Welcome to Transition House, Inc.

Transition House, Inc.                                                 Hope for Recovery from Mental Illness

Recovery  …con’t from page 1

Since accepting that challenge, we’ve changed – grown significantly as an agency.  The wonderful part – the growth occurred with staff and clients working together.  In the past, even though we were always very focused on our clients, their needs and their well-being – the way we did things was somewhat controlling.  It wasn’t intentional, but we “knew what was best” or so we thought – and our job was to teach that to our clients with rules and directives.  Policies were established by staff and Board members (often professors, attorneys, administrators).  They were good policies, but they required trying to make people better – make people learn and do things that we thought were in their best interest.  We listened to clients, but there was a bottom line that forced us into the parent role.  When we shifted to the Recovery Model, we thought the shift would be simple.  In many ways it was, but really embracing this concept meant giving up some of the controls and letting people take the path they needed to find their own version of mental wellness – recovery. 

The longer we do this, the more I realize we have more to learn.  I think as an agency we’ve made tremendous progress.  We worked with staff and clients to develop modified policies – and we’ve revised them as we learned whether they were useful from the clients.  We got rid of a lot of the “rules” – and what this means is sometimes we have to watch people do things that are what we would call mistakes.  It’s hard, but it is like parenting – the healthy way.  I will say there are times we want to scream – “Just let me tell you what to do and you’ll be fine” – but we have to resist.   The issue has to do with life choices.  We each have the right to make them – even if we have a diagnosis of mental illness.

So back to what this has to do with YOU!  We live in a society that wants to control us.  The expectations that we are establishing are becoming so mentally unhealthy that it’s now normal to see advertisements for anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications on TV.  Sleep problems – take this pill; social anxiety – take this other pill – which could cause you to have sleep problems, but there is another pill for that.  We need Red Bull and Espresso to have enough energy to make it through the day with all the responsibilities we have.  Then we need alcohol to have fun, slow down, talk with people, etc.  And of course our “recreational drugs,” which don’t really count cause we used them in college and don’t do it very often.  We outsource more and more of our lives – from child rearing to shopping.  There’s not enough hours in the day – especially when our “careers” are the most important thing in our lives.  I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been told – ‘you just don’t understand – I Have to Do This.’  That statement is often followed by the person doing whatever needs to be done – pushing themselves beyond healthy limits – and then getting sick.  Of course the getting sick had nothing to do with stress, lack of self-care – Yeah Right!!!  We are creating a society that has set the bar so high for the ever elusive sense of “success” that people spend so much time chasing something that even if they ever got it – they’d probably work right past it and not notice that they had arrived!  It’s really crazy. 

The reality that I’ve seen over the twenty plus years of working at Transition House, Inc., is that mental illness can happen to any one of us – and without proper care, you could be the person calling our agency seeking support.  Think it couldn’t happen to you?  I hope not, but here’s a little something from the NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health):

Mental Disorders in America

Mental disorders are common in the United States and internationally. An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older — about one in four adults — suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year.¹ When applied to the 2004 U.S. Census residential population estimate for ages 18 and older, this figure translates to 57.7 million people.²Even though mental disorders are widespread in the population, the main burden of illness is concentrated in a much smaller proportion — about 6 percent, or 1 in 17 — who suffer from a serious mental illness.¹ In addition, mental disorders are the leading cause of disability in the U.S. and Canada for ages 15-44.³ Many people suffer from more than one mental disorder at a given time. Nearly half (45 percent) of those with any mental disorder meet criteria for 2 or more disorders, with severity strongly related to comorbidity.¹

References

1. Kessler RC, Chiu WT, Demler O, Walters EE. Prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of twelve-month DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R). Archives of General Psychiatry, 2005 Jun;62(6):617-27.

2. U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates by Demographic Characteristics. Table 2: Annual Estimates of the Population by Selected Age Groups and Sex for the United States : April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2004 (NC-EST2004-02) Source: Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau Release Date: June 9, 2005. http://www.census.gov/popest/national/asrh/

Recovery:

Some Simple, and Some Not So Simple Steps

So what can we do to help us be part of the 73.8 percent, or if we find ourselves part of the 26.2 percent or 6 percent, how can we start our recovery process?  As someone who has been working on this for fifty years now, here are just a few simple things I have learned.  By no means are these the end all be all answers, but I found these things to be useful in my life.

·     Accept that we are all human with human limitations.  If we don’t care for ourselves, our bodies and minds will eventually force us to stop and pay attention.  Many of our common ailments can be traced back to stress, improper diet, lack of exercise, insufficient rest, etc.  If ignored, people see an increase in medical leave, increase in addictions (including drugs, alcohol, food, etc.), relationship problems, anger issues, sleep disorders, depression, etc., etc., etc.

·     Accept that our “careers” are not who we are.  Can you go into a social setting and not define yourself without talking about your career first?  Yes, work is an important part of our life, but it is not our entire reason for being.  Become a Human Being – not a Human Doing!

·     Recognize the value in Relationships.  How many times have you heard it said that when you’re lying on your death bed, you’re not thinking about that task at work that is unfinished – and if you are, boy have you missed out on life?  As human beings, we need healthy loving relationships, people in our lives who we actually spend time with rather than always putting work/career first.  We can all be replaced at our jobs, but do we want to be replaced in the lives of people we love and who love us?  Yes, it happens – look at our divorce rate, but is that what we really want?

·     Play and have Fun.  I remember when I first starting working, my group of friends had a saying – ‘work hard, play even harder.’  Easier said than done.  That doesn’t mean become a slacker at work, but work efficiently (something that doesn’t happen when we’re overworked), then go home and enjoy the important parts of life.

·     Take time to be still and be present with those most important to you.  It really is about priorities.  How often do we work hard only to have things that we don’t have the time to enjoy.

·     Accept that “My Best” is Good Enough.  One of the most important gifts that I was given by my mother was her repeated statement – ‘just do your best.’  She made it clear that my best really was and is good enough.  It doesn’t mean stop growing and striving for growth, but to live with that sense that our best isn’t good enough – that striving for perfection - leads to all kinds of problems.  I remember thinking – well I’ll never be really good at anything, but I enjoy lots of things without too much concern about being good at it. 

·     Be more concerned about what you think and feel, rather than worrying about what others are thinking or saying.  When we live for others, it’s almost a guarantee that we’ll be a disappointment to ourselves and others as well.  People pleasing really doesn’t work in the long run.

·     Be Grateful and Say Gratitudes Daily.  A client suggested that we add gratitude time to our morning group.  This simple addition to our daily morning group has been significant.  Even at our lowest point, we still have at least one thing to be grateful for – and the clients of our agency prove this to me daily.