labeling

[Guest guest]

>> There is no shame in the defining of the disease. <<

Hmmm...Gloria, I have been traveling, so I missed your original post.

And so please excuse me if what I share isn't completely relevant.

Also, please feel free to email me if you want to talk more about

this. When I was growing up (in an abusive home) and having many

experiences that wreaked havoc with my biochemistry, not to mention

my psychology, I often heard stories of my "crazy aunt X." Since I

experienced some of auntie X's "craziness" firsthand, these were very

potent stories. I learned that she was institutionalized for an

attempt to kill her mother. (In retrospect, thinking back on this

gave me some understanding of where my father's abusive behavior got

its start.) And I was told over and over, "you're just like your aunt

X." So I grew into my teen and young 20's years with an abject terror

of going crazy. And I had many things happening to me during that

time and since that would have been grist for any therapist's mill.

(I also realize that not all "mental illness" stems from abusive

homes; sometimes it is just mixed up chemistry.) Also, I have been in

therapy for most of my life, since my early 20's. The up side of that

is that I had good therapists who kept telling me I wasn't crazy, and

that my experiences were...a variety of things, depending on the

therapist. The down side is that I was never given a proper diagnosis

until several years ago when, due to job stress, I developed severe

panic disorder (this was, by the way, diagnosed by my medical

physician, and had previously been misdiagnosed as several things by

a previous physician). My doctor sent me to a shrink for treatment

because, as he put it: "I am not qualified to dispense the medication

you need to help you with this." (The medication actually did help.)

However...

Somewhere along the line, the shrink who was treating me decided I

might be bipolar, and so he started giving me medication for that.

This part of it was a nightmare. The medication made me ill; it

didn't help any of my symptoms, and when he took me off of any of

them, especially the Lithium, the withdrawal was horrible. This

shrink was never convinced that I was not bipolar, despite the fact

that both my therapist and a neurologist who had been seeing me said

that I was not. He did, at my insistence, though, agree to stop

trying out bipolar meds on me and to go back to the panic meds that

had actually helped.

When I told my current therapist about this experience, he chuckled,

and then said he realized this was actually very serious, but that

the bipolar catagory has become a sort of catch-all (kind of like

hyperactivity has been for children) where people get lumped when the

person is not really sure where to put them. He also said it is a kind

of faddish thing in the profession (he is a psychologist, but due to

the total lack of shrinks in this part of the country, he does alot

of things that shrinks normally do, except prescribe meds). He helped

me put my lifelong symptoms into perspective (anxiety, with the panic

being the extreme end of the scale), relative to how I grew up (in

fear and terror), and he has also helped me to learn many tools to

defuse the symptoms, which are sometimes psychological and sometimes

physiological and sometimes both. One of these is breathing,

essentially pranayama, though he doesn't call it that. The other is

focus on my behavior and emotional responses, rather than on the

behavior and emotional responses of others. And I do still take

medication, though at a much lower level. As I get ready to move to

NM this fall, and so leave this wonderful doc, I think of him as one

of my upagurus. (Please refer to previous post about this, if you

like.)

I have no idea what is going on with your family member, but I do know

that a correct diagnosis is extremely helpful, and that if there is

any question, it is always helpful to have a second, or even a third,

opinion. I also know that the behavior of people who are suffering

emotional pain (and darn if I can separate out the

mind/body/emotions, they all seem quite linked to me) can completely

disrupt the lives of people around them. I know because I grew up

with someone who was very sick emotionally, and I can see how that

behavior affected all of us in the home. And I know because I look

back on some of the coping behaviors I have had in the past (of

course, I didn't call them this at the time; to me they were

completely justifiable responses to the situations at hand), and I

see how very disruptive and harmful they were and have been. I work

very hard on myself, and still I fall down, revert/resort to old

patterns, and then feel very badly. Another gift of my current

therapist is not to beat myself about the head and shoulders for

these but to reflect on them and see where I might have intervened

with my own emotional response. (This, by the way, dovetails

amazingly well with a very cogent description of the 8 limbs of yoga

in the book, "The Guru and the Goddess," in the part of the book

addressing the Kasyapa Sutra.) Okay...shanti ~ Linda

[Guest guest]

Dear Gloria:

 

You choose a good time to travel, so you missed lots of conflicts

here.

 

About the panic attacks. Tony Robbins could have gotten rid of them

in one session.

I could have in a number of sessions by defusing the charge in the

last attack and then working backwards to free you of them

peramanently without medication. It's ok to tell me I am full of bull.

 

I love accusers or those who see things differently. I also value

justice and fairness, which has not happened around here lately.

 

Question. Does anyone know what Kashmir Shavism is about, and if you

do please post some links or email me ones that you think are

excellant.

 

Love,

Alton

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:, nierika@a... wrote:

> Alton, responding to Gloria wrote:

>

> > >> There is no shame in the defining of the disease. <<

>

> Hmmm...Gloria, I have been traveling, so I missed your original

post. And so

> please excuse me if what I share isn't completely relevant. Also,

please feel

> free to email me if you want to talk more about this. When I was

growing up

> (in an abusive home) and having many experiences that wreaked havoc

with my

> biochemistry, not to mention my psychology, I often heard stories

of my

> "crazy aunt X." Since I experienced some of auntie X's "craziness"

firsthand,

> these were very potent stories. I learned that she was

institutionalized for

> an attempt to kill her mother. (In retrospect, thinking back on

this gave me

> some understanding of where my father's abusive behavior got its

start.) And

> I was told over and over, "you're just like your aunt X." So I grew

into my

> teen and young 20's years with an abject terror of going crazy. And

I had

> many things happening to me during that time and since that would

have been

> grist for any therapist's mill. (I also realize that not

all "mental illness"

> stems from abusive homes; sometimes it is just mixed up chemistry.)

Also, I

> have been in therapy for most of my life, since my early 20's. The

up side of

> that is that I had good therapists who kept telling me I wasn't

crazy, and

> that my experiences were...a variety of things, depending on the

therapist.

> The down side is that I was never given a proper diagnosis until

several

> years ago when, due to job stress, I developed severe panic

disorder (this

> was, by the way, diagnosed by my medical physician, and had

previously been

> misdiagnosed as several things by a previous physician). My doctor

sent me to

> a shrink for treatment because, as he put it: "I am not qualified

to dispense

> the medication you need to help you with this." (The medication

actually did

> help.) However...

>

> Somewhere along the line, the shrink who was treating me decided I

might be

> bipolar, and so he started giving me medication for that. This part

of it was

> a nightmare. The medication made me ill; it didn't help any of my

symptoms,

> and when he took me off of any of them, especially the Lithium, the

> withdrawal was horrible. This shrink was never convinced that I was

not

> bipolar, despite the fact that both my therapist and a neurologist

who had

> been seeing me said that I was not. He did, at my insistence,

though, agree

> to stop trying out bipolar meds on me and to go back to the panic

meds that

> had actually helped.

>

> When I told my current therapist about this experience, he

chuckled, and then

> said he realized this was actually very serious, but that the

bipolar

> catagory has become a sort of catch-all (kind of like hyperactivity

has been

> for children) where people get lumped when the person is not really

sure

> where to put them. He also said it is a kind of faddish thing in

the

> profession (he is a psychologist, but due to the total lack of

shrinks in

> this part of the country, he does alot of things that shrinks

normally do,

> except prescribe meds). He helped me put my lifelong symptoms into

> perspective (anxiety, with the panic being the extreme end of the

scale),

> relative to how I grew up (in fear and terror), and he has also

helped me to

> learn many tools to defuse the symptoms, which are sometimes

psychological

> and sometimes physiological and sometimes both. One of these is

breathing,

> essentially pranayama, though he doesn't call it that. The other is

focus on

> my behavior and emotional responses, rather than on the behavior

and

> emotional responses of others. And I do still take medication,

though at a

> much lower level. As I get ready to move to NM this fall, and so

leave this

> wonderful doc, I think of him as one of my upagurus. (Please refer

to

> previous post about this, if you like.)

>

> I have no idea what is going on with your family member, but I do

know that a

> correct diagnosis is extremely helpful, and that if there is any

question, it

> is always helpful to have a second, or even a third, opinion. I

also know

> that the behavior of people who are suffering emotional pain (and

darn if I

> can separate out the mind/body/emotions, they all seem quite linked

to me)

> can completely disrupt the lives of people around them. I know

because I grew

> up with someone who was very sick emotionally, and I can see how

that

> behavior affected all of us in the home. And I know because I look

back on

> some of the coping behaviors I have had in the past (of course, I

didn't call

> them this at the time; to me they were completely justifiable

responses to

> the situations at hand), and I see how very disruptive and harmful

they were

> and have been. I work very hard on myself, and still I fall down,

> revert/resort to old patterns, and then feel very badly. Another

gift of my

> current therapist is not to beat myself about the head and

shoulders for

> these but to reflect on them and see where I might have intervened

with my

> own emotional response. (This, by the way, dovetails amazingly well

with a

> very cogent description of the 8 limbs of yoga in the book, "The

Guru and the

> Goddess," in the part of the book addressing the Kasyapa Sutra.)

> Okay...shanti ~ Linda