> https://mtpeernetwork.org/042523_km/feed/ 0 13316