So, the Germans have a word for worries about the world that manage to seep into our souls, where we seem to be faced with dire predictions for the climate and environment, unstable changes in our political systems and uncertain futures for ourselves and the generations yet to follow in our footsteps. As the world seems to shake so do our own foundations and at a very deep level and we are in a struggle to maintain our balance. Add in a unique and totally unexpected global pandemic which disrupts systems of living and alters daily life to a degree we could not have imagined and it can be no surprise that we may feel distressed, depressed and fragile, vulnerable and even frightened. It can be hard to see or feel positive about a world that seems to be falling apart, even if it is offering us an opportunity to rebuild it anew, and we feel useless to do anything but try and survive the best we can. This deep feeling of despair is known by the Germans as "Weltschmertz", translated into "world pain" or "world sickness." And so, many of us are feeling overwhelmed, more fragile, extra sensitive, less certain and more easily triggered into reactions. We have moments of extreme anxiety and even sometimes outbursts of anger. Now, imagine that you are a person who is also having a struggle with a life experience that included hearing constant or regular criticising voices, voices that they do not identify as their own. Voices that disrupt focus and concentration, even before this current global social and economic catastrophe came to visit with us in the form of a health pandemic. Can you imagine that? Can you empathise with that experience? Would you imagine that the voices may have become even more pronounced, more urgent, more accusatory and critical? When I worked in mental health recovery roles, I had a particular interest in voice hearing experiences and wanted to help create safe spaces where people could come together without fear of judgement and diagnosis and share their lived experiences. We did not focus exclusively on the "illness" model approach to hearing unexplained voices that defines these phenomena as symptoms of underlying pathologies. We gave ourselves the space and permission to co explore other narratives, other possibilities and each person respectfully hearing other peoples explanations and possibilities. Also, we looked at the social and human stories that individuals brought with them to the sessions. We shared ideas for coping better and sometimes located the onset of voice hearing, when it all started for someone, directly at a point in time when they had undergone a traumatic event or a personal crisis. Sometimes, we could translate the meaning of a voice and connect it clearly to an unresolved wound or trauma. There was a great deal of latent wisdom in these groups, something I quickly grew to realise. I learned a great deal by asking curious questions and then simply listening. I carefully steered these groups, ensuring everyone felt safe. I wrapped up each week by summarising what we had discussed and any possible learnings we could take on. One of the lessons I learned was this. That stress and worries created uncertainties and these led to increased levels of anxiety, in turn provoking voices to be louder, harsher and crueller. This frustrating experience meant that, without stress busting and anxiety managing strategies, often voice hearers found it harder to function, became more "brittle" and were quicker to flare up and become angry. This was often understood by health workers as a sign of increasing illness and that the medicines were perhaps not working as well as hoped. Maybe an increase was necessary. An unfortunate circle of events repeated itself. It is not easy to quieten the mind and sit in meditation when your focus is dominated by voice hearing experiences that occur at any time, sometimes for prolonged periods. But a few folk tried out relaxation and meditation strategies. We listened to blissful music, birdsong cds and recorded relaxation tapes. Some individuals were able to engage and reported a benefit, and these were then continued in their own time. In a world where everything seems to be out of control, perhaps the best we can strive for is to turn our attention inwards and strive for deeper inner peace. In the world of Zen Buddhism, there is a meditation technique known as "zazen" which involves periods of time spent in front of a wall and sitting in a posture of silence. Students of Zen are guided by their teachers, who have many years of experience, to pay attention to thoughts, ideas and other phenomena that arise in their minds and then to simply be a witness to these events and not too pay too much attention. To let the thoughts arise and then, remaining observant and detached, simply view them as you would clouds appearing in a blue and endless sky. Then, with this level of detachment, to watch these "mind produced" phenomena and allow them to drift away. Of course, it takes persistence and practice, otherwise what need would there be for teachers? And I think that, with persistent voices, extra challenges clearly present themselves. But that is not to say that it cannot be done. In the groups I facilitated in the south of England, we were lucky to have a little funding for health and wellness practices. I consulted the group members, They wished for music therapy, gong and bell baths, yoga, tai chi and reike healing, most of which we were able to obtain from local skilled practitioners. One of my most abiding and satisfying memories is recalling a dozen people, eyes closed and all smiling, laid out on mats and letting the beautiful, healing sounds of a variety of bells, crystals and gongs be skilfully played in their midst as the birds in the churchyard outside chirped their evening songs to a slowly setting sun. Now that is what a psychiatric hospital could look and sound like if only we had the vision and resources for it to happen. A space for personal healing and not simply a place for containing and managing illness. So now I am busy designing a meditation specifically suited for those hearing difficult to deal with voices. Please stay tuned! My good wishes to you. Ivan 9A few weeks ago I was invited to listen in on an online discussion regarding psychiatric medication. The panel included health practitioners as well as campaigners for change who had used mental health services themselves and had remarkable stories to tell connected to their struggles to become free of dependency on psychoactive medications.
It is an interesting area for discussion. Why do so many people end up on lengthy drug regimes? Why do so many desire to be free of drugs at a later point in time? Is it possible to eventually wean oneself off the reliance on powerful medications? Well, there are many structural obstacles to overcome. First, we have to recognise that the currently prevailing theories of biochemistry and neurological theories which attempt to understand and treat human emotional distress are the predominant model and have been now for forty years. Psychiatric training, apart from the necessities of empathic connection to clients who they are meant to serve, is almost wholly reliant on brain chemistry explanations, imbalances of chemicals which can be corrected using drugs. That was the school of thinking which trained the nurses and psychiatrists of the 1990s and 2000s and the one that is prevalent today. The story that the patient tells is largely relegated to a secondary role. The doctor is trained to conduct an interview, look for signs that he or she is trained to identify, using the scale of symptoms in the current guides, politely "listen" to the client and tick the relevant boxes for a diagnosis. Many patients intuitively sense this process when they are are being interviewed and "reviewed" and naturally, it makes them more guarded and cautious in their sharings with the health professionals who, quite often, they had not had any real chance to get to know in any meanigful way. They wish, often, for an opportunity to discuss their distress and the causes of it, if they are able to, but too often, in my own experience of hospital working for a decade, there was never enough real time for medics to listen to personal narratives and discursive stories that, to them, often made little sense. Too many metaphors simply spoiled the broth. And so the quick and easy diagnostic toolbox cut through all of that, gave folk a diagnostic label and allowed for the next recommended step, invariably drug treatment. And off we would go on the medication carousel. Of course, drug companies make a lot of money. The more mental distress there seems to be in a population, the higher the profit levels. I do not say this with any sense of anger or from a "Marxist" political perspective. It is simply economically true. Mental health is a very large industry, employing many thousands of people. The "customers" are the clients or patients. The "illnesses" occur in and reside within that general population. The remedies are provided and everything rolls along, largely unquestioned in the minds of the general public. Drug company shares are doing well, profits often in the billions, and those at the top of this pyramid of power are very well rewarded. In times of global challenges and collective and individual human distress on a large scale, I expect these industries to be busier and as a consequence, more profitable than ever. But does it roll along without a cost? Have you ever tried coming OFF a psychiatric medication? Have you experienced some of the adverse side effects while using them? I talked with a friend, a doctor in Wales, United Kingdom. He told me that he was in a sort of perpetual bind. He knew a little of side effects from drugs that he prescribed, but had not looked at any literature on discontinuing a longstanding drug regime. He told me that, when a person comes to see him, even if they can articulate the stresses and triggers in their lives that are causing them to struggle psychologically or mentally, he realised that there was very little he could do to bring about change in their social circumstances and ease their levels of anxiety and pain. On occasions, when he tried to prescribe social activities such as walking, joining a club online or learning new skills in a group, the patient made it clear that what they wished for was IMMEDIATE help. Something that worked. Something that could make them change the way that they were feeling. They wanted a pill and they needed it now. Please, And so he would sigh and scribble out a prescription, doing all the right things, warning them to be alert to side effects and agreeing to come back in after a short while for a meeting and a case review. Maybe then, if things had gotten better or stabilised, the drugs might not be deemed as so necessary. At least they could talk about it. But he told me that it was quite a rare occurrence for anyone to ask for support to stop using them. Even if things had improved a little in their lives and they were more settled and stable in their feelings and thoughts, they often attributed some unmeasurable power to the medication itself. And who knows? Maybe they were right. This doctor was always a cautious prescriber of drugs. He tried to find other solutions and helpful remedies to help an ailing client before reaching for the pill prescription pad. But it was difficult to refuse a medication to someone who could say that their sister or a friend was using it already, so why not them? They felt that they were excluded unfairly from access to something that was already in use as a treatment. Why did they bother paying taxes? they would ask, if only to be denied the help they clearly needed? It felt wrong. He also had little time to spare in appointments and a large patient case load in a small but busy town on the coast. Reluctantly, he told me, it was easier to write it up, hand it over and get on to the next patient. It did not make him happy in his work. So there we see some of the difficult dynamics, the built in structural obstacles facing all the participants in mental health provision and service delivery, the dependence on powerful drugs, the lack of time for enquiry and exploration, the pressures placed on providers and the expectations and anxieties of the public. Now, of course, we have groups who have aligned themselves around the struggle of becoming free of psychiatric drug dependency. We also know that there is research which indicates that people using meds for many years may have their span of life shortened quite dramatically. Not all, but some, and some are still too many. This is a subject that is often undiscussed, by medics, or the general media and rarely gets a mention in medical journals or drug company magazines. Maybe it is seen as a story they do not wish to be told. People are also advised by some doctors that certain conditions mean that they will be on a drug regime for life. I have witnessed this at first hand when I attended care meetings alongside patients and supporting them to have their voices heard regarding treatment in British hospitals in the 1990s and through the 2000s. In one specific example, a doctor was well known among staff and patients as a "zealous" prescriber, and it turned out that he was also being paid a "bonus" for each patient he placed on a relatively new drug which they were trialling for people diagnosed with schizophrenia. He was also given an annual "working holiday" in Barbados, courtesy of the pharmaceutical company and which lasted ten days. He golfed a lot and was expected to give a salutary talk at a conference where he could praise the efficacy of the drug in front of an audience. If I recall, he was a "thought leader" for them, and paid other bonuses to talk to colleagues at work, exhorting them to consider prescribing the same medication to their own clients, in turn increasing drug company profits and boosting his own bank balance and suntan simultaneously. On one occasion, a patient was a 19 year old student from a wealthy, middle class Scottish family who told me had had briefly heard voices after smoking high grade marijuana and playing "World of Warcraft" on his computer for three days without any sleep and only drinking coffee. I asked myself who would not be hearing some voices after that? Often voice hearing is temporary for many, thank goodness, and in response to stresses and strains. We managed, after several meetings, to challenge the diagnosis and get him discharged home after a week on the ward, which he found quite a sobering and frightening place to be and told me he was determined to never return. And very thankful for having an advocate to support him on the journey. Well done NHS Scotland for providing an essential service! In my next piece, we will take a look at the challenges connected to safely getting free from psychiatric drug dependency, the experts by experience who are leading the way, the opposition forces that resist and decry it. Best wishes for now, Ivan Perhaps in And so. We in Berlin have been at home for over a month. We have rediscovered blue, unspoiled skies, no traffic jams, no smell of petrol or diesel in the air. Everyone remarks on the birdsong we can hear each morning. The noise levels have been so low, you can whisper on the balcony and the neighbours can hear you. We walked more slowly, stood in lines for store shopping and noticed the details on buildings and doorways, details we didn´t have or take the time no see previously. People have been worried but, somehow, the hidden treasures of going more slowly through our lives began to reveal themselves. Outside the city and in pockets within, nature seems to be more abundant than usual. Or maybe we are only noticing it more. Lush carpets of spring flowers, clear blue running rivers, clear of human litter and and green. green grass. The cyclists enjoyed the empty roads and walkers took their daily strolls as permitted by the Government authorities. Today I saw the changes. The relaxation of restrictions. More stores are open and more shoppers fill the pavements. Cars formed queues at traffic light junctions and the air was alive with engine noises. It was then, as I turned a corner, that I hear the shouting man. A tough looking cookie in a black leather jacket was waving his arms and shouting so loudly I feared he would burst a blood vessel. Shoppers sidestepped him as they looked away. He was roaring like a furnace! . My German language skills are still poor but, as I stood nearby, I saw that he seemed to be engaged in conversations with invisible people. He was arguing, so it seemed with himself. But I am a lucky man. I ran hearing voices support groups in the UK and I learned to understand that voice hearing is more normal than many of us realise. I also know that it can be very distressing and hard to deal with. Also, I am not afraid, usually, to talk with folk about their experiences if they would like me to. I strolled closer, a busking musician produced a clarinet and began to play soothing music. The man in black sat on a concrete pedestal, moving his head from side to side and eyes closed, he smiled. I smiled too. When the music stopped he began shouting again, as loud as ever. Sometimes he pointed and gesticulated to entities I could not see. Often he was quiet until a person strolled by him and then he would scream something directly at their face. It was disturbing to witness and disconcerting. It made me feel very sad. No one enjoys being shouted at and one rarely enjoys being so agitated that shouting is the only option for self expression. Though it does get peoples attention! A girl leaned a bicycle against the wall and began to lock it up. Here I had an idea to ask a question. " Excuse me. Can you translate a little bit of what this gentleman is saying?" She smiled, "I´m afraid he is a little bit mad. he is saying crazy things. I think the police will come and get him at some point. He is saying we are murderers and we will go to hell for killing our children. He says we are all child killers and we will all be punished". I know that when folk hear voices that are hard to endure, others often find the reaction of shouting and arguing with voices to be confusing, scary and distressing. So they tend to avoid the person having this experience. it´s often quite a challenge. This is why psychiatric nurses so often are limited to using simple distraction strategies to try and help the person refocus on other matters. But they rarely feel comfortable to explore and discuss the underlying experiences that cause people to talk out loud with dominating voices. They used to also tell me that they did not have the necessary time. We do not "enjoy" talking with "angry" people at the best of times if we are honest about it. Of course, by avoiding the person and therefore the behaviour, we condemn the individual more into the hands of the voices. Their powerful hold and affect is less likely to be diminished if we do not know how to safely listen, how to ask the right questions, how to explore for what lies behind distress and disturbance. And so the situation continues to deteriorate. The person is stranded by societies inherent confusion and fear and left to their own devices. No surprise that at some given point the police might be called out to come and take distressed people away. I looked at him and smiled but was answered with a hostile and frightened glance, his eyes filled with pain and anguish. He asked what I was looking at, with a few expletives and, I was afraid a little and just shrugged. I do not know enough German to engage him in a conversation. He swore at me, waving his fists and then turned his attention to others walking close by. I tried to tap into my training in Non Violent Communication skills. If he says we are killing our children and that we are all murderers what might be his motivation and the source of his anger? What might be the need in him that is not met? Where does his angry passion, his fire within come from? And then, a police siren approached us from the distance, car horns as vehicles moved out of the way, the bigger than lately crowds, the sea of shoppers looking to see, the smell of petrol, the newly dropped litter on the pavements. It all became potentially clear. Perhaps his need was a hope for children to inherit a healthy clean planet from us and one that can sustain healthy life. . His angry shouting is a way of illustrating his own distress at the state of human planetary treatment. His helplessness and anguish might be stirred up as we slowly seem to sleepwalk back into the state of being we inhabited before the virus came to visit with us. These were just my guesses. Perhaps this was his way of reminding us to care and be conscious of our duties and responsibilities. He cares so much he is willing to shout and even scream about it. How I would have l liked a conversation with him on these specific points! And, with lock down relaxation measures, he might see, from his own perspective, that the glimpse of Paradise we received of nature thriving and showing itself, a world that might yet still be, may disappear as quickly again as we all get back to what we call "normal". So, as the policemen climbed wearily out of their car, as he quickly jumped up and walked away through the busying crowds, I asked myself: is he really mad? Or could it actually be us? Just a thought. t I met John at a local meditation group and he had been on my website, having heard a little of of my hearing voices awareness raising work. As we were leaving, he asked if I could spare some time. He told me he had been feeling lost for some time, out of touch with himself and the world as we shared over a coffee of his challenges, his fears, his profound despondency and his hopes. Ten years ago, he had made a small decision that would change and alter his life profoundly. Happily married, with two beautiful young daughters, he had always been the one to drive them to school before heading off to his office job for a large computer company. But, this one particular morning was different. He had a thorny issue at work, difficulties relating to a new employee that he was meant to coach into her new role. But John was struggling. He sensed that she did not really like him and, being sensitive, this had placed some strains on their working relationship. So he hadn´t slept, tossing and moaning in his sleep, disturbing his wife so much that she had to wake him. It was 3.am. He tried to resettle himself for an hour, did some deep breathing and eventually fell back in to the arms of Morpheus. The next morning, he failed to hear the alarm and slept later than normal. He was woken by his wife with a kiss and she said "Don´t worry darling. Go to sleep for another hour and I will take the car and do the school run. See you in a little while": And she was gone. The next he knew, he was startled into wakefulness by his phone ringing. It was the police. There had been a terrible crash. His wife was in surgery. At the hospital he discovered that both his girls were dead. He wanted it to be a terrible dream, but it was real. And so a double funeral, his wife slowly recovering from her physical injuries, a house filled with toys, colourful bedrooms, books and games and pictures on the walls. The trauma was so intense that they were frozen in time. He took some leave from his job and they tried to support each other through the grieving process. Every night was filled with disturbing nightmares, his mind trying to imagine what those last seconds were like for the girls. He began to drink to try and silence the pain so that he might sleep again. He blamed himself, sometimes he blamed his wife, he should have driven the car that day. It was a very hard time for everyone. It was not possible for them to even imagine being happy again. They were gripped by their shared sadness and both relied on medication to ease the burden. Three months later he was let go by his boss. He was no longer fit or able to do the necessary work. His apprentice would take over and he was given a generous pay off. And soon the anniversary would arrive of that fateful day and he was again plunged into guilt. A few weeks before, he began to hear a voice telling him that life was no longer with living, that he should end it. Then his wife told him that she had to leave. She had spent each night since the accident sleeping in the girls room and crying herself to sleep. He would be drunk in the living room and eventually prone on the sofa. And so, she packed a case and was gone when he came round, the wedding ring left on the table with a note. He described it to me as the lowest point of his life. He just didn´t want to be here anymore. It was all too unbearable. And that´s when he took a massive overdose. When John came round he was in a hospital. The doctors had saved his life. He was told that his sister had called him and when he didn´t pick up the phone, had driven across town, let herself in with a spare key and called an ambulance. It took a few weeks, talks to doctors, some therapy, some anti depressants and he was able to go home again. He put the house up for sale and moved into a small apartment and, after a talk with an old friend, joined a bereavement support group. The divorce finally got done and he was free again, but for what? He became something of a hermit ,spending time on computer games and listening to podcasts that offered spiritual support. He discovered Alan Watts, Ram Dass and others. He improved his diet and reduced his drinking. He lost weight and had a daily fitness routine, joining a gym, enlisting in a class. He read books on spiritual growth, different ways of looking at life and death, asking what there was that might be learnt from such a painful and devastating experience? He made a big decision, that he would remain on his own and stay single. Never again would he feel the kind of pain he had endured. His heart was closed. Incremental steps on the journey of self survival. And so the days, weeks and months ticked slowly by with him treading water and trying not to drown. He did some healing work on himself, attended yoga retreats and found friendship online with people who were also struggling to come to terms with such losses. He started to meditate, at first weekly in a group, then daily by himself. He began to accept that he could not rewrite the past, even though he wished it. One evening he had a deep insight. He saw just how lonely he was and longed for meaningful human connection. " I said to myself, what would the girls have wanted for me? And you know what? I decided, in a deep meditation to ask them. And at some point, sat on my floor and with two candles burning in the darkness, right next to their photos. I asked them directly. If they could hear me, were they okay and what did they want for me next? To please speak to me.. And they did. I don´t know how I did it. It was like I had conjured them up. But they spoke to me and were giggling and laughing, They said that they were fine and I was not to worry. That we would all be together again one day. But for now that they were really sad because I was so unhappy. And they could see that I was very lonely". It was after this "conversation" that he joined a "meetup" group and was intrigued to see what sort of things were going on in his neighbourhood, and was surprised by how many choices there were for groups and social activities. And it was here, in one of these,that he met "Monica", a light hearted and sensitive person with a love of forests, walks and fresh air. She was single and divorced, a librarian and a good conversationalist. They met, along with others every Sunday afternoon, and he often found himself strolling beside her, chatting of this and that. They discovered shared interests, books, music and food, meditation and, like John, she had also lost a loved one, her brother to a sudden illness just three years ago. They bonded and connected on different levels. John was nervous. He realised that she was a sort of "soul traveller" and kindred spirit. They went out together for coffee and the next week a meal and he had his first home visitor in almost two years. And they talked for five hours, sharing much of themselves. In fact, it was so late that she slept in his spare room and left for work with a kiss on the cheek and a hug in the morning. Could it be possible? Could love come again in his life? Or was it too much to risk? Maybe it was best to be solitary. His heart had been broken so badly that exposing his vulnerabilities again seemed an irrational thing to do. But he sensed that they had made a deep connection. And he felt the stirrings of emotions that had been dormant for so very long. Empathy, openness, sharing and caring. He was excited and befuddled and, despite meditating on the matter, could get no real insight. So he did the best thing he could think of, he decided to ask the girls. "And guess what"_ he told me, "I created the setting again, lit the candles, breathed myself into a peaceful state and looked at their beautiful faces in the photo frames. It was just me and them and it was wonderful. I played a piece of music that was their bedtime listen, very sweet and with a flute and a bell and I asked them to come to my aid. What should I do about meeting this new woman?" "What did they say?" I asked. He drank the last of his coffee, started to put on his coat and smiled. "Well, let us put it this way. They liked her, they said what have I got to lose? And to get on with it and ask her to come on a date." "And so?" "Well, l am still seeing her and we are definitely a little bit in love. So I am very pleased with that. Also I am happy to simply see where it goes and with no expectations except that we have fun and relaxing times with each other. And I am working again in a job that I like and she gave me the confidence to apply for it. A great company and I have a future again. And the girls are happy too" "Good, and you still talk with them?" I asked. "Oh yes, every Sunday at 8 pm. We talk about lots of different things". I asked about the voice he had heard in the darkest days, telling him to end everything. Whose voice did he think that was? "Oh, that was my voice of ultimate despair. And that voice is gone now. Thanks so much for listening and understanding." And with that, he looked at his watch, put on his coat, shook my hand and was gone to catch his train home. He had a dinner date to get to. . What we say and how we say it counts. It has an effect on those who hear it. Likewise, what we hear affects us too. It is the power of language that works to connect us with each other or, to alienate. It is quite rofoundly magical in its effect. Perhaps that´s why we call the construction of words and the speaking of them out into the air, "spelling". Context and interpretation play their part in these exchanges. Add in to this mix the equivalencies of power and authority and we have an intriguing mixture of component parts. We can make our choices when it comes to the words we speak and the effect it may have on another. Just as important, we can also choose to be persuaded or not, to believe or not, when words are spoken by others and to us in return. In my many years of patient representation in psychiatric hospitals, I sat in on hundreds of consultations, care meetings and patient tribunals. My role? To keep my own opinions to myself, to listen and to help the patients, often detained against their wishes, to represent themselves and share their points of view. It wasn´t always easy. In such trying circumstances,whether a person agreed that they were ill or not with a psychiatric condition, the odds were stacked against them. Finding the best words to debate nursing staff and psychiatrists, well versed in the terminology and concepts which has been their exclusive training, often proved to be an uphill climb. Resistance was deemed to be "non-compliance", expressions of frustration were sometimes written up in nurses notes as "anger". and "lack of insight" rather than "frustrated" and " has a different opinion to the staff". I suppose, if you only have a hammer, you only see nails, this being a result of training, Add to this the loss of liberty, the often outdated and cramped conditions, forced medication and limits placed on personal autonomy, even temporarily, and it is easy to see that, even with the aid of a patient advocate, trained in negotiation skills, representing themselves and speaking to their situation was hardly a simple task for people faced with trying to get used to strained and uncertain circumstances and negotiate themselves through an entirely new personal experience. Let´s say too, that the views of trained nursing staff are pretty much fixed. For all the necessary reasons, they have been trained / indoctrinated ( you choose) into a model of understanding and analysis that is focused on identifying illness symptoms but can struggle to identify signs of wellness. They become inured against patients self- presented evidence that all is well, as they have learned too, that patients know that, in order to escape or ease their path out of a system they feel trapped in, they minimise and under report distress and emphasise that they are feeling better, often for fear of extending their time in the hospital. Many patients learn to do this and they often pass on tips and hints in coffee rooms and quiet conversations on the wards in gaming the system / winning freedom. The task? To persuade staff that they are ready to go home as soon as possible and leave the environment that, although intended for healing, is too often a distressing and disturbing place to be. . And so it becomes something of a game, individuals trapped in a kind of labyrinth, a maze, a hall of mirrors, where words are meaningful or meaningless, depending on who is speaking and who is being believed, the recovering / recovered enough patient or the trained psychiatric professional. Of course the staff trapped in this labyrinth are pressured themselves. There is too much paperwork, not enough time for people. They often work in inadequate buildings, under funded services, always on amygdala alert standby for crisis management and firefighting, taking up too much of their valuable time. They came into this world to help with healing. What they often find is institutional and outdated ideas around patient management, inherited from the past, bed shortages, symptom suppressing treatments and very little else. We desperately need fresh thinking and recovery focused perspectives for all. patients, people and staff, but we muddle along and make do with makeshift approaches and not enough resources. Hospitals ought to be beautiful places, designed with wellness in mind and not functional, grey walled, crumbling ruins like many parts of the one I worked in. If there is one area of interaction where words had authority and unchallenged power, I would say, based on my experience of sitting in on brief consultations with newly admitted individuals, it would be the words spoken by consultants to the person. Specifically at the point of issuing a diagnosis. Often quite soon after initial admission. In my seven years at one of Britains largest teaching hospitals, I am happy to say that there were a small number of consultants who were CAUTIOUS and CAREFUL. They wanted to more patiently explore, ideally, the circumstances that led to a persons admission before announcing a label or diagnosis that they knew might be given too hastily. However, there were some consultants who seemed to pay minimal attention to a persons story of difficulties and misunderstandings. They were busy listening for signs of symptoms as they conducted all too brief interviews and ticked the relevant diagnostic boxes, often ignoring the potential clues given by the patients connected to areas of social distress, relationship issues and emotional and psychological support needs. Areas where practical and psychological help was definitely needed. But no. There were few resources for much of those needs too. And so, the focus was on fast prescribing and, sometimes, after an initial "interview" lasting several minutes. And this when, quite often, the newly arrived person was at their least able to comprehend what was being said and decided, a time when they were often confused, hesitant and highly anxious. All traits, of course, that can be seen as symptoms of pathology, i.e lack of focus, inhibition etc. There´s no way for them to win that particular battle and it is only after that the realisation dawns that this initial interaction will prove to be a vital force in the future. Once given a pathologising label it is very hard to get rid of it..It sticks to you like an invisible plaster that only the medics can seem to read. These fast drawing doctors were " thought leaders", paid by large drug companies to put their own clients onto specific medications, while encouraging colleagues to do the same. They received bonuses in the form of gifts and cash.They were taken to conferences in glamorous locations in the Bahamas and USA, all expenses paid. They got to play golf in the evenings and drink cocktails. Sounds beautiful, Their job? To get as many people on these particular drugs as possible, as quickly as possible. Because that is where the big bonuses were earned. And so there was an inbuilt incentive to prescribe. This meant we had competing ideologies within the senior ranks of the psychiatric service team. Let´s call them "careful" and "quick". The "quicker" ones were always faster with the diagnosis. Faster to insist on medication and faster to tell the person that they will" get them well". They just had to start taking the medicine for the rest of their lives. I was often shocked and a little bit scandalised when I witnessed these exchanges. I began to research the long term effects of taking psychiatric medication. It´s the subject that they never really wanted to discuss with me, psychiatry had a dirty little secret you might say. It´s not a popular subject of discussion. And this is also a meeting point for language and personal and political power. The consultant psychiatrist is, to all extent, a sort of senior management figure. Revered by underlings and treated a little like a small god. No one dares to challenge him or her. Nurses are required to carry out orders, patients are meant to , ideally, agree with given diagnosis` and follow the rules,the procedures and the instructions. Once and if they begin resisting any of this, they are perceived as difficult clients without insight" into their pathological condition. In itself a further sign that they are mentally unwell. Increased medication and more restrictive control measures may be required and back into the labyrinth of experience they must go. The game continues. But it is real. Psychiatry is an interesting and unique branch of medicine. it is, as far as I know, the only discipline that can forcibly treat people without their permission. It can insert experimental and established neurochemical drugs and treatments into peoples brains and bodies. That itself is a very powerful state sanctioned action. Imagine if your family doctor turned up at your house and started treating you, even if you protested and resisted that you did not wish it. It is often contentious. it touches on civil liberties and the rights of citizens to exercise choices and express preferences. It is a power that is unique in medical practice. And here we return to the power of words. Who says what to who and who believes what is said. In situations like those above, who can not see that a person can feel hypnotized by the expertise, spellbound by the magic words, words spoken eloquently by the arch magicians and modern wizards of medicine, the psychiatrists. Aided ably by their alchemists, the chemists. the apothecarists. The good news? Things are beginning to change. Maybe in small ways and by degrees but, with the introduction of advocacy and patient representation, the support that is given to encourage and allow people who become patients to get their voices heard in hospital settings sometimes means that treatments get changed, care plans get altered. Voices are heard, I saw his many times too. Mental health professionals, doctors and nurses, would benefit themselves and so many others, by relearning the skills of listening and providing an empathic presence. We would we see that there is at least some element of authentic inclusion and genuine reciprocity and balance getting injected into the systems of institutional thinking and rigid beliefs that, all too often, are, either by blind design and developmental habit, acting as self serving guilds. Words are powerful. They mean a lot. When people find themselves under the authority of state sanctioned power, the role and responsibilities of a good advocacy worker help to get those words, so often lost and silent in places where they are most needing to be heard, , heard. And then people will feel included, respected and involved. On a recent visit to a friend, and as we sat in her kitchen discussing the latest developments in our lives, I noticed that she was a little distracted by something going on in an adjacent room. I could hear laughter and chatter and realised that her young daughter, a lively pre-school toddler, was engaged in a vibrant conversation. "Oh, Chloe and you have visitors? " My friend smiled, " Oh no....That´s "TILLY" , her new best friend. Only she doesn´t really exist. I think they are having a tea party together and she has been chatting with Tilly for weeks now..I really don´t know if I should be worried." I reassured her that there was plenty of evidence of children having "imaginary friends" and that research also shows that they also disappear at some point, often a moment that is quietly unseen by adults as, of course, it is a sort of non event...At a point, parents simply notice that it doesn´t happen any more and the fleeting experience is gently washed away in the flowing waters of time. What ever purposes these friends have for individual children, company, connection, desire for friendship, cultivating kindness and social skills, a moment arrives when their usefulness is spent and the role that they provided is no longer required. Pooofffttt...and they are gone! There are occasions though when childrens imagined or "hallucinated" friends don´t disappear or, they may never have had these earlier experiences and go on to hear consistent voices that are a disturbance, getting in the way of daily normal functioning, interrupting concentration and focus and making studying at school and being with their friends hard to endure. Sometimes, even though it is difficult to do, these children will reveal to parents, caring relatives or kind teachers who offer an ear that they are struggling to cope with and understand these experiences. It can be quite frightening to suddenly have voices or even visions , even for so called "grown ups" . Interestingly, research into this phenomena has produced some striking revelations. It seems that there are some major differences in the voices of children in the cities and youngsters who live in rural areas. The city dwellers were much more likely to hear threatening voices, voices that told them to hurt themselves or others. Children who lived in the countryside heard consoling or guiding voices that had helpful messages. Why is this ? One woman who has dedicated herself to exploring this specific area is Sandra Escher. She lives and works in Holland and travels widely sharing her knowledge. She has also written some remarkable and helpful books where these topics are explored more deeply and, I cannot recommend them highly enough, for health professionals or parents, they provide brilliant insights into childrens`lived experiences.. iWay back in the 1980s, I recalled my own daughters brief time setting up picnics and tables with her dolls in the little bedroom in my apartment and I often heard her chatting away as if there were "real" conversations taking place.
A few years later, I asked her what became of "Annie", her pal..We were being visited by her friend, Jade, who was telling us that she had no need for her own invisible friend any longer. She was more " grown up" now she said.. "So what did you do with her?" I asked.." Or did she just disappear?" She paused: "Well...I did think about how to get rid of her...but in the end it was either kill her or send her off to London..So thats what I did. She went to live in London. near the Queen`" "So, how did you know you didn´t need her around or want her any more?" " I don´t remember...I just did..." And there you have it. The simplicity of the child ... Well, at first it comes as an unexpected event, a surprising phenomena. Suddenly hearing a voice can be a gentle flutter of experience, a little like a bird wing whispering by an ear. Alternatively, like a quiet explosion of sudden sound. It is a disconcerting and puzzling human experience. How we respond to it can determine many outcomes. Some people have an experience like this just once but, for others, it may be a continuing presence in their life. These are often the folk that seek suport and help and the most likely individuals to come into contact with medical professionals. Regardless of theories as to why we sometimes hear voices, dealing with the onset of voice hearing can be an unsettling business. Especially if the voices contain criticisms and negative content. A person may, understandably, become a little bit more withdrawn and self isolated as a result and might seem to be preoccupied with trying to quietly figure out what is going on. They can cancel appointments, withdraw from social interaction and spend more time on their own. They may seem to be a little bit distant and lost in thought as they are hearing a voice that no one else is a witness to. They may worry that they are perhaps going a little bit mad. No surprise then that they seem to be "within themselves" or inhibited. This is often noticed by sensitive family members or friends, so, of course, relationships can be affected, studies and everyday activities neglected, self care can fall away and daily routines suddenly don´t seem to be so important. And because it is a confusing time , the individual may not be able to easily find the language to express what is going on. Consequently, isolation is reinforced for fear of being misunderstood or even that a person be considered mad if they try to share that they are having an unusual experience. One they struggle to fathom. We really need to do better when having conversations around these kinds of human experiences. There is too much fear and stigma getting in the way. Professor Marius Romme, a pioneering and thoughtful Dutch psychiatrist, began to listen to his patients accounts of hearing voices. (See bottom of this blog for his inspiring and ground breaking books). They took part in research relating to the onset of voice hearing, the content of their voices (what the voices actually said) and how they felt regarding these voices. He was able to learn that there seemed to be three quite specific phases of voice hearing. 1. The onset or surprising phase As outlined above, the sudden voice hearing experience can be unsettling, disturbing and confusing. 2. The organisation phase. A voice or several voices may begin to settle into a rhythm or pattern. They may appear at specific times of the day for example, or they may be heard at certain locations and within certain social experiences such as meeting with individual people or having to undertake tasks that are stressful or worriesome. If there are several voices, they can settle into a sort of hierarchy with one voice appearing more often than others. The voices may converse with one another and comment on a persons actions, thoughts and feelings. Some voices may express more power in their relationship to other voices. There can be changes in the power relationships between the voices and fluctuation in the interplay of voices. This is where keeping a voices diary to make notes might prove helpful. We can look at the voices and safely figure out if there is some learning or meaning that may speak to us contained within the messages voices may embody. Are these voices connected to pur life experiences? Do they speak directly or indirectly to unresolved traumas or unmet needs? 3. The stabiliation phase After a while, fluctuations may disappear and voice hearing becomes more fixed and regular. A single voice can be ignored or explored, depending on the desire of the individual. Multiple voices settle into a pattern and are regulated, often containing specific characteristics, i.e. criticism, praise, empathy, and speak to issues of power and powerlessness. Sometimes a voice may embody and display the same range of emotional responses available to any human being with fluctuating feelings. Other times a voice may be rigid, repetitive and what we hear from this voice does not change at all. And it is here that an interesting conversation can take place. Do we ignore voices that have arrived into our lives without our permission? Or do we explore what the voices might be bringing into our consciousness space? Clearly, it is better to do this safely and with adequate support but, before we can get to this place of exploration, before we can dig into the words that voices speak to us and find some relevant meaning for our lives, we have to become more able to have some ease and comfort in discussion. Being able to say that we are hearing a voice, without being judged insane or dangerous is a start. What we do with this experience after that is up to us. Below, CNN reporter Anderson Cooper finds out what the challenges are in concentrating and focusing when our thoughts are interrupted by unwanted voices. See what you think! In the wake of the tragic school shooting in Florida, it has been particularly galling and even painful at times, to hear some of the lazy language tossed around carelessly on cable TV, in newsprint and even from the President himself.
The words we choose to use are important. They help to frame the parameters of debate. They can inform and influence others and colour and persuade. They can help us to develop empathy for each other or they can separate and insulate us against one another. Words are a form of magic, which is why we possibly call it "spelling". I wonder how it feels to be dealing or struggling to cope with mental health issues in this climate of blame and projection in the United States of America? Where all those with a mental illness are now suspected of being potentially dangerous. When even a President casually uses words like " crazies, nutjobs or ""psychos" , he is using the limited language of a oorly educated teenager or school child who has no real empathy with or basic understanding of mental health issues. The great majority of gun owners in the USA are apparently law abiding, responsible and normal. So are the vast majority of people coping with diagnosed mental ill health issues. The world is not filled with gun toting "schizophrenics" , armed with AR 15s, determined to do us all harm. But you would find it hard to pick this fact up from the adrenaline fuelled discussions on American television in the days and weeks after the shooting. There was barely any measured discussion around the issues that were raised. Everyone had to sound like an instant expert and have a forceful point of view. It was fast and furious, leaving little time for rationality and the possible airing of different ideas. The parade of glib talking heads at Fox News were probably the worst offenders but the other channels fared only slightly better, in my experience at least. Clearly, any individual who carries out unthinkable atrocities that kill or hurt others is unbalanced, unhinged and likely in need of urgent support or help. It also looks like many intervention opportunities were missed in Florida and this became clear as we learned more of social postings and threats that were disclosed after the event itself. They clearly need to review their procedures there. Join up dots more quickly and carefully. A tormented individual who carries out this extreme a form of hatred towards others and society may well be said to be in a state of intense disconnection, from themselves and from others around them. But, in this radicalised climate of fear there is a reactive tendency on the part of interested parties to be rush to quickly apportion blame and here lies the danger. Here is where the language of the debate sets the agenda, informs discourse and influences policy, whether that be on gun ownership and second amendment rights to bear arms or to look at better and more effective mental health policies that can be put in place for those who are deemed to be at risk, to themselves or to others. And this can begin if it comes right from the top with the policy makers, the deciders and the influencers of other peoples`thinking and beliefs. In this case, the current temporary occupant of the White House. I wasn´t hopeful. As well as looking at the causes and who we can blame, we must look more deeply and more maturely at these recurring phenomena, events that leave unbearable pain and loss in their wake and an entire nation in a deep state of traumatisation. Here is when the words we choose to use can matter so much. Statistically, it is interesting to note that people with a diagnosis of mental illness are more likely to be the victims of violence than those who have no established diagnosis. They are generally more vulnerable to being bullied or exploited by so called "well" people within their own communties. Every day the law courts are filled with individuals charged with murder, assaults, battery, threatening behaviour etc and most of these folk will have no disorder or diagnosis attached to them. We regard their acts as moral or criminal behaviours that the courts will punish on our behalf. And this all takes place with very little by way of comment in the press, apart from the standard court reporting that every home town newspaper provides for its´ readership. Readers sometimes use words like "evil" or "depraved" in the comments section on websites to describe these people in specific cases. If you suggest a person needed support or help you may find yourself being called a "do gooder" or a " snowflake liberal" and in this way the debate and discussion quickly take on the characteristics of a binary puzzle, where there is no middle ground available. Mad or bad.. You can decide based on your own feelings, your own individual unconscious prejudices, your own inbuilt bias. It is a very emotive experience and one which taps deeply into our anxieties, our primitive fears. So we tap out a comment on the forum.. And now we come to the President of the United States himself. An old man who avoided going to Vietnam but dreams himself as a brave hero. A man who claims he would have run into a building unarmed, where a young man was spraying bullets from a machine designed for high speed battlefield mutilation of enemies. He was using a fast firing assault weapon that can be bought easily by almost anyone. Maybe this is where the some of the "real" madness" lies...... Mr Trump had to go seek counsel from the NRA, which led him to quickly suggest that school teachers should carry concealed guns and that, if they had them, a teacher could have "shot the hell out of him", a statement that contained no real insight or thought into the possible risks and outcomes of this course of action. Teachers in classroom gunfights with armed and angry shooters? Clint Eastwood action movie fare and straight from a comic book for teenagers. A fantasy which I suspect will go nowhere very useful. Fox News host Sean Hannity called urgently for armed guards on every school floor and that we should "secure the perimeters", turning places of learning into a sort of militiarised fortress. It reminded me of the panic induced responses on the same shows to the events of 9/11. Fear is a big factor on Fox and frightened people might believe almost anything. Everyone on the panel discussion instantly agreed with Hannity, such was the grip of collective anxiety. The real psychosis was evident there and unfolding right in front of us. All we had to do to see it is watch the TV screen. The suggestion was that school teachers will have weapons and armed ex soldiers to supplement the teachers fire power. There should be even more guns to keep everyone in school safer. To some it seems rational, to others insane, but I fear for the young of America who have yet to be schooled, with these people setting the cultural tone and leading the national debate, shaping the physical and emotional landscape of their future. A future where fear predominates. So, now I say it. People dealing with mental health challenges have got enough on their plates. They do not need or deserve to be spoken about collectively in ways that show no caring for truth, no connection to their lived experiences and daily struggles to keep on going. The unthinking use of perjorative terms on TV , such as nutjobs and psychos. No one in the UK has used these terms since I was at school in the 1960s! Then we began to learn to be mor nunaced in our language as we learned more about the realities of mental health, recovery based thinking and appropriate language to describe others who are struggling with their experiences. These panellist did not realise it but they are reflective statements that unconsciously say more about themselves than the people that they were talking about. Shall we talk about narcissistic personality disorders now? Mania for power? Inability to reason? Believing your own bullshit? Because if we do, then we may have to start discussing you guys up there on the screen in your expensive suits and in the now beyond tarnished and possibly irrevocably ruined Whitehouse. Folk battling with mental distress do not deserve to be collectively shamed or victimised by the press and media for the actions of a few sad and alienated individuals. They are a silent majority who can only watch and listen to this debate with growing sadness. They do not have a unified voice or an organisation that helps to represent them in matters like this so, when the media says whatever it wishes to and with no consequences. They are easy targets for the lazy, who need to project their own fears and anxieties onto others and via the media, into the public domain. The space where we all try and live together and, for the most part, fairly peacefully. Sadly, there was not one individual taking part in any of the discussions I witnessed to challenge the use of stigmatising and over generalised language, let alone the ideas that were put forward. People with mental illness were now a potential threat, it seemed, to add to all the other prejudices they must endure. The ignorance, the lack of understanding. And all predicated on a rare, if tragic phenomena. One boy, a troubled life, access to a high grade killing weapon and fuelled by a ton of burning internal anger. The kids from the school and others will do their best to keep the conversation going. They want to be safe. They do not wish others to feel their pain. They will march on Washington and be laughed off and sniggered at by the lackeys posing as reporters at Fox News. . But they will have a voice on that day. I suspect that the NRA and some compliant elements of the mainstream media will do whatever they can to make that story also fade into quiet oblivion. All those tears and broken voices will be wiped from our screens. Until the next tragedy plays itself out yet again. The young people of America are the futire of that great country and they deserve so much more from the political "elites". So do those dealing with fragile self esteem and challenging mental health issues. But I do sometimes wonder, with a population increasingly reliant on pysychiatric medication in order to function or cope, if American culture itself needs examining more deeply? The extremes and excesses, its` over militarisation, its obsessive self aggrandisement and the ever increasing debt. What about the constant flag waving appeals to patriotism which informs the manufacturing of consent for incessant foreign wars and condition the citizens into unthinking, unquestioning allegiance? All in all in, a pathologising combination of energies that possibly drives many of its´ thoughtful and gentle citizens into deep states of hopelessness and despair. Hence the high prescribing rates. A better world must come, surely? Perhaps these young folk we hear speak out so eloquently now will bring a change. Maybe they are the ones who will grow up to wrestle the wheels of control from the current crop of elderly white male dinosaurs and their followers. May they do so and help steer the world power that is still America into brighter times. For all our sakes. Well, we had it all. Strong winds and rain didn´t dampen our enthusiasm for individual and collective growth at the 2017 Mental Health Recovery Camp! We travelled from far and wide to gather in a most spectacular setting and for five days, Barnutopia, on the border between England and Wales, and the surrounding hills became a home to over fifty individuals who wished to make fast progress on their recovery journeys. Each morning began with breakfast, as people slowly awoke, showered and began to rouse themselves from sleep in clear country air. Clouds formed and passed overhead, horses cantered about on the nearby hills and sheep contentedly nibbled their way into yet another bucolic and pastoral day. We were far from the madding crowd and didn´t we know it! No traffic noise, unpolluted air and just the quiet work of mother nature growing all around us. A perfect setting for a week of workshops, talks and campfire sharings, all designed to facilitate wellness and recovery. The morning community meetings set the tone for each day, We greeted and welcomed one another into the big barn circle of seats with a Zen parable and a reflective reading to quieten the spirit and create an atmosphere of gentle expectation for a day of growth. The Zen bell rang, we sat in silence for a minute and off we went. What did people wish for the day? Were there any issues that required support and dealing with? Who might care to offer a recovery related workshop or a round table talk? The open hearted sharings and suggested ideas meant that we could be flexible and adapt to meeting the needs of participants. Plus we had a team of elders and guest speakers who all brought their own individual skill sets, many with lived experience of mental health challenges and now functioning and flourishing in their daily professional and personal lives. As Recovery Camp participants often told me, we were spoiled for choice as to which workshops we would attend and which ones we had to miss out on. It was like being at a really cool music festival where all your new favourite bands are playing on different stages, but simultaneously...choices, choices, damn it! Our hosts at Barntopia, Steve and Katrina, did all in their power to make us feel welcome. If you didn´t want to cook your own food up in the little camp kitchen, there were tasty options available and endless refreshes of coffee cups. Evenings meant a home cooked meal, served with a smile through a stable door into the farmhouse kitchen. The farm cats would turn up as if on cue and waltz their way around the dining rooms and open air spaces, no doubt hoping to find generous gifts if not occasional spillages and droppings of titbits. It was hard to say no but...we managed it. As the days rolled by, I noticed something that always happens at these remarkable events, the development of a self-supporting community and the blossoming and flowering of supportive and empathic friendships. It was a lovely thing to witness and filled me with feelings of hope and optimism that what we were doing had great value and really did make a big difference in creating more self confidence and belief in individual lives. Slowly but surely, people stopped describing their allocated "illness labels" and focussed more fully on what was possible in their own life stories. And this process was accelerated by the many inspiring talks and workshops covering such diverse subjects as: working with voices, sexual abuse survivors groups, getting in touch with your bodies, Chi Gong sessions in the mornings, protecting yourself from negative energies from too much computer and phone use. There were talks on Open Dialogue and self esteem as well as safer ways to express inner anger and much more besides. I offered some stimulating workshops on finding the hidden treasures in negative labels, as well as an introduction to basic concepts relating to NVC - Nonviolent Communication (Marshall Rosenberg´s concept), which was eye-opening and great fun. I laid out laminated cards with words describing needs that we might have and invited participants to take a walk and, on looking at these cards, decide on the need they wished met while at the camp. For me it was a first to be able to share this model of communication (NVC) and include it in my mental health work and I am so happy to have learned about it. This really is a model encouraging empowerment, personal growth, healthy communication with others and transforming painful inner dialogue into new strategies forward for each individual. I was so pleased when someone told me they were witnessing lots of "NVC moments" outside the workshop where camp participants were asking each other "what needs do you have right now" or "could you make a clear and concise request?" as opportunities arose. It was like NVC magic gently permeating everyones consciousness in the most beautiful way. We then regathered around the campfire and shared which needs we had chosen and why. This proved to be a useful focus on how we would strive to get those identified needs met on the following days and focussed minds more clearly on our intentions and purpose. The good news on NVC sharing was that some folk were given fast chances to turn the principles of Non Violent Communication into practice when they visited a large and busy supermarket in nearby Oswestry and were amazed at how effective using NVC had been in helping to resolve a difficult situation really quickly. In fact they could hardly wait to return to the camp site and track me down to share their news! In summary, Recovery Camps work well for a number of different reasons. There are no judgements and everyone is treated as an equal. People are not their illnesses but they are unique and fragile human beings with potential that may not always be evident when we become trapped in a narrow medical, reductionist system that, accidentally or not, reduces people to labels and symptoms and leaves little room for growth and optimism. The slow-cooker approach of working on your own recovery in a beautiful countryside setting gives a chance to escape the daily grind of life and live for a while in an oasis of calm and tranquility, all the more conducive to self-focus and personal development. The workshops and sharings were engaging, inspiring and productive, giving folk much to process, think about and debate as we sat around the campfire at night and drank our teas. The sense of individual and collective growth became palpable as we worked our way inexorably towards the final days of the camp. And then we were there. Somewhat sadly, and as they say, all good things must come to an end. We had a fun filled "No Talent Contest" on the final evening with songs and jokes, poems and even cabaret magic tricks. A few folk enjoyed a beer to celebrate a successful week. And so to bed. The next morning the rain had stopped falling, the skies blue and clear and birds wheeled overhead, their cries called out as we started to pack up out tents, empty out the yurts and a final community meeting. We gave thanks to the land, the site that had cradled us all for a week and the owners were presented with a thank you card and a small speech for their support during our stay. Goodbyes and hugs were given as folk left for train stations and airports and slowly, the site emptied itself of Recovery Camp participants. We had memories of much laughter and occasional tears, escaped horses and wild, wild winds. The horse was easily returned to the stable and no harm done and that dear reader was that...Recovery Camp 3 was ended..Now we have to think and plan ahead for 2018 and number four! I take off my hat to the others in the hard-working team of elders who strived to make everyone welcome and dealt with any issues as they presented themselves for resolution and, of course, to Karen and Ron of workingtorecovery.co.uk without whom, none of these camps would have been even possible. Now they take a back seat to fpcus on other priorities and allow the new steering group (contact me if you´re interested in helping us organise) to grab the wheel and steer Recovery Camp 4 into being for 2018! Meantime, I am still recovering from my exertions at Camp 3! Care to consider attending or contributing in 2018? Get in touch to learn more about these amazing and inspiring events : ivanjbarry@gmail.com |
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July 2021
AuthorActivist/ Health worker/ 20 years. Specific interests : wellness/ voice hearing/ coping/ exploring/ sharing/ stigma reduction. |