The patient in the particular story says that since he was a child he had struggled with not just emotions but extreme emotions, hearing voices and he says he even had what he called powerful out of body experiences. He said he would often hide himself away to be alone because he was afraid to let anyone else know what he was going through. Then, he went to the doctor who put him on Prozac and at first he thought he was much better. Then at work he started having yelling fits, wearing strange clothes and acting differently. He was picked up and put in a mental hospital and was diagnosed with Schizophrenia. He was about to undergo electric shock therapy when the state released him and now he has not been in a hospital for more than 14 years.
He no longer takes any medication and has changed his diet not to include caffeine, sugar or milk, because these things make his condition much worse. He has taken yoga classes and mediation and he sees an acupuncturist. He now does things that will promote his mental health. He says he watches for early warning signs and he pays close attention to his sleeping habits and gets regular exercise.
What recovery means for a person with a mental illness is that they remember who they are and they use their strengths to recover from their illness.
For this mental patient, he is now the Director of the MindFreedom Oral History project and he co-founded the Freedom Center in Northampton, which is the only support group that is for the people who are labeled “mentally ill.” He was diagnosed as being Bipolar and he has been an inpatient, an outpatient, he has been on psychiatric drugs and he has had coercive treatment as well. In 2002, against his doctor’s advice, he stopped taking his medicines and he recovered by using self help, spirituality, diet, exercise, professional psychotherapy, regulating sleep, yoga, and meditation.
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