It is always sad when faith and mental health stigma go hand in hand (Abused for Christ: When Religion Becomes Painful). Recently I was interviewed by a reporter about the stigma attached to mental health in a faith community.
Recovering from Mental Illness
Do you know how to recover from perfectionism or perfectionistic standards? Perfectionistic standards are one of the symptoms of borderline personality disorder (BPD), according to schema therapy, which I found tremendously helpful in recovering from BPD. Basically, perfectionistic standards are standards set so high that no human can meet them. When we fail to meet these standards, we begin to think we're failures and bad people, and that triggers our symptoms such as self-injury. But the good news is we can recover. Here are some suggestions on how to recover from perfectionism or unreasonably high standards.
How does one recover from sexually predatory behavior? Donald Trump's recent comments have sparked an avalanche of ugly behavior and comments. What stood out to me was his remark that the women a celebrity abused would not do anything about it because the celebrity is in a position of power--classic sexual predator logic. But some people, despite all the risks, do come forward and have the courage to heal (The Cosby Case Can Teach Us Three Lessons). Here is how we go about recovering from sexually predatory behavior.
Therapy works if you put in the effort. Recently I learned that my brother, an active alcoholic, agreed to go to counseling. I hope and pray that it helps. But he has issues with therapists and the last time he went to counseling he held it all in, so nothing changed. That's not helpful at all and is a waste of time. It's like the joke about how many therapists it takes to change a light bulb: "Only one, but the bulb has to really want to change." Therapy works if you put in the effort--but if you don't, the best therapist in the world won't be able to help.
Police de-escalation is not "hug a thug." Unfortunately, police are often the first responders to a mental health crisis. Police, however, are trained to deal with criminals, not sick people. We see the result of the tragedy in Sacramento in which police attempted to run over a mentally ill black man before shooting him 14 times.1 They knew he was mentally ill yet escalated the situation with lethal force. According to the L.A. Times, police unions and some of the rank-and-file refer to de-escalation as "hug a thug."2 This is the wrong attitude for an officer to have, and makes calling the police for help dangerous for a person with mental illness.
Do you know how to handle a treatment professional on a power trip? Sometimes the field of mental health draws the wrong people, especially when treatment philosophy is the social control model. I once overheard a nurse say to a patient "You do what we tell you, when we tell you." Another psychiatrist told a patient who made a sarcastic comment about wearing diapers "If that's what you want I can make it happen." The same psychiatrist told me "I can go on the word of a social worker if I want." When a treatment professional is on a power trip, it is important to know how to handle them (What Mental Health Professionals Don’t Know about Clients).
Mental health stigma is discrimination. According to the US Surgeon General, stigma is the number one barrier to treatment. This stigma can lead to people with a brain disorder being denied jobs, housing, and services. For example, I was once asked about my mental illness during a job interview and was denied the job even though I had two years of experience and excellent references. I also was discharged from the military after being diagnosed with mental illness. Stigma is really a fancy word for discrimination.
Recently I got mental health advice from a tarot reading. I'll be the first to admit I'm skeptical about tarot (Alternative Mental Health Information). But recently I got a reading that was empowering. The reading had three pieces of mental health advice I will share since they're good for everyone to know.
Do you know why addiction is not a moral issue but a mental health issue? Recently a friend of mine posted a video in which a federal prosecutor described herself as, "on the front lines in the war against drug abuse." My first thought was, "No, that's therapists. You're on the front lines on a war against an illness." There are three reasons why addiction is not a moral issue, but a mental health one: underlying mental illness, a physical component to addiction, and it can happen to anyone (Dual Diagnosis: Substance Abuse Plus A Mental Illness).
There is a such thing as recovery from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I have had posttraumatic stress disorder since college. At one point, my symptoms were so severe I was involuntarily committed to the state hospital system. That was eight years ago. Now I'm living on my own and running a small freelance writing business and I recently published a Bible study for sexual assault survivors. My symptoms are usually manageable. Recovery from PTSD is possible, and here are three things that helped me.