tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85724803032685188362024-03-11T18:11:52.170-04:00Peerly HumanWe are human beings on a human journey. Nothing more, nothing less. No greater gift, no higher calling. Sarah Knutsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290844872665327137noreply@blogger.comBlogger175125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572480303268518836.post-26225852743703956742018-12-01T17:21:00.004-05:002020-09-27T18:04:03.834-04:00IPS Learning & Practice groupsFollowing is a draft format that some of us are trying out for leaderless International Peer Support groups that can be held on line or in the community.<br />
<br />
<h2 style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 1.0in; margin-top: .25in;">
Opening</h2>
<div class="Indent0" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 1.0in; margin-top: .25in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 1.0in; margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
Welcome to the IPS
Learning and Practice Group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re glad
you’re here. <o:p></o:p></div>
<h2 style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 1.0in; margin-top: .25in;">
Brief Overview of IPS <span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">(ask someone to read)</span></h2>
<div class="Indent0" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 1.0in; margin-top: .25in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .4in; margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
Intentional peer support (IPS)
is a way of thinking about and being in purposeful relationships. In IPS, we
use our relationships to look at things from new angles. We develop a better
awareness of personal and relational patterns. We support and challenge each
other as we try new things. IPS is different from traditional service
relationships because it doesn’t start with the assumption of “a problem.”
Instead, we learn to listen for how each of us has made sense of our
experiences. Together, we create new ways of seeing, thinking, and doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the end of the day, it is really about
building stronger, healthier communities.<o:p></o:p></div>
<h2 style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .4in; margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<o:p> </o:p><b>Check In </b></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .4in; margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
How are people doing
this week? If you’re new here, what drew you to this group? What are you looking for?<b><o:p></o:p></b></div>
<h2 style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 1.0in; margin-top: .25in;">
Topic of the week </h2>
<div class="Indent0" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 1.0in; margin-top: .25in;">
<i>(Topics are pulled from the key learning points in in Intentional Peer Support: An Alternative Approach)</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
Read a
topic from the topic list (attached below, maybe just go in order through the list)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
Ask
questions about the topic that help the group to develop what it means. The idea is to figure out how I want to practice the<span style="text-indent: 0in;"> concept when I'm relating to others. Also, to let others in the group know how I want them to practice this concept when they are relating to me. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<b>Sample questions:
<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: 123.45pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“What
does [the topic] mean to you…? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: 123.45pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“How
is it different from…”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: 123.45pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“How
does it make you feel when someone approaches you this way (or doesn’t)?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: 123.45pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“How
would you like us to practice this skill here with you if you are sharing?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<h2 style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<b>Practice
Time</b></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
This
is a time where we can practice what we’ve been discussing with each
other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does anyone have an example from
real life they want to share?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then the
rest of us can practice 2 ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
</div>
<ul>
<li>First,
by playing around and doing the opposite of what this skill means to us.<span style="text-indent: 0in;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: 0in;">Then by doing a redo and really trying to
practice the skill to the best of our ability.</span><span style="text-indent: 0in;"> </span></li>
</ul>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<b>Sample script for practice session</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
Ask: "I<span style="text-indent: 0in;">s
anyone willing to go first?</span><span style="text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0in;">Ok go ahead
and share your situation.</span><span style="text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0in;">Be prepared
though.</span><span style="text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0in;">Because first everyone else,
give the worst responses they can think of."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="text-indent: 0in;">[Group practices examples of getting the concept totally wrong, often using examples of how others have messed up with us]</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
After 5 minutes, a<span style="text-indent: 0in;">sk
the sharer: <i>What did you notice.</i></span><i><span style="text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0in;">How did
that feel?</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<i><span style="text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
Next the redo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
Ask the shared: <i>Can you continue your sharing from here. Except this time, everyone try to really
practice the skill we are working on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
After 5-10 minutes, ask
the sharer: <i>What did you notice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did
that feel the same or different?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How so?</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
Give
as many people turns as time allows.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<h2 style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
Closing </h2>
<div style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
About 10 minutes before the end of the group, announce: <i><span style="text-indent: 0in;">We’ve
got about 10 minutes left.</span><span style="text-indent: 0in;"> </span></i></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<i><span style="text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
Then reflect together as a group, about how the group felt to people. </div>
<div style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
Sample questions: </div>
<div style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<i><span style="text-indent: 0in;">Is there
anything on anyone’s mind that feels unfinished or important that you want us
to get to before the group ends?</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<i>How
did the group go for you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<i>Anything you want to should remember for next time – either that worked really well for you, or that you might want to change?</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<b>Summing up:</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<i>Next
time we’ll talk about (next topic on list)<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<i>Thanks
for being here!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Have a great week. </i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<h2 style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: none;">
<b>Topics</b></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria Math",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Cambria Math"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Cambria Math";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Helping
versus Learning & Growing<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria Math",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Cambria Math"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Cambria Math";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Needs
of Individuals versus Needs of Relationships<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria Math",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Cambria Math"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Cambria Math";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Fear
& Discomfort versus Hope & Possibility<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria Math",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Cambria Math"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Cambria Math";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Connection
vs. Disconnection<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria Math",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Cambria Math"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Cambria Math";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Worldview:
How we come to know what we know<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria Math",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Cambria Math"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Cambria Math";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Mutuality
/ Mutually Responsible Relationships<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria Math",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Cambria Math"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Cambria Math";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Moving
Toward (what we want) vs. Moving Away From (what we don’t want)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria Math",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Cambria Math"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Cambria Math";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Sitting
with Discomfort<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria Math",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Cambria Math"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Cambria Math";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Holding
Multiple Truth<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria Math",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Cambria Math"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Cambria Math";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">10.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Embracing
Uncertainty<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria Math",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Cambria Math"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Cambria Math";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">11.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Listening
from a Position of Not Knowing<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria Math",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Cambria Math"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Cambria Math";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">12.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Listening
for the Untold Story<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria Math",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Cambria Math"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Cambria Math";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">13.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Providing
Validation (Rather than Jumping Straight to Problem-Solving)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria Math",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Cambria Math"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Cambria Math";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">14.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Reflecting
Feelings (That must make you feel really…)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria Math",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Cambria Math"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Cambria Math";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">15.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Asking
Powerful Questions (What do you want? Do your beliefs support it? How do you
want to feel? If you believed and felt that way, what might change?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How could you get there?)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria Math",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Cambria Math"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Cambria Math";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">16.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Deep
presence - authenticity, commitment, honesty, willingness to be affected and
changed <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria Math",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Cambria Math"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Cambria Math";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">17.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Listening
with an Ear for Role (good patient/ bad patient; good mother/ bad mother, etc.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria Math",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Cambria Math"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Cambria Math";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">18.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Direct
Honest Respectful Conversation (See-feel-need)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria Math",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Cambria Math"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Cambria Math";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">19.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Negotiating
Reality<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria Math",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Cambria Math"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Cambria Math";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">20.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Sitting
comfortably with silence<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria Math",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Cambria Math"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Cambria Math";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">21.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Conversations
about diagnosis (human vs diagnostic language) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria Math",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Cambria Math"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Cambria Math";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">22.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Staying
peer (what am I feeling right now,whose need am I trying to meet,what' s making
me uncomfortable, am I owning my part, am I listening for the larger story?)<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Sarah Knutsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290844872665327137noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572480303268518836.post-78582442713484351082018-10-11T20:58:00.006-04:002020-09-27T18:19:04.858-04:00Intentional Peer Support Weekly Co-Learning Group<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4uIlpcKPDsRyRW8v53Zxiex6d110QINsEz-Oh53Fv3RDu53H2qOM3wVFzMjwiGZ_VeGZYWacHnVh1-IqbEOSt6-IXrHOqm3zToJ17l-6Vn-UsNXZv9Z9SpiuJjiVEm0yTuGahYpnTMws/s1600/IPS+Practice+flyer+generic.PNG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1451" data-original-width="1123" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4uIlpcKPDsRyRW8v53Zxiex6d110QINsEz-Oh53Fv3RDu53H2qOM3wVFzMjwiGZ_VeGZYWacHnVh1-IqbEOSt6-IXrHOqm3zToJ17l-6Vn-UsNXZv9Z9SpiuJjiVEm0yTuGahYpnTMws/s640/IPS+Practice+flyer+generic.PNG" width="494" /></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><div style="text-align: left;">
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Free Online Weekly: </div>
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Saturdays 5:15*-6:30 pm Eastern</div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><i>(*please note time change)</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><i>An online learning and practice group for Intentional Peer Support</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<i style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-large;">** Beginners Welcome **</i><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><i>~Join by computer: <a href="https://zoom.us/j/119362879">https://zoom.us/j/119362879</a></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><i>~Join by phone: +1 669 900 6833 or +1 646 558 8656</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><i>Enter Meeting ID: 119 362 879</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><i>~International callers: <a href="https://zoom.us/u/jkwt3wHh">https://zoom.us/u/jkwt3wHh</a></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<i><span style="font-size: x-large;">*New Topic Every Week<br /><br />*Learn and Practice<br /><br />*Offer and Receive<br /><br />*Peer Support in Action</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><i><b>About Intentional Peer Support:</b></i></span><br />
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IPS is a way of thinking about and being in purposeful relationships. In IPS, we use our relationships to look at things from new angles. We develop a better awareness of personal and relational patterns. We support and challenge each other as we try new things. IPS is different from traditional service relationships because it doesn’t ,start with the assumption of “a problem.” Instead, we learn to listen for how each of us has made sense of our experiences. Together, we create new ways of seeing, thinking, and doing. At the end of the day, it is really about building stronger, healthier communities.<br />
(More information, trainings, workbook and resources available at <a href="http://www.intentionalpeersupport.org/">www.intentionalpeersupport.org</a>.)</div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><i><b>What to expect</b></i></span><br />
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Each week we focus on a different topic from the IPS Workbook: <b><i>Intentional Peer Support: An Alternative Approach</i></b> by Shery Mead. (No purchase is necessary - the relevant text is made available at each meeting.) We use the reading to focus our attention and spark discussion about important concepts in peer support. We learn together from the reading and the experiences we share. We explore how we might apply what we are learning to the real issues in our lives and also to support each other to navigate our challenges meaningfully and well. Our aim is to build a supportive, mutually responsible peer community capable of negotiating different needs, values and views of reality with dignity, rights and personhood fully in tact for all concerned.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><i><b>Group "Discomfort" Agreement</b></i></span></div>
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IPS encourages the use of 'Discomfort' Agreements, moreso that 'Comfort' Agreements. This is because learning new things is often uncomfortable. New learning usually requires sincere effort and a willingness to stretch beyond the known into the unknown. The IPS Discomfort Agreement acknowledges this challenge, as well as the temptation to quit when the going gets rough. the Discomfort Agreement thus supports us to stay with the process by helping us to think, intentionally, ahead of time, about the kind of environment we want to create in order to support and facilitate new learning.</div>
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Here's our working Discomfort Agreement for the Saturday Group on Zoom:</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">DISCOMFORT AGREEMENT </span></b><br />
<ol>
<li>One person talk at a time. </li>
<li>Offer respect and dignity. </li>
<li>Listen to understand and relate rather than to help or convert others. </li>
<li>Participate to the level of your comfort (self-care). </li>
<li>Keep the focus on learning and practicing Intentional Peer Support. </li>
<li>Maintain a non-judgmental atmosphere. </li>
<li>Don’t make assumptions or put words in people's mouths. Instead: ask, reality check, validate. </li>
<li>There is no right or wrong here in the sense that sincere discussion and questions are welcomed. However, apparent power imbalances, unfairness or nonconsensual treatment of others can and should be respectfully questioned. </li>
<li>When controversy arises, explore differing viewpoints with curiosity about the personal experiences that led others to see things the way they currently do. </li>
<li>Work to transcend disagreement by learning about the realities of others and finding points of connection. </li>
<li>Being respectful of modalities that others find useful and refrain from promoting or denigrating specific approaches. </li>
<li>Stay away from debates about pharmaceuticals, healthcare or politics. </li>
<li>At a minimum: agree to disagree </li>
<li>“Stretch”: Step up if you tend to stay in the background, step back if you tend to take up a lot of space. </li>
<li>“Ouch”: If it hurts say so. </li>
<li>Be conscious of how you use power or privilege, as well as open to hearing from others about how they may experience you using it. </li>
<li>Use power to support and grow relationships rather than to gain personal advantage or prestige. </li>
<li>Don’t scapegoat or marginalize anyone. </li>
<li>Promote equality, fairness and understanding. </li>
<li>Reach out to include others who may have less power or privilege than you have. </li>
<li>Some here may prefer to type in the chat box instead of speak out loud. You can access the chat box from the control panel at the top or bottom of your screen. If you don’t want your comments read out loud, please let us know. Otherwise, we try to read them in real time so they can be part of the conversation. Everyone is encouraged to pay attention to typed comments and read them. </li>
<li>A major purpose of this group is to encourage conversation, create space for diverse viewpoints, and make sure everyone has a chance to speak. If you have something to say and someone else is speaking, please raise your hand. Other members are encouraged to notice to when someone has their hand raised and call attention to that in a sensitive way if the speaker doesn’t seem to notice. Group members are encouraged to bring bells or musical instruments and use them for this purpose if the someone has gone on for several minutes. </li>
<li>We recognize that there are times if life where any one of us might feel the need to speak at length about matters that concern us. If that appears to be the case, anyone may request or suggest a breakout room where two or more members can have a private conversation. Alternatively, anyone may request or suggest that a particular issue be discussed further after the formal group meeting. </li>
<li>Moderation of the group is shared by group members. At the end of each group we ask for a volunteer to moderate for the upcoming session. If that person is able to make it, we ask for volunteer to moderate when the next session starts. Those new to moderation are encouraged to try their hand at moderating once they become familiar with the group process. All group members are encouraged to use the peer support skills we are learning to support the moderator or to respectfully share needs or concerns that seem important to them. </li>
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<i>But wait! There's more!</i></div>
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A Discomfort Agreement is not just something we make together as a group. It is also an agreement we make with ourselves. Intentional Peer Support is about embarking on a journey deep into the realm of human relationships. This journey entails a commitment to learning and growth - not just for others, but also for ourselves. From the very outset, therefore, each of us is encouraged to ask ourselves:</div>
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<ol>
<li>What my 'defaults' when the going gets rough in my relationships with others?</li>
<li>What do I tend to do when I feel scared, uncertain or overwhelmed?</li>
<li>How does this usually work out for me?</li>
<li>What usually happens in the relationship?</li>
<li>What would I like to do differently in the future..?</li>
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If I carefully consider these questions, I may well come away with a specific, personal learning and practice objective for myself for the group.<br />
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<i>But wait! There's even more!</i></div>
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Another thing the Discomfort Agreement does is to give us an opportunity to explore and deepen the relational potential of our peer support practice. A foundational tenet of IPS is that peer relationships have the potential to make outcomes possible that few of us could accomplish alone. Accordingly, the Discomfort Agreement invites us to consider how others might support us to achieve the learning and practice objectives we set for ourselves. For example, can they help us to:</div>
<ol>
<li>Stay with the learning/ practice process, remaining both true to our experience and respectful of others, when we feel uncomfortable. </li>
<li>Keep our commitment to ourselves to try to do something different if/ when we fall back into old patterns.</li>
<li>Step up when find something hard or feel like running away. </li>
<li>Step back when we want to dominate or think we have all the answers.</li>
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If I carefully consider these issues, I may well come away with some specific requests I make can to other group members that will help them - and me - to notice when I'm stuck in old patterns and navigate them differently.</div>
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Hope to see you there! <span style="font-size: x-large;">😉😏</span></div>
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Sarah Knutsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290844872665327137noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572480303268518836.post-2542321487454249382018-08-10T17:46:00.002-04:002020-09-27T18:05:06.267-04:00Talking Openly About Suicide: FREE ONLINE Sat. 8/11/18<div style="text-align: right;">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHomOleACi30Tf4VEw4nIT464r_z0C2MTWilSzAws0jpyoLtj7tSLDH7zHbNHKUrD5BWyWn-EJJpOaB974VA2fr7BQuS-1Hbm-5qyq302apRGlPZKggu8BpoaBF02COXHYlJG9P0QBK3E/s1600/IPS+practice+flyer+6.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Flyer reads: INTENTIONAL PEER SUPPORT PRACTICE SERIES SATURDAYS WEEKLY 5-6:30 pm Eastern FREE ONLINE Beginners Welcome This weeks topic: TALKING OPENLY ABOUT SUICIDE (Aug.11, 2018) Join by computer: https://zoom.us/j/119362879 Join by phone: +1 669 900 6833 or +1 646 558 8656 Enter Meeting ID: 119 362 879 International callers: https://zoom.us/u/jkwt3wHh About IPS: Intentional peer support (IPS) is a way of thinking about and being in purposeful relationships. In IPS, we use our relationships to look at things from new angles. We develop a better awareness of personal and relational patterns. We support and challenge each other as we try new things. IPS is different from traditional service relationships because it doesn’t ,start with the assumption of “a problem.” Instead, we learn to listen for how each of us has made sense of our experiences. Together, we create new ways of seeing, thinking, and doing. At the end of the day, it is really about building stronger, healthier communities. More info (& study guide) at: peerlyhuman.blogspot.com Left Graphic: Cover of IPS Workbook [picture of a woman wearing a hoodie with images of a tree, a house and a hand. She is holding a smaller version of herself in her arms. Written in cursive on the image is ‘What is forgotten is who we are. Right Graphic: IPS Promo Poster [picture of a man in a wheelchair, a woman sitting on the grass listening to him, and another leaning against a tree. Above them on the branches of the tree reads: “From helping to learning together, individual to relationship, fear to hope and possibility” In the horizon below that “Connection/ Worldview / Mutuality/ Moving Towards”]" border="0" data-original-height="1436" data-original-width="1121" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHomOleACi30Tf4VEw4nIT464r_z0C2MTWilSzAws0jpyoLtj7tSLDH7zHbNHKUrD5BWyWn-EJJpOaB974VA2fr7BQuS-1Hbm-5qyq302apRGlPZKggu8BpoaBF02COXHYlJG9P0QBK3E/s400/IPS+practice+flyer+6.PNG" title="IPS Practice Series Flyer" width="311" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">IPS Practice Series</td></tr>
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<b>Intentional Peer Support Practice Series </b></h2>
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<b>Weekly on Saturdays 5-6:30 EDT </b></h3>
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<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Join by computer: <a href="https://zoom.us/j/119362879">https://zoom.us/j/119362879</a></div>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Join by phone: <b>+1 669 900 6833</b> or <b>+1 646 558 8656</b> (Meeting ID: <b>119 362 879</b>)</div>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>International callers: <a href="https://zoom.us/u/jkwt3wHh">https://zoom.us/u/jkwt3wHh</a></div>
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Study Guide for Talking Openly About Suicide</h2>
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(Saturday 8/11/2018 from 5-6:30 EDT)</div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: cyan;">Note on the study guide: </span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: cyan; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The following study guide has been personalized and adapted with permission from </span><i style="font-weight: normal;"><u>Intentional Peer Support: An Alternative Approach</u></i><span style="font-weight: normal;"> by Shery Mead. To purchase the full manual (book, kindle, audiobook), see </span><a href="http://www.intentionalpeersupport.org/store/" style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.intentionalpeersupport.org/store/</a><span style="font-weight: normal;">. To learn more about Intentional Peer Support and available trainings, see </span><a href="http://www.intentionalpeersupport.org/" style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.intentionalpeersupport.org/</a></span></blockquote>
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The kind of peer support we are learning about in this series assumes that all of us - helpers, helpees, family, friends, community members, professionals as well as those of us with identified social concerns like suicide - have things to share and things to learn. It assumes that risk is a part of living and that we all take risks as well as create them -- both for ourselves and for others. It assumes we all have power -- as well as a mixed record when it comes to the choice of taking power for ourselves, giving it up to someone else, or negotiating and sharing it with others.</div>
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Consequently, one of the most important things we can learn to do with each other is put our cards on the table and talk honestly about our needs and concerns. A huge challenge for me in doing this is when I think your needs, views or reality conflicts with mine. This creates (in my mind) a zero sum game where one of us is going to win and get our needs met and the other is going to lose and go wanting. (Stressssssfulllllllll!!!!)<br />
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So what to do....?<br />
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Enter See-Feel-Need.<br />
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See-Feel-Need</h2>
See-feel-need is a variation on nonviolent communication that's been adapted to the mental health context. The reason for the adaptation is that, in mental health situations, it's fairly common that we're both not in the same reality. Often, I'm seeing, hearing, believing, feeling or sensing something that you don't.<br />
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For example, with regard to suicide I might experience impending doom, see myself as totally worthless, believe that others have decided to intentionally target and torture me, know that my life is over and that nothing I do will ever make a difference. You might see me as a bright, capable 30 something who hit a streak of bad luck and is taking the ordinary hard knocks of life a bit too personally. If your experience around this is anything like mine, we can argue about our different viewpoints forever, get nowhere and end up with both of us in more pain than we started despite our best efforts and deep longing for connection.<br />
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See-feel-need is a way for me to voice my own reality without defining yours or taking away your power. The process is fairly straightforward:</div>
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Say what I see </h4>
This is simply owning up to the thoughts going on in my head about a situation. It includes my beliefs about what is happening between us. It also includes anything concrete that I've observed (read, seen, heard, felt, touched, smelled, tasted, etc.) that I'm focusing on to support my thinking.<br />
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My beliefs and observations may ring true for you too, or they may not. The point is that they are real for me, and they impact how I'm experiencing our relationship. So I own them as my thoughts.<br />
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Then I take the risk of saying something like this:<br />
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<i>I'm having a really hard time with they way I'm experiencing the energy between you and me. The story I'm telling myself is that you think I'm going to kill myself so </i><i>you're watching me like a hawk.</i></blockquote>
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😕😟</h3>
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Say what I feel</h4>
Here is where I own up to the effect that <b><i>my</i></b> way of seeing is having <b><i>on me</i></b>.<br />
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<i>I'm finding myself shutting down and hiding from you. I'm also spending all kinds of time in my head telling you off and arguing with you about why I think you should act differently. </i><i>This isn't how I want to be. It's bothering me a lot.</i></blockquote>
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😐😐</h3>
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Say what I need</h4>
Here is where I say what I'd like to be different.<br />
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<i> I'd like to get out of my head. I'd like to see you as an ally and on my side. I'd like to be able to believe that you trust and respect me. Or at least I'd like to figure out how we can relate in a way that feels more equal. </i></blockquote>
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<i>Does any of this make any sense to you? Do you have some time to talk about it? Would you be willing to tell me how you see things? Do you see it the same as I do or differently...?</i></blockquote>
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😏😏</h3>
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<u>IMPORTANT NOTE </u></h4>
Did you notice that I left you and your reality out of what I said to you?<br />
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<ul>
<li>I stuck with my own reality and my own needs. </li>
<li>I said only what <b><i>I</i></b> was seeing, feeling and needing. </li>
<li>I owned my beliefs as my own and didn't assume that you believe the same things I do.</li>
<li>I didn't assume that my observations, feelings or needs hold true for you too. </li>
<li>I didn't assert that my observations, feelings, beliefs or needs mean that you are doing something wrong or that there is anything you have to change. </li>
<li>I simply shared with you:</li>
<ul>
<li>what I was observing and experiencing as a result of us being together;</li>
<li>the conclusions I was drawing as a result of what I was experiencing; and</li>
<li>how this was leading me to want to respond to you as a human being.</li>
</ul>
<li>Then I asked you about you:</li>
<ul>
<li>if what I was saying made sense to you; </li>
<li>what you were experiencing;</li>
<li>how what you were experiencing was similar or different from what I was experiencing.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
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These are the kinds of conversations that allow both people to take risks and grow. These are the kinds of conversations that can lead to fundamentally different ways of thinking about help.<br />
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Practice Exercise</h3>
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<i>Practice having a see-feel-need conversation. Two people can role play a conversation or everyone can take turns jumping in with new lines. Notice the responses that make you feel more or less safe. Discuss this as a group at the end. </i></blockquote>
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Building the airplane while you're flying it</h2>
Ideally, we would know each other and have some time under our belt before either of us ends up in crisis. That allows us to iron out at least some of these practices in advance. That's usually a good thing because it can be a heck of a lot easier to practice your first see-feel-need conversation over the groceries instead of in dire matters of life and death. But sometimes that's a luxury that just isn't afforded us. Or suddenly, we find ourselves in the thick of it anyway. During these times we’ll need to negotiate on the fly. A couple of the skills here include:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Talking honestly: <i>What does it feel like for each of us? Are we scared, frustrated, confused, angry, etc? </i></li>
<li>Self-reflection: <i>Where is my reaction coming from? Life and death danger? Break with routine protocol? Difference of opinion? Unfamiliar territory? Added workload? Not my preferred was of operating? Past experiences? Gut feeling...?</i> </li>
<li>Relational WRAP: Helpful hint. Create a relational ‘crisis’ plan ahead of time. This is essentially something along the lines of a Wellness Recovery Action Plan that two or more of us can create together for our relationship. Once we have one, we can refer back to it in difficult times and just follow what we agreed to until we are out of hot water and have some space to think things through.</li>
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Debriefing After the Fact</h2>
After we’ve come through a difficult situation and we’re on the other side, practicing open honest communication is still important. We both probably have some feelings about what happened. We maybe even created a little mistrust and now need to re-establish what’s going to work for both of us.<br />
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Some suggestions for doing this when either of us has been struggling with wanting to die include:</div>
<ul>
<li>Talk about how it felt for both of us and what’s happened with our feelings since.</li>
<li>Figure out what’s going to help both of us regain trust.</li>
<li>Examine our own reactivity to these kinds of situations, and then mutually negotiate a new response.</li>
<li>Each of us own our own hot buttons (triggers, sore spots, pet peeves) and plan for how we’ll deal with them differently next time.</li>
<li>Explore (re-explore) what risk and safety mean to each of us and how we will share responsibility for addressing these needs in ways that work for all concerned.</li>
<li>Revisit / create a relational WRAP…</li>
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<h2>
Summing up</h2>
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<ol>
<li><i>Have you noticed some ways that this kind of peer support different from other kinds of ‘help’ you might be familiar with?</i></li>
<li><i>What differences do you see? </i></li>
</ol>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
</div>
<h2>
<u>PAST TOPICS</u></h2>
<div>
<h3>
Sat. 6/30/18: Suicide and 'Safety'</h3>
<ul>
<li>Is 'safety' about legalities or relationships? </li>
<li>Do risk assessments and safety contracts make us less likely to attempt suicide - or can they actually backfire and increase the risk...?</li>
<li>What can we do instead...?</li>
</ul>
<div>
<h3>
Sat. 7/7/18: Supporting others who want to die</h3>
<div>
<ul>
<li>How do our own needs affect how we support others?</li>
<li>What assumptions might we make about supporting others based on our own needs or experience?</li>
<li>What are the gifts and limitations of such assumptions?</li>
</ul>
<div>
<h3>
Sat. 7/14/18: Practicing relational safety</h3>
<div>
<ul>
<li>What makes a relationship feel safe (trusting/ trustworthy) to me?</li>
<li>What kinds of things seem to come up that can get in the way of for me (stuck points, patterns, bad luck streak, etc.)?</li>
<li>How have I tried to cope or manage that?</li>
<li>What (if anything) would I like to hold myself accountable try differently for next time?</li>
<li>What (if anything) have I been able to do to make a relationship better rather than worse when things started taking a turn for the worse...?</li>
</ul>
<h3>
Sat. 7/21/18: Suicide and Power</h3>
<div>
<h3>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
<ol>
<li>What is the relationship between suicide and power?</li>
<li>How, if at all, does power (having it, not having it, losing it, feeling used, abused, put down or ignored by others who have it) affect my feelings about living or my will to live? </li>
<li>How is power different depending on whether I am a 'helper' or a 'helpee'?</li>
<li>Is power different when I 'feel suicidal' compared to when I don't?</li>
<li>What implications might that have for our relationship if one of us starts talking about wanting to die...?</li>
</ol>
</div>
</h3>
<ul></ul>
</div>
<div>
<h3>
Sat. 7/28/18: Suicide and Responsible Relationships</h3>
<div>
<ol>
<li><i>Think about mainstream mental health relationships (therapy, psychiatry, case management, formal or informal caregivers): </i></li>
<ul>
<li><i>Who defines 'risk'/ 'safety'? </i></li>
<li><i>Who or what is considered 'risky'/ 'safe'? </i></li>
<li><i>Who decides what risks are acceptable? Required? For whom? </i></li>
</ul>
<li><i>What happens in a relationship when you feel like someone is always assessing your safety?</i></li>
<li><i>What assumptions do you make about who holds the power or control?</i></li>
</ol>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Sarah Knutsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290844872665327137noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572480303268518836.post-5362099150308226842018-07-29T02:20:00.001-04:002020-09-27T18:05:23.378-04:00What It's Like to Be a Mother Watching Your Son Destroyed by Psychiatry<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<span style="text-align: right;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div>
<span style="text-align: right;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Editor's note: Thanks everyone. Those concerned are now conscious, aware and free to speak for themselves. They've asked for some privacy, which has included modifying this post in significant ways. There may be more changes in the future as concerns are further clarified and expressed. This is how advocacy should work. In the mean time, this is what unfolded near the end of July 2018: </span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: right;"><br /></span>
<span style="text-align: right;"><br /></span>
<span style="text-align: right;">Th</span><span style="text-align: right;">is is an all hands on deck call for advocacy. The trauma is unfolding as we speak. I received the following texts over the past 24 hours from the mother of the young man pictured on the left. This is reprinted with permission. The circumstances are dire. They are desperate for any advocacy expertise or assistance you might offer.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<span style="text-align: right;">UPDATE: Important strategy change: Please do not call the hospital. The healthcare providers are now responding and being helpful. The mother has requested that advocates contact her directly with suggestions to minimize the possibility of retribution or wagon circling responses by healthcare providers. Those offering ideas or support can friend Martha at https://www.facebook.com/martha.marti.7 or call her at 813-468-9022.</span></div>
<h2>
Dino and Martha's Story</h2>
<h3>
Friday 4:50 pm</h3>
Sorry. I think I hung up on you yesterday. I was driving and trying to figure out where I was going. Trying to find where they had taken my son. It’s not good. They ran out of his Clozapine and he is gone. I don’t know where he is. A person cannot just abruptly stop Clozapine. He was Baker Acted yesterday. He was violent, like a trapped animal, and scared. He can’t even talk. Has lost his memory. I’m exhausted. Just got home from hospital and need rest. <br />
<br />
Why so much suffering? The residential treatment facility was supposed to be monitoring and dispensing his Clozapine. They messed up but now he is suffering. He’s been on medical observation but now being transferred to psych. I’m sorry. I’ve had no time to callback. Another trauma for him. It’s draining for me. I’m sorry. God help him. He’s suffering.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Saturday 1:25 pm</h3>
I’ve been lied to by the facility that was supposed to be managing, monitoring and dispensing his meds. Three people told my husband and I the same story and blamed my son for them running out of medication. When I found holes in their story, I asked questions. So, yesterday, a different story was told to me.<br />
<br />
But my son is suffering severe severe rebound psychosis and more. Extreme paranoia! Now he’s almost in a catatonic state I was told. Last night he was trying to choke himself by producing saliva and choking himself with it. He was spitting on people and was violent. This morning he was staring up at the ceiling with his jaw open.<br />
<br />
Thursday night at ER they gave him an injection of Geodon and Ativan. Friday, while on medical observation because his blood work is all messed up. He started punching the window so they gave him haldol injection. Now he is in psych ward. And they have destroyed him again.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Saturday 6:15 pm</h3>
Just saw him for a few minutes <br />
It is a complete NIGHTMARE!<br />
He’s dying<br />
They MADE us leave <br />
They called to have an ICU nurse evaluate him and MADE us leave<br />
He cannot swallow. He’s struggling to breath. He’s aspirating his saliva and liquids that they were trying to give him. <br />
He’s trying so hard to breathe <br />
I hear all the liquids rattling around in his throat <br />
He cannot swallow and is choking. He cannot breathe<br />
His eye started bleeding. The same eye started turning black and blue around his eye<br />
Wish I had had my phone and could have taken a picture!<br />
This is pure EVIL<br />
<br />
Maybe the liquid was rattling in his lungs! Rattling. Every time he tried to breathe. Struggling for air. <br />
<br />
White foam coming out of his mouth and filling his mouth. <br />
<br />
They moved him to medical. I know nothing else. I think ICU<br />
<br />
<h3>
Saturday 6:51 pm</h3>
On a bi-pap machine. Heavily sedated. Critical care doctor is still assessing him. <br />
<br />
<h3>
Saturday 10:14 pm</h3>
Can you talk?<br />
<br />
A nurse friend of mine just said that she’s sure he was having a seizure<br />
<br />
And they were going to just leave him in isolation in the psych ward! The nurse was talking to us, saying he’s in isolation and we can’t see him. Then she said, “do you hear him screaming?” I said”no I only hear someone groaning “. She said that was him. I begged to see him. They finally put him in a private room for us to see him. I insisted on medical care. I could tell he was having a medical crisis and I’m not the professional!! The nurse even admitted that she wasn’t sure what was wrong with my son!<br />
<br />
I guess they thought he was just having psychiatric issues. Can’t they tell if he’s having medical issues? I don’t get it. Why leave him in isolation like that? This is so scary that no one seems to care. I’m not a professional and I could tell he was having a medical crisis!<br />
<br />
I heard him groaning in isolation and begged to see him. They did nothing for him until I expressed my concerns. <br />
<br />
When I saw him he was trying to speak, moving his mouth, but only sounds like groaning came out and not words. His eyes were all the way up looking at ceiling. <br />
And white foam pouring out of his mouth<br />
<br />
His entire body beet red. Veins popping out of his neck. He grabbed my hand and tried so hard to tell me something but he couldn’t speak.<br />
<br />
I’m so upset!<br />
<br />
We’re on our way to the hospital because they refuse to give us information. <br />
They said we can’t come. But I’m his proxy. They need to tell me everything. They didn’t even know he was having a seizure?<br />
<br />
He is at St. Anthony’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, FL. <br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Begging for help</h2>
<div>
Yesterday, Martha posted this plea in MAD in America: <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Please help—the residential treatment facility abruptly stopped my son’s Clozapine 500mg daily medication because they forgot to get his bloodwork for the pharmacy. They forced him to stop abruptly and did not receive them for many days. They manage his medication and he has been very stable on Clozapine. He went into full blown rebound psychosis with forced hospitalization. Thursday night in ER they gave him an injection of Geodon and Ativan. Friday he was on medical observation since his blood numbers were all messed up. But he punched a window trying to get out so they gave him an injection of haldol and Ativan. Later they moved him to the psychiatric floor. A nurse called me today to make me his proxy. She said his eyes were rolled back in his head and his mouth was wide open. She said - maybe Catatonia or allergic reaction so they gave him an injection of Benadryl. When we arrived for visitation a nurse came to us and said our son was in isolation and we couldn’t see him. She said, “do you hear someone screaming?” I said, “no, but I hear someone groaning “. She said that was our son. I begged to see him for just a minute. They put him in a private room for us to briefly see him. The nurse even admitted that she wasn’t sure what was wrong with him. When we saw him his eyes were rolled back in his head. White foam was coming out of his mouth. He was choking on this liquid foam. He grabbed my hand and tried to say something. He moved his mouth but only groans came out. He was stiff and beet red. Veins popping out of his neck. Profusely sweating. I said, “he needs medical attention.” So they called an ICU nurse to come assess him. They made us leave. He is now in ICU with a bi-pap machine breathing for him and he is heavily sedated. They will tell me nothing else. This is so wrong that he was forced to cold turkey his Clozapine and now is suffering horribly. And the psychiatric ward was just going to keep him in isolation and let him die if I had never insisted I see him? So wrong. My son needs representation. Advocating. Help. Anyone. The front desk at the hospital said we cannot come now but I’m coming because no one will give me information over the phone. This is injustice. Please. How can I get justice for my son. He’s suffering horribly. Help please. If you can.</i></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<h2>
The 'Good Ole Days'</h2>
</div>
<div>
<div>
June 10th 8:08 pm</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I was visiting my son because he is court ordered to a residential treatment facility and court ordered drugged. Just now driving home with my husband. My heart hurts every time I leave him. I will try to get it together myself to call tomorrow. I am drained. Will probably go to sleep after we get home. Have about an hour’s drive. Just now left the residential treatment facility. </div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h2>
Dino's Song</h2>
<div>
May 30th 10:27 pm</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
My son’s song. Stormy Paradise. He says a stormy paradise is what he sees in the refrain. It may not make a lot of sense to you, but this was s big step for him. He's been through a lot.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HnMTAbx0Ybo/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HnMTAbx0Ybo?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkNJeHQWmSq1wCWSTnEAa-rl6VmXCXJdEg-G63AeD-7PMwOB8SdNI9GWF-UC-NBzk9K1KZsgg3jBfRzA8p6hN2weWgofTOIaKhj3Ta1gqCbZt9Vj13Q2OIDMBblJAxdAFzQaCYvYACsMA/s1600/dinos+song.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="263" data-original-width="1600" height="52" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkNJeHQWmSq1wCWSTnEAa-rl6VmXCXJdEg-G63AeD-7PMwOB8SdNI9GWF-UC-NBzk9K1KZsgg3jBfRzA8p6hN2weWgofTOIaKhj3Ta1gqCbZt9Vj13Q2OIDMBblJAxdAFzQaCYvYACsMA/s320/dinos+song.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"My first song" </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Sarah Knutsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290844872665327137noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572480303268518836.post-64609153527027025072018-06-30T01:40:00.001-04:002020-09-27T18:05:37.498-04:00Suicide and 'Safety': This week in Intentional Peer Support<h2>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV0lqG-49acXo9L9cGJ_wDdfUfLbSG4f4GOg6LbpqZ6yCTaeDePjAqvwV0MnMenufc3_OT5OPtXCpCkyh_fuBdhLfbjyIqCPCu4Ss0-hOS2CmQ3yj5l6FUzCNsp02I766NqS15QGDzHXc/s1600/IPS+practice+flyer.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="INTENTIONAL PEER SUPPORT PRACTICE SERIES SATURDAYS WEEKLY 5-6:30 pm Eastern FREE ONLINE Beginners Welcome This weeks topic: SUICIDE and ‘SAFETY’ (June 30, 2018) Join by computer: https://zoom.us/j/119362879 Join by phone: +1 669 900 6833 or +1 646 558 8656 Enter Meeting ID: 119 362 879 International callers: https://zoom.us/u/jkwt3wHh About IPS: Intentional peer support (IPS) is a way of thinking about and being in purposeful relationships. In IPS, we use our relationships to look at things from new angles. We develop a better awareness of personal and relational patterns. We support and challenge each other as we try new things. IPS is different from traditional service relationships because it doesn’t ,start with the assumption of “a problem.” Instead, we learn to listen for how each of us has made sense of our experiences. Together, we create new ways of seeing, thinking, and doing. At the end of the day, it is really about building stronger, healthier communities. More info (& study guide) at: peerlyhuman.blogspot.com Left Graphic: Cover of IPS Workbook [picture of a woman wearing a hoodie with images of a tree, a house and a hand. She is holding a smaller version of herself in her arms. Written in cursive on the image is ‘What is forgotten is who we are. Right Graphic: IPS Promo Poster [picture of a man in a wheelchair, a woman sitting on the grass listening to him, and another leaning against a tree. Above them on the branches of the tree reads: “From helping to learning together, individual to relationship, fear to hope and possibility” In the horizon below that “Connection/ Worldview / Mutuality/ Moving Towards”]" border="0" data-original-height="1463" data-original-width="1147" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV0lqG-49acXo9L9cGJ_wDdfUfLbSG4f4GOg6LbpqZ6yCTaeDePjAqvwV0MnMenufc3_OT5OPtXCpCkyh_fuBdhLfbjyIqCPCu4Ss0-hOS2CmQ3yj5l6FUzCNsp02I766NqS15QGDzHXc/s640/IPS+practice+flyer.PNG" title="IPS Practice Series Flyer" width="497" /></a><b><h2>
<b><br /></b></h2>
FREE ONLINE -- Beginners </b><b>Welcome!</b></h2>
<h3>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Join by computer: <a href="https://zoom.us/j/119362879">https://zoom.us/j/119362879</a></div>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Join by phone: <b>+1 669 900 6833</b> or <b>+1 646 558 8656</b> (Meeting ID: <b>119 362 879</b>)</div>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>International callers: <a href="https://zoom.us/u/jkwt3wHh">https://zoom.us/u/jkwt3wHh</a></div>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
<br /></div>
</h3>
<h3>
<b>Intentional Peer Support Practice Series</b></h3>
<h3>
<b>Weekly on Saturdays 5-6:30 EDT </b></h3>
<div>
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Join by computer: <a href="https://zoom.us/j/119362879">https://zoom.us/j/119362879</a></div>
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Join by phone: <b>+1 669 900 6833</b> or <b>+1 646 558 8656</b> (Meeting ID: <b>119 362 879</b>)<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>International callers: <a href="https://zoom.us/u/jkwt3wHh">https://zoom.us/u/jkwt3wHh</a><br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Full Study Guide</span></h2>
The following study guide has been personalized and adapted with permission from <i><u>Intentional Peer Support: An Alternative Approach</u></i> by Shery Mead. To purchase the full manual (book, kindle, audiobook), see <a href="http://www.intentionalpeersupport.org/store/">http://www.intentionalpeersupport.org/store/</a>. To learn more about Intentional Peer Support and available trainings see <a href="http://www.intentionalpeersupport.org/">http://www.intentionalpeersupport.org/</a><br />
<br />
<h2>
A Deeper Look at 'Safety'</h2>
When I was a patient in the mental health system, I heard the language of safety a lot! Was I safe, was I going to be safe, would I contract for safety, etc. etc...? Through these questions, safety came to mean that <i><b>I was simply agreeing not to do anything to hurt myself or someone else.</b></i><br />
<br />
But what did that leave me with?<br />
<br />
<h3>
Reflection questions</h3>
<br />
<ul>
<li><i>What has it meant to you when others have asked if you’re 'safe'? </i></li>
<li><i>When you’ve asked others if they’re safe?</i></li>
</ul>
<br />
Frankly, the more safety questions I got, the less I felt reliant on my own abilities to take care of myself. So instead of feeling safe in the world, I felt like a time bomb that could go off at any time.<br />
<br />
It also left my clinical relationships with a huge power discrepancy: If I told the truth -- "I feel like hurting myself" -- the practitioner would feel obliged to take precautions. Perhaps they were legitimately concerned I would follow through. Or, maybe they acted more from a need to protect their job, their license or their organization. Either way, once the magic words got spoken, they mostly had the power and I mostly didn't.<br />
<br />
Option two was to lie. If I denied my true experience, I could keep my power. But denying my reality - and keeping secrets in important relationships - also have their costs.<br />
<br />
This was abundantly true for me. I felt miserably alone at the most vulnerable times of my life. I came away feeling like there was no one on the planet who I could really trust. I was out of my league and I knew it. I desperately wanted human support and counsel. I desperately wanted to get to the root of my true feelings and to be able to uncover any options I had. Yet, here I was trying to make a good decision - perhaps the most important decision of my life - without knowing a single soul I could trust to be truly honest with.<br />
<br />
In retrospect, I don't think there is much that is LESS SAFE for me as a human being in that frame of mind. In fact, I can only think of one thing that's less safe from my perspective: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>EVEN MORE UNSAFE = to feel coerced or pressured by others who don't understand my unbearable suffering <i>into making a bad decision makes it even worse</i>. </b></blockquote>
Unfortunately, that was often where I found myself in times like these, given the mainstream practice of reporting, detaining and drugging those of us who acknowledge the depth of our distress and despair. <br />
<br />
<h2>
Re-Thinking Safety</h2>
The painful contradictions noted above have led to a lot of reflecting on what safety actually means to me. Here are two bottom lines I've come to:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Real safety doesn’t mean talking to someone with a reporting obligation.</li>
<li>Real safety doesn't mean making a safety contracts or promises to stay out of harms way.</li>
</ol>
<br />
<h3>
Reflection questions</h3>
<br />
<ul>
<li><i>What does real safety mean to you?</i></li>
<li><i>What makes you feel safe (or safer)? </i></li>
</ul>
<br />
Real safety - for me - is about creating culturally respectful, mutually responsible, trusting, trustworthy relationships. It happens in relationships where we don’t judge or make assumptions about each other. It happens when someone trusts and believes in me <i>even when they’re uncomfortable</i>. It happens when I'm free to share my deepest truth and you take time to reflect on what I've said. You make the effort and sincerely try to get to the heart and soul of what I'm attempting to get across to you.<br />
<br />
When you make that kind of effort and actually 'get' me, everything starts to change. You've proven to me that you can put your needs aside long enough to hear me out when it really matters. So I begin to feel ok about letting you into my world and loosening my grip on the urgency of <i><b>now</b></i>.<br />
<br />
You've also proven to me that you understand the territory. You've treated me like I have value and like my experiences do too. So I begin to get interested in what you think and might possibly know. I get curious about what I might find out if I stick with you. I feel bouyed up enough to risk the uncertain and the unknown. After all, you're a pleasant companion and the spent time with you feels bearable. That alone gives me hope that there might be something on the other side to make the journey worth hanging in for.<br />
<br />
This buys us time. The time we need to take risks, learn from them, explore new possibilities, and learn some more. All the while behind the scenes, subtly, incrementally, without me knowing it, a revolutionary change in my assumptions is taking place. The way I think about how this world and how it all operates (me, others, the planet) will never be the same.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Reflection questions</h3>
<h3>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
</div>
<ul style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
<li><i>What happens when you are with someone you trust and feel safe with? </i></li>
<li><i>How does actually feeling safe change things? (Can you do things when you feel safe that you can't do when you don't?)</i></li>
<li><i>How does being with someone you feel safe with change things? (Have you ever noticed yourself being able to do something with a person you trust that you couldn't do without them...?)</i></li>
</ul>
</h3>
This is what we call building <b style="font-style: italic;">relational safety. </b>As you can see, it is very different from the liability management practices that are oriented toward <i><b>legal safety</b></i>. It requires both of us to take risks and be vulnerable, instead of just one of us unilaterally protecting our interests. This is what we call <i style="font-weight: bold;">shared risk.</i><br />
<br />
How safe the relationship is for both of us depends on... <i>both of us</i>. It only works if both of us are willing to learn to share our power and take responsibility to do our part. This is what we call <i><b>mutual responsibility</b></i>.<br />
<br />
Relational safety, shared risk and mutual responsibility are foundation principles in creating relationships that work for both people. You will learn a lot about them - and practice them a lot - in this kind of peer support.<br />
<h3>
Reflection questions</h3>
<h3>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
</div>
<ul style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
<li><i>What happens to 'safety' for you if... </i></li>
<ul>
<li><i>I am continually assessing you for 'risk'...?</i></li>
<li><i>I can unilaterally decide to 'keep you safe'...?</i></li>
<li><i>I expect you to do all the risking...?</i></li>
<li><i>I am the authority on what risks you can take...?</i></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<div>
Practicing Relational Safety</div>
</h3>
It's time to put the rubber to the road and practice creating this new kind of safety in our relationships with each other. Here are some strategies to get us started:<br />
<br />
<h3>
1. Initiate proactive conversations</h3>
Whenever possible, it's best to practice these principles proactively (by thinking ahead) rather than reactively (oops...). The idea of proactive conversations is to get our concerns on the table early on, before either of us is in discomfort or crisis. That gives us the space to look at ourselves from a comfortable distance. Then we can reflect honestly together about:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>The kinds of stuff that often comes up for us (in relationships or in our lives); and </li>
<li>What we'd like to do differently <i>this time.</i> </li>
</ol>
<br />
For example, if wanting to die is a common issue for either of us, we can talk about it ahead of time.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>We can explore what will help the relationship feel safe for both of us if those kinds of feelings come up again. </li>
<li>We can both acknowledge (honestly, out loud) the extent of our “bottom lines.” </li>
<li>We talk about how we each are likely to react when we feel untrusting or disconnected. </li>
<li>We can figure out together what we will do, should we get to that edge. </li>
</ul>
<div>
<div>
By proactively exploring potentially sensitive issues like these, we pave the way for negotiating our relationship when future challenges arise.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<h3>
2. Talk (and talk and talk) about power</h3>
Power and safety are totally intertwined. I, for one, feel safe and optimistic when I have power. I also feel vulnerable (and worried, angry, confused, sad or overwhelmed) when I don't. I suspect it works that way for lots of us, though I don't hear this talked about very much.<br />
<br />
Being aware of the impact of power is critical for this kind of peer support. Relationships are a virtual land mine of power dynamics. There's a zillion ways to feel more or less powerful than someone else. Taking risks, sharing responsibility, being vulnerable, creating safety - these things are all about power.<br />
<br />
As you can see, the fact of power is inescapable in peer support. But power itself is not a problem. What matters is how we choose to use it.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Reflection Questions</h3>
<br />
<ul>
<li><i>Do I use the power I have to build respect, equality and participation in relationships?</i></li>
<li><i>When am I tempted to use power to advance my own self-interest?</i></li>
<li><i>What does that do to my relationships?</i></li>
</ul>
<br />
Can you begin to see how our use of power affects the quality of our relationships...? That's why, in this kind of peer support, we talk about power a lot: <i>What it’s like to have it, use it, lose it, abuse it and try to share or balance it.</i><br />
<br />
We tend to talk about power imbalances again and again because, well... we're human. So these issues come up again and again.<br />
<br />
<div>
<h3>
3. Practicing mutual responsibility</h3>
<div>
Most of us who have seriously considered giving up on life have experienced the kinds of assessments, safety contracts, and evaluations that I talked about above. This affects our 'mental health relationships' and how many of us learn to think about them. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
<b>Reflection questions</b></h3>
<ul>
<li><i>Think about mainstream mental health relationships (therapy, psychiatry, case management): </i></li>
<ul>
<li><i>Who defines 'risk'/ 'safety'? </i></li>
<li><i>Who or what is considered 'risky'/ 'safe'? </i></li>
<li><i>Who decides what risks are acceptable? Required? For whom? </i></li>
</ul>
<li><i>What happens in a relationship when you feel like someone is always assessing your safety?</i></li>
<li><i>What assumptions do you make about who holds the power or control?</i></li>
</ul>
As a mental health client, it went unsaid that the clinical professionals were the one's who defined the realm of risk. They told me the risks I was supposed to take - e.g., share honestly even if I don't trust them; do what they tell me to even when it doesn't make sense to me. They also were the ones to decide whether my thoughts or actions were 'risky', how 'risky' they were, and when additional management (treatment) or surveillance (prevention) was required.<br />
<br />
As noted above, the peer support we are learning here makes very different assumptions. It assumes both us of have things to share and things to learn. It assumes that risk is a part of living and that we will both take risks and create them. It assumes we both have power -- as well as a mixed record when it comes to the choice of taking it for ourselves, giving it up to someone else, or negotiating and sharing it with others.<br />
<br />
Consequently, the most important thing we learn to do with each other is put our cards on the table and talk honestly about our needs and concerns. Some suggestions for doing when either of us struggles with wanting to die include:<br />
<div>
<ul>
<li>Talking about our own reactivity to these kinds of situations, and then mutually negotiating a new response.</li>
<li>Building a relational ‘crisis’ plan (e.g., a WRAP plan that we create together for our relationship).</li>
<li>Talk about hot buttons for both of us and how we’ll deal with them.</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<h3>
4. Reflective Feedback</h3>
A huge challenge for me in building relational safety is when I think your needs, views or reality conflicts with mine. Reflective feedback is a way for me to voice my own reality without defining yours or taking away your power. The process is fairly straightforward:<br />
<br />
<h4>
Say what I see </h4>
This is just simply owning up to the thoughts going on in my head about a situation. They may be true for you too, or they may not be. The point is that they are real for me, so I own them as my thoughts. Then I take the risk of saying something like this:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I'm having a really hard time with they way I'm experiencing the energy between you and me. The story I'm telling myself is that you think I'm going to kill myself so </i><i>you're watching me like a hawk.</i></blockquote>
<h3>
😕😟</h3>
<h4>
Say what I feel</h4>
Here is where I own up to the effect that my way of seeing is having on me.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I'm finding myself shutting down and hiding from you. I'm also spending all kinds of time in my head telling you off and arguing with you about why I think you should act differently. </i><i>This isn't how I want to be. It's bothering me a lot.</i></blockquote>
<h3>
😐😐</h3>
<h4>
Say what I need</h4>
Here is where I say what I'd like to be different.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i> I'd like to get out of my head. I'd like to see you as an ally and on my side. I'd like to be able to believe that you trust and respect me. Or at least I'd like to figure out how we can relate in a way that feels more equal. </i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Do you have some time to talk about it? Would you be willing to tell me how you see things? Do you see it the same as I do or differently...?</i></blockquote>
<h3>
😏😏</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
These are the kinds of conversations that allow both people to take risks and grow. These are the kinds of conversations that can lead to fundamentally different ways of thinking about help.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Practice Exercise</h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Practice having a relational safety conversation. Two people can role play a conversation or everyone can take turns jumping in with new lines. Notice the responses that make you feel more or less safe. Discuss this as a group at the end. </i></blockquote>
<br />
<h2>
Relational safety in real time</h2>
Sometimes, we don’t have these conversations in advance. Or suddenly, we find ourselves in the thick of it anyway. During these times we’ll need to negotiate on the fly. A couple of the skills here include:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Talking honestly: <i>What does it feel like for each of us? Are we scared, frustrated, confused, angry, etc? </i></li>
<li>Self-reflection: <i>Where is my reaction coming from? Life and death danger? Break with routine protocol? Difference of opinion? Unfamiliar territory? Added workload? Not my preferred was of operating? Past experiences? Gut feeling...?</i> </li>
<li>Go back to the relational WRAP and follow what was agreed to.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3>
Debriefing After the Fact</h3>
After we’ve come through a difficult situation and we’re on the other side, redefining safety is still important. We both probably have some feelings about what happened. We maybe even created a little mistrust and now need to re-establish what’s going to work for both of us.<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
Some useful skills here might be:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Re-define together what safety and shared-responsibility means for us.</li>
<li>Talk about how it felt for both of us and what’s happened with our feelings since.</li>
<li>Figure out what’s going to help both of us regain trust.</li>
<li>Revisit / create a relational WRAP…</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h2>
<br />Summing up</h2>
<ol>
<li><i>Have you noticed some ways that this kind of peer support different from other kinds of ‘help’ you might be familiar with?</i></li>
<li><i>What differences do you see? </i></li>
</ol>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
</div>
<h2>
<u>PAST TOPIC</u></h2>
<div>
<h3>
Sat. 6/30/18: Suicide and 'Safety'</h3>
<ul>
<li>Is 'safety' about legalities or relationships? </li>
<li>Do risk assessments and safety contracts make us less likely to attempt suicide - or can they actually backfire and increase the risk...?</li>
<li>What can we do instead...?</li>
</ul>
<div>
<h3>
Sat. 7/7/18: Supporting others who want to die</h3>
<div>
<ul>
<li>How do our own needs affect how we support others?</li>
<li>What assumptions might we make about supporting others based on our own needs or experience?</li>
<li>What are the gifts and limitations of such assumptions?</li>
</ul>
<div>
<h3>
Sat. 7/14/18: Practicing relational safety</h3>
<div>
<ul>
<li>What makes a relationship feel safe (trusting/ trustworthy) to me?</li>
<li>What kinds of things seem to come up that can get in the way of for me (stuck points, patterns, bad luck streak, etc.)?</li>
<li>How have I tried to cope or manage that?</li>
<li>What (if anything) would I like to hold myself accountable try differently for next time?</li>
<li>What (if anything) have I been able to do to make a relationship better rather than worse when things started taking a turn for the worse...?</li>
</ul>
<h3>
Sat. 7/21/18: Suicide and Power</h3>
<div>
<h3>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
<ol>
<li>What is the relationship between suicide and power?</li>
<li>How, if at all, does power (having it, not having it, losing it, feeling used, abused, put down or ignored by others who have it) affect my feelings about living or my will to live? </li>
<li>How is power different depending on whether I am a 'helper' or a 'helpee'?</li>
<li>Is power different when I 'feel suicidal' compared to when I don't?</li>
<li>What implications might that have for our relationship if one of us starts talking about wanting to die...?</li>
</ol>
</div>
</h3>
<ul></ul>
</div>
<div>
<h3>
Sat. 7/28/18: Suicide and Responsible Relationships</h3>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
Most of us who have seriously considered giving up on life have experienced a variety of assessments, safety contracts, plans, checks and evaluations intended to 'help' us act 'responsibly.' This affects our relationships with important others in our lives. That includes professional helpers, as well as friends, family and community members who would sincerely like to be helpful. It also affects how many of us - both helpers and helpees - have come to understand what 'help' means when human needs feel high and options low. </div>
<div>
<b><br /></b><b>Reflection questions</b></div>
<ul>
<li><i>Think about mainstream mental health relationships (therapy, psychiatry, case management, formal or informal caregivers): </i></li>
<ul>
<li><i>Who defines 'risk'/ 'safety'? </i></li>
<li><i>Who or what is considered 'risky'/ 'safe'? </i></li>
<li><i>Who decides what risks are acceptable? Required? For whom? </i></li>
</ul>
<li><i>What happens in a relationship when you feel like someone is always assessing your safety?</i></li>
<li><i>What assumptions do you make about who holds the power or control?</i></li>
</ul>
As a mental health client, it went unsaid that the clinical professionals and 'responsible caregivers' were the one's who defined the realm of risk. They told me the risks I was supposed to take - e.g., share honestly even if I don't trust them and follow their advice or instructions even when this doesn't make sense to me or fit with the needs, values or dreams I experience for myself. They also were the ones to decide whether my thoughts or actions were 'risky', how 'risky' they were, and when additional management (treatment) or surveillance (prevention) was required.<br />
<br />
The peer support we are learning about here, however, makes very different assumptions. It assumes both us of have things to share and things to learn. It assumes that risk is a part of living and that we will both take risks and create them. It assumes we both have power -- as well as a mixed record when it comes to the choice of taking it for ourselves, giving it up to someone else, or negotiating and sharing it with others.<br />
<br />
Consequently, one of the most important things we can learn to do with each other is put our cards on the table and talk honestly about our needs and concerns. Some suggestions for doing this when either of us struggles with wanting to die include:<br />
<div>
<ul>
<li>Talking about our own reactivity to these kinds of situations, and then mutually negotiating a new response.</li>
<li>Building a relational ‘crisis’ plan (e.g., a WRAP plan that we create together for our relationship).</li>
<li>Talk about hot buttons for both of us and how we’ll deal with them.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Sarah Knutsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290844872665327137noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572480303268518836.post-4782496920557070442018-06-22T14:22:00.001-04:002020-09-27T18:07:32.337-04:00Working with Self-Injury: This week in Intentional Peer Support<b>Join our IPS Practice Series. FREE ONLINE -- Beginners Welcome!</b><br />
<b>Weekly on Saturdays 5-6:30 EDT </b><br />
<h2>
Topic for 6/23/18: Working with Self-Injury</h2>
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Join by computer: <a href="https://zoom.us/j/119362879">https://zoom.us/j/119362879</a><br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Join by phone: <b>+1 669 900 6833</b> or <b>+1 646 558 8656</b> (Meeting ID: <b>119 362 879</b>)<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>International callers: <a href="https://zoom.us/u/jkwt3wHh">https://zoom.us/u/jkwt3wHh</a><br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Practice Session Study Guide</span></h2>
The following study guide has been personalized and adapted with permission from <i><u>Intentional Peer Support: An Alternative Approach</u></i> by Shery Mead. To purchase the full manual (book, kindle, audiobook), see <a href="http://www.intentionalpeersupport.org/store/">http://www.intentionalpeersupport.org/store/</a>. To learn more about Intentional Peer Support and available trainings see <a href="http://www.intentionalpeersupport.org/">http://www.intentionalpeersupport.org/</a><br />
<br />
<h2>
Self-Injury as a response to trauma/ abuse</h2>
There are many reasons that people self-injure. Here, we’ll talk about it from a trauma framework.<br />
Many of us grow up in families or communities where violence or abuse is normalized. Trauma (particularly abuse) deeply affects everything about one’s life. From relationships, to the way we make sense out of things, to what emotions mean, all of this is influenced by ‘how we know what we know.’ Having our instincts, meaning, and intuition shaped in these ways shapes how we interpret things.<br />
<h3>
Reflection question</h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>What do people do when they can’t speak about the violence (let alone have language for it), and when everyone’s telling them that they caused it? </i></blockquote>
<br />
Well, here’s an explanation that makes sense to me: I pretty much feel like a time bomb ready to explode – my body, my whole being. Releasing that – and getting rid of the discomfort - becomes absolutely essential to my sense of safety. So I cut, or hurt myself in other ways, to release some of the pressure.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Reflection Question</h3>
Think about a time when you had tons of very strong feelings but weren’t in a place where you could talk about them, or even acknowledge them.<br />
<ul>
<li><i>What did it feel like? </i></li>
<li><i>What happened later?</i></li>
</ul>
<h2>
</h2>
<h2>
Seeing the problem differently</h2>
How do we think about self-injury in terms of peer support?<br />
<br />
<h3>
Redefining self-injury</h3>
One option is to redefine self-injury. Maybe it is not a disorder, an illness, a bad habit, or something ‘crazy’ I do. What if, given what I’ve lived through, self-injury is a coping strategy or survival skill that I developed…?<br />
<br />
<h4>
Reflection questions</h4>
<ul>
<li><i>Do you have any ‘bad habits’? (Examples: eat junk food, stay up too late at night, use drugs or alcohol, exercise too much or too little…)</i></li>
<li><i>Are any of them harmful to your health or well-being? </i></li>
<li><i>What are some reasons you ‘self-injure’ in these ways? </i></li>
<li><i>In what ways do these ‘harmful’ behaviors ‘help’ you cope or survive…?</i></li>
</ul>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Possible explanations:</b></blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Cope with discomfort or uncertainty</li>
<li>Manage, express or release feelings</li>
<li>Change my mood</li>
<li>Give me energy</li>
<li>Help me stay present and show up for my life</li>
</ul>
<br />
An advantage of redefining ‘self-injury’ as a tool or coping skill is that it gets me past self-blame and out of feeling crazy or irrational. A limitation is that this view point doesn’t give me much reason to change. If I keep self-injuring, I may hurt my body and (probably) confuse or scare others. This generally doesn’t lead to the personal or relational outcomes that I want.<br />
<br />
<i>So what’s the alternative?</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
<h3>
Re-defining the Problem</h3>
A second option is to look even deeper. Here I start from scratch and question all my assumptions. The idea is to look at the problem from a fresh vantage point and see if this leads me to any new learning.<br />
<br />
I start my new inquiry by asking myself a powerful question:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>What really is the problem here? </i></blockquote>
<br />
This question is powerful because it goes beyond what I’ve been told the problem is by others. It also goes beyond what my family, therapists, community or culture thinks is the problem. Instead, it asks me to search my own heart and my own truth and ask myself, deeply:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>What really is the main problem here, for me…?</i></blockquote>
<br />
Most people assume that self-injury is the problem. Because of this assumption, their reactions go something like this:<br />
<ul>
<li>“You need to stop the self-injury and talk about your feelings.” (not awful)</li>
<li>“Are you safe? Will you sign a safety contract?” (getting worse)</li>
<li>“How are you going to stop this behavior?” (whose need is this?)</li>
<li>“You’re just doing this to get attention!” (the worst of all)</li>
</ul>
<br />
But what if we make a different assumption?<br />
<br />
What if, instead, we see the self-injury as an attempt at a solution – and the real problem as being the trauma, abuse or something else that happens?<br />
<br />
If I we think about it this way, our inquiry might go something like this:<br />
<ul>
<li>“What does cutting (other self-injury) mean for me?”</li>
<li>“What is the cutting trying to get out?”</li>
<li>“When I try to put into words what this has been like for me, what do I say?”</li>
<li>“I wonder what the cutting is trying to say?”</li>
</ul>
<br />
As you can see, very different conversations!<br />
<br />
In the first example, we assume my self-injury is bad or irrational. So the conversation we have is all about how to get me to stop doing it.<br />
<br />
In the second example, we see my ‘self-injury’ as a meaningful response. Because of this, we are free to wonder about it together. Here, we focus on what I have experienced, why self-injury makes sense to me, and ‘how I came to know what I know’ about life that makes self-injury useful for me.<br />
<br />
As you can see, what we talk about is very different, depending on the assumptions we make and the questions we ask.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Creating relational safety</h2>
The next task is building in help that goes both ways and works for both people. In this kind of peer support, both of us share the risks and responsibilities of creating a relationship that is trusting enough to withstand discomfort, uncertainty and differing points of view.<br />
<br />
In other words, ‘safety’ is not just about me as the ‘cutter’ (i.e., the person with the identified problem). It also includes you! The process of making the relationship safe and trustworthy for both of us is called <i><b>creating relational safety.</b></i><br />
<br />
<h3>
Reflection questions</h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>What are some of the things you might say (or ask for) to begin to build relational safety…</i></blockquote>
<ol>
<li><i>...if you are someone who self-injures?</i></li>
<li><i>...if you care about someone who self-injures?</i></li>
</ol>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Ok, now go back and take a look at your answers:</b></blockquote>
<ul>
<li><i>Are you making self-injury the problem to be solved? </i></li>
<li><i>Are you trying to just control the situation? </i></li>
<li><i>Are you falling into assessment and evaluation?</i></li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3>
Role Play Scenario</h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Someone you know shows you a deep gash on their leg. They tell you they were in a really hard place last night and cutting helped them to get out of it. You’re glad they feel better, but seeing the gash is bringing up really strong feelings for you.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>How might you try to make the conversation feel safer for both of you…?</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Sample response:</b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i> “It sounds like you’re saying something really powerful! I really want to understand it, but I have to own that it’s (the self injury) difficult to witness from my perspective. Given that we have two different views, is there a way we can communicate so that I can stay in the conversation with you?” </i></blockquote>
<br />
<h2>
Going Deeper with Mutual Responsibility</h2>
Where might the conversation go from here?<br />
<br />
In this kind of peer support, our main focus is on what is good for our relationship. If it’s not working for both of us, then it’s not working. That’s what we call <i><b>mutual responsibility</b></i>.<br />
<br />
With respect to mutual responsibility, the question is whether self-injury is impacting our relationship (and if so, how…?).<br />
<br />
Self-injury becomes an issue when it brings up feelings or concerns for either of us. For example, I might be afraid of how you’ll respond and feel like I have to hide my self-injury from you. Or you might be afraid that I really want to kill myself or that I’m going to get a bad infection...<br />
<br />
The hope is to get both of our needs on the table – and honestly own them as our own needs. After that, we can look for ways to approach our concerns that work for both of us.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Reflection questions (for both of us) </h3>
<ol>
<li><i>Is self-injury is our main problem? </i></li>
<li><i>Is what happened in the past our main problem?</i></li>
<li><i>Is something else, beyond either of those, our main problem?</i></li>
<li><i>Just as important, what, for each of us, would be the solution?</i></li>
<li><i>What important needs is self-injury meeting for either of us right now?</i></li>
<li><i>What important needs would stopping self-injury meet for either of us right now?</i></li>
<li><i>What would have to change (in our lives or relationship) for the concern around self-injury to go away?</i></li>
</ol>
<br />
<h2>
Summing up</h2>
<ol>
<li><i>Have you noticed some ways that this kind of peer support different from other kinds of ‘help’ you might be familiar with?</i></li>
<li><i>What differences do you see? </i></li>
</ol>
Sarah Knutsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290844872665327137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572480303268518836.post-47160695853898494502018-06-18T08:23:00.001-04:002020-09-27T18:06:06.956-04:00A CALL TO PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY AT HUTCHINGS PSYCHIATRIC CENTER (SYRACUSE, NY) FROM JULY 14 – JULY 20, 2018<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-7p0rif6vLCIqikmt9hX3MGqiN2QIpRnpr6VRLbUoicaGd1XTOmfmZyZs6Al8HVpYsDikVQiJnXGHrzHcRtxCFI7fujLWtonltGBlL1SN0woZ9bX8FUgxdgMrkCO_vk-xyKbfT245fRk/s1600/Bastille+Day+2018+flyer1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A call to all who stand and wait: 38th Annual BASTILLE DAYS VIGIL/ CELEBRATION Week of Peaceful Assembly, Sharing, Learning and Action (Special Focus on Children’s Issues) From: 12:01 AM on Sat. July 14th To: Midnight, Fri. July 20, 2018 Hutchings Psychiatric Center 620 Madison Street Syracuse, NY “They also serve who only stand and wait” – John Milton JOIN US: Come for a moment a minute an hour - all week. There is room, space, and a place in this human rights movement for everyone. Celebrate the human spirit. Break the silence about psychiatric oppression. Disable the Label. Find or create your niche. Your people need you. ABOUT THE VIGIL The vigil will be held by permit on the grounds of Hutchings Psychiatric Center, 620 Madison Street, in Syracuse, NY. The Annual Meeting for Members of The Alliance will be held on Sunday, July 15 at 12 noon. All events and meetings are open to the public. • Food-free, smoke free and scent-sensitive. • Teach-ins, round table deakers, memorials, music, dance, drumming art, poetry, readings • Shelter, nourishment and shared facilities will be provided to those who participate as needed. In 1980, Alliance members recognized the parallels between the storming of the Bastille (a mammoth prison fortress that served as a symbol of government hypocrisy, corruption and arbitrary power in the French revolution) and the psychiatric system. We claimed this as our day to storm the institutional walls and break down the barriers created by discriminatory labeling. Bastille Day offers opportunity for solidarity, advocacy, comaraderie, networking, authentic peer support, dignity, recognition of personhood, healing and a forum for vital issues. There is room, space, and a place in this human rights movement for everyone. More info Call The Alliance George Ebert) @ 315-947-5888 ABOUT THE ALLIANCE: The Alliance – established in 1972 – is a self help, mutual support, and human rights advocacy organization of, by, and for people labeled as “mentally ill”. tax deductible contributions are welcomed." border="0" data-original-height="1480" data-original-width="1144" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-7p0rif6vLCIqikmt9hX3MGqiN2QIpRnpr6VRLbUoicaGd1XTOmfmZyZs6Al8HVpYsDikVQiJnXGHrzHcRtxCFI7fujLWtonltGBlL1SN0woZ9bX8FUgxdgMrkCO_vk-xyKbfT245fRk/s400/Bastille+Day+2018+flyer1.PNG" title="Bastille Day Celebration/ Vigil 2018 " width="308" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">38th Annual Bastille Day Vigil/ Celebration 2018</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>NEWS FROM THE MENTAL PATIENTS LIBERATION ALLIANCE</b><br />
<b>(THE ALLIANCE): FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</b><br />
<br />
<b>CONTACT: GEORGE EBERT 315-947-5888, georgeebert@yahoo.com</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>A CALL TO PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY </b><br />
<b>AT HUTCHINGS PSYCHIATRIC CENTER </b><br />
<b>FROM JULY 14 – JULY 20, 2018</b><br />
<b>(SPECIAL FOCUS ON CHILDREN'S ISSUES)</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Syracuse, New York – June 18, 2018 (9:00 AM)</b><br />
<br />
As midnight breaks to International Bastille Day (July 14), The Alliance will commence a week-long vigil to call attention to maltreatment in the name of “mental health”. The vigil will be held by permit on the grounds of Hutchings Psychiatric Center, 620 Madison Street, in Syracuse, NY and run from 12:01 AM EDT on Saturday July 14 to Midnight EDT on Friday, July 20, 2018. The Annual Meeting for Members of The Alliance will be held on Sunday, July 15 at 12 noon. All events and meetings are open to the public and, technology permitting, will be broadcast online.<br />
<br />
<h2>
About the Vigil</h2>
<br />
The vigil this year marks the 38th Annual Bastille Day Demonstration to celebrate the human spirit and break the silence about psychiatric oppression. It harkens back to the French Revolution when ordinary Parisians stormed the Bastille (a mammoth prison fortress that served as a symbol of government hypocrisy, corruption and arbitrary power). In 1980, Alliance members recognized the parallels to the psychiatric system. We claimed this as our day to storm the institutional walls and break down the barriers created by discriminatory labeling. Bastille Day offers an opportunity for solidarity, advocacy, comaraderie, networking, authentic peer support, dignity, recognition of personhood, healing and a forum for vital issues.<br />
<br />
Some participants will be fasting and praying for the end of medical and pharmaceutical tyranny. This call to action hopes to draw public attention to industry practices that market, promote, push and often force invasive dehumanizing, disabling, and potentially deadly drugs and procedures in the name of “health” and “care”. While everyone is vulnerable, the industry especially targets and feeds on people who are poor, powerless, institutionalized, imprisoned, unemployed, elderly, women, children or sexual, racial or ethnic minorities.<br />
<br />
In respect to people who are fasting and praying, the vigil will be food-free, smoke-free and scent-sensitive. Teach-ins, round table discussions, guest speakers, memorials, music, dance, drumming, healing arts and multiple forms of creative expression (song, poetry, costumes, posters) are encouraged. Proposals for pre-scheduled activities are welcome. Nourishment, shelter and shared facilities will be provided to people who participate on an as-needed basis.<br />
<br />
Join us for a moment, a minute, a day -- all week. Find or create your own niche. Be involved with vital issues concerning young people – mental health screenings, discrimination, prejudice, stigma, culture, pharmaceuticals, aversive “therapies”, shock treatments, restraints, seclusion, removal from schools and communities, forced adoption, foster care and institutional warehousing. Families, children, young people and adults who have experienced psychiatric treatment are invited to attend and give voice to their experience. There is room, space and a place for everyone in this human rights movement. Visit the vigil site or call The Alliance at 315-947-5888 for more information. Humankind needs what you came here to offer.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Why Children?</h2>
<br />
Children who are labeled “mentally ill” in New York State, nationwide and worldwide face egregious harm. In addition to issues listed above, lifelong impacts include the trauma of separation from friends and family, the physical and mental anguish occasioned by the drugs and procedures themselves, being deprived of customary developmental opportunities, having to explain gaps in life experience, rampant discrimination, and being robbed of access to one’s own feelings, memories, ideas, intuition and sense of self as a direct result of “treatment”. Many people who have been subjected to psychiatric intervention later describe such “help” as torture.<br />
<br />
Most families who are referred for "mental health" or "behavioral health" services are convinced or compelled to undergo invasive assessment and accept psychiatric labeling and “recommended treatment”, including pharmaceuticals and “safety plans”. When children are do not respond “appropriately”, parents are often pressured to “consent” to aggressive interventions like institutional confinement, seclusion, restraint, electric shock and/or electroconvulsive treatment. The damage to family relationships is often irreparable. <br />
<br />
<h2>
Why We Are Here</h2>
<br />
“These kids deserve love, kindness and care. They deserve access and adaptions that enable them to participate in community events and activities of their choosing”, says one event organizer, Sarah Knutson, a former therapist and attorney. “Natural supports like these take time, interest and getting to know a child deeply and well. They also require relationships that are ongoing and real in children’s real lives”.<br />
<br />
“It is not something the healthcare industry is willing to do. They’d rather use power and control. That’s what gets them the quick ‘evidence-based’ results their profit depends on”, says George Ebert, a long-time activist. “The problem is what is done to the human spirit. It’s something you pay for for a life time”, says Ebert. He should know. Ebert has been active in The Alliance since 1978. Says Ebert: “We are determined. Our demands for human rights for all people will not be compromised”.<br />
<br />
<h2>
About The Alliance</h2>
<br />
The Alliance – established in 1972 – is a self-help, mutual support, and human rights advocacy organization of, by, and for people labeled as “mentally ill”. The Alliance was incorporated in 1982 as a not-for-profit organization. Any type of support or contribution is appreciated and will be used to the best of our cooperative effort. The Alliance can be contacted at 1-315-947-5888.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Sarah Knutsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290844872665327137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572480303268518836.post-28578531554469566212018-06-12T04:10:00.001-04:002020-09-27T18:06:24.717-04:00Calling on Hearts Instead of Hotlines: Options for people who care about peopleNot long ago, a friend of mine called the National Suicide Hotline. He was having a hard day and needed his distress to be heard. He barely got started talking before the operator interrupted him. It was the standard suicide assessment:<br />
<ul>
<li>Are you suicidal?</li>
<li>Do you have a plan?</li>
<li>Do you have the means?</li>
<li>Have you set a date? </li>
</ul>
They also made clear that if he answered the questions as certain way, the 911 van would be dispatched to his residence forthwith.<br />
<br />
Frankly, this is why I would never refer someone I loved to a suicide hotline. If I had any doubt about killing myself before calling, this kind of response would pretty much seal the deal. There's the basic human insult of getting asked impersonal, pro forma questions like these in my darkest hour at my time of greatest need. Heap on top of that the public humiliation of getting hauled off to the nut ward by 911, flashing lights and all, for my neighborhood to see, on the worst day of my life.<br />
<br />
Yes, not all hotlines and hotline operators are like this, but enough of them are that I, personally, wouldn't risk it. Suffice it to say: If I had any shred of a doubt remaining -- or perhaps a threadbare hope in the good of humanity -- this wholesale warping of the nature of human 'aid', sponsored by my government, funded with my tax dollars, would cut the cord once and for all between me and any lingering desire to live.<br />
<br />
So what's the solution....? After all, this crisis is real. The pain is real. The despair is real. The deaths are real. Tons and tons of Americans - as well as others worldwide - feel hopeless, worthless, disconnected - as if we have nothing of value to offer and our lives have only become burdens to those we love.<br />
<i></i><br />
<i></i>
<i>This really is life and death.</i> So none of us can afford to stick our heads in the sand and pretend anymore:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>It isn't me. </i><i>It isn't someone I love. </i><i>It isn't happening. . .</i></blockquote>
At the same time, the helplessness and confusion about what to do about it is also real.<br />
<br />
And that's exactly why peer relationships and peer-developed modalities can be so helpful. Many, many of us have been there. Many, many of us know what it is like. Many, many of us are still alive to talk about it. We know what we tried, what worked for us and what didn't. We know what ways of relating gave us hope and helped us to continue on.<br />
<br />
Just as important - we know what not to do - what devastated us, wasted precious resources or made life altogether unbearable. As a result of these experiences, we've developed countless approaches for navigating our own distress and that of our friends and families.<br />
<br />
This is not to say that all peers are wonderful supporters, that we all magically, intuitively, say the right thing at the right time or invariably make things better instead of worse. (Definitely not my experience.) However, we do have some important perspectives and orientations to add to the mix of the available options.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Get Connected</h3>
<div>
If the idea of peer support appeals to you, or you think it might appeal to someone you love, here's what we offer at Peerly Human (<a href="http://peerlyhuman.blogspot.com/">http://peerlyhuman.blogspot.com</a>):</div>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Wednesdays, 8:30-10 pm EDT, Deadly Serious: Talking Openly About Suicide </li>
<li>Saturdays, Noon - 1 pm EDT, Deadly Serious: Talking Openly About Suicide </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Saturdays, 5-6:30 pm EDT, Intentional Peer Support Practice Series (beginner's welcome!)</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGcypwdh15mTt5207Ck-YRztNhE2n88yx5hyeR8qCxtEv0_hk27SjnCUndw_x10gjmx83bYXG3PdeYHQAKRcYJK1yTyJd0G-iVAmKGx4yA7k0Q89mzksl6vF6DfKPjx3GLBInhiSJNeNs/s1600/deadly+serious+flyer2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Flyer reads: Wednesdays 8:30-10 pm EDT - FREE ONLINE DEADLY SERIOUS: Talking Openly About Suicide (Weekly starting June 13th) Join by computer: https://zoom.us/j/119362879 Join by phone: +1 669 900 6833 or +1 646 558 8656 Meeting ID: 119 362 879 International callers: https://zoom.us/u/jkwt3wHh THE BOTTOM LINES: 1. Come as a human being 2. Come as you (& only you) 3. No pros, no cops, no 911 We Welcome: ~Your lived experience ~ Your distress ~Your pain ~Your needs ~Your values ~Your ideas & insights about what would work for you Leave Behind: ~ Professional roles, reporting obligations and liability concerns ~ Political, social or organizational agendas ~ Opinions about the experiences of others or what is best for them More info at: peerlyhuman.blogspot.com Need more resources? Here's a link: http://peerlyhuman.blogspot.com/2018/06/calling-on-hearts-instead-of-hotlines.html RADICAL REGARD (graphic): I will train myself to: 1.Believe in you. (You, like me, are here for good reason.) 2.Value your differences. (You, like me, lease a window to view life from.) 3.Honor your journey. (You, like me, are here without a roadmap.) 4.Trust our hearts to lead us. (You, like me, are accountable to your own Truth.) HUMAN RIGHTS (graphics): ~We are all born free and equal. ~Everyone has the right to life, freedom and safety ~Everyone is entitled to these rights (no matter our race, religion, nationality…) ~No one can take away any of your rights. ~You have the responsibility to respect the rights of other" border="0" data-original-height="1476" data-original-width="1148" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGcypwdh15mTt5207Ck-YRztNhE2n88yx5hyeR8qCxtEv0_hk27SjnCUndw_x10gjmx83bYXG3PdeYHQAKRcYJK1yTyJd0G-iVAmKGx4yA7k0Q89mzksl6vF6DfKPjx3GLBInhiSJNeNs/s400/deadly+serious+flyer2.PNG" title="Deadly Serious Flyer" width="310" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deadly Serious: Talking Openly About Suicide</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0l6J3MYZ0zXV7nRna61JSp69tXj_rf7YxKy1MitOeYPxvUMczAj8pBMbipVYum6MEFNXFN6yKA5tnHf8bN98bAQdDNJjpBLXcfez_7c_TCG0loYeMzvtMEGdT6khmQSpglEvhXf8zwRk/s1600/IPS+Practice+flyer+generic.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Flyer reads: INTENTIONAL PEER SUPPORT PRACTICE SERIES SATURDAYS WEEKLY 5-6:30 pm Eastern FREE ONLINE Beginners Welcome Learn and Practice Every Week Real People Real Support Real Life Join by computer: https://zoom.us/j/119362879 Join by phone: +1 669 900 6833 or +1 646 558 8656 Enter Meeting ID: 119 362 879 International callers: https://zoom.us/u/jkwt3wHh About IPS: Intentional peer support (IPS) is a way of thinking about and being in purposeful relationships. In IPS, we use our relationships to look at things from new angles. We develop a better awareness of personal and relational patterns. We support and challenge each other as we try new things. IPS is different from traditional service relationships because it doesn’t ,start with the assumption of “a problem.” Instead, we learn to listen for how each of us has made sense of our experiences. Together, we create new ways of seeing, thinking, and doing. At the end of the day, it is really about building stronger, healthier communities. More info (& study guide) at: peerlyhuman.blogspot.com Left Graphic: Cover of IPS Workbook [picture of a woman wearing a hoodie with images of a tree, a house and a hand. She is holding a smaller version of herself in her arms. Written in cursive on the image is ‘What is forgotten is who we are. Right Graphic: IPS Promo Poster [picture of a man in a wheelchair, a woman sitting on the grass listening to him, and another leaning against a tree. Above them on the branches of the tree reads: “From helping to learning together, individual to relationship, fear to hope and possibility” In the horizon below that “Connection/ Worldview / Mutuality/ Moving Towards”]" border="0" data-original-height="1451" data-original-width="1123" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0l6J3MYZ0zXV7nRna61JSp69tXj_rf7YxKy1MitOeYPxvUMczAj8pBMbipVYum6MEFNXFN6yKA5tnHf8bN98bAQdDNJjpBLXcfez_7c_TCG0loYeMzvtMEGdT6khmQSpglEvhXf8zwRk/s400/IPS+Practice+flyer+generic.PNG" title="IPS Practice Series Flyer" width="308" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Intentional Peer Support Practice Series</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h3>
3 WAYS TO JOIN</h3>
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
1. Join by computer: <a href="https://zoom.us/j/119362879">https://zoom.us/j/119362879</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
2. Join by phone: +1 669 900 6833 or +1 646 558 8656 (Meeting ID: 119 362 879) </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
3. Local access numbers for International callers: <a href="https://zoom.us/u/jkwt3wHh">https://zoom.us/u/jkwt3wHh</a></blockquote>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
THE BOTTOM LINES:</h3>
1. Come as a human being<br />
2. Come as you (& only you)<br />
3. No pros, no cops, no 911<br />
<br />
<h3>
We Welcome:</h3>
~Your lived experience ~ Your distress ~Your pain ~Your needs ~Your values ~Your ideas & insights about what would work for you<br />
<br />
<h3>
Leave Behind:</h3>
~ Professional roles, reporting obligations and liability concerns<br />
~ Political, social or organizational agendas<br />
~ Opinions about the experiences of others or what is best for them<br />
<br />
Video, voice and text are all options. Call participants are welcome to come and go. If you come late, please enter quietly and respect the discussion that is going on.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Other online group support options: </h2>
<h3>
Hearing Voices Network, <a href="http://www.hearingvoicesusa.org/">http://www.hearingvoicesusa.org/</a></h3>
<i>Mutual aid for voices, visions or extreme or unusual experiences</i><br />
<ul>
<li>Mondays 7-8:30 EDT on Zoom</li>
<li>Thursdays 9-10:30 EDT on Zoom</li>
</ul>
Contact Caroline@westernmassrlc.org for call-in info<br />
<div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Emotions Anonymous, <a href="http://emotionsanonymous.org/">http://emotionsanonymous.org</a></h3>
<div>
<i>Twelve Step peer support for emotional extremes</i></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Daily skype and call-in groups, <a href="http://emotionsanonymous.org/what-we-offer/find-a-meeting/phone-internet-meetings.html">http://emotionsanonymous.org/what-we-offer/find-a-meeting/phone-internet-meetings.html</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Spiritual Emergence Anonymous, <span style="font-size: 18.72px;"><a href="http://spiritualemergenceanonymous.org/">http://spiritualemergenceanonymous.org/</a></span></h3>
<div>
<i>Twelve Step approach to spiritual emergency</i></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Sundays, 8 pm EDT on Zoom</li>
<li>Mondays, 1 pm EDT on Zoom</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<h3>
Support Groups Central, <a href="https://www.supportgroupscentral.com/">https://www.supportgroupscentral.com</a></h3>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Support group options (some online) for mood, anxiety, voices and substances, among other things</i><br />
<br />
<h3>
</h3>
</div>
</div>
<h2>
Other Options</h2>
<h3>
The big picture</h3>
<ul>
<li>Alternatives to Drugs, <a href="http://www.mindfreedom.org/kb/mental-health-alternatives">http://www.mindfreedom.org/kb/mental-health-alternatives</a></li>
<li>Evidence that peer initiatives work, <a href="http://store.samhsa.gov/shin/content//SMA11-4633CD-DVD/TheEvidence-COSP.pdf">http://store.samhsa.gov/shin/content//SMA11-4633CD-DVD/TheEvidence-COSP.pdf</a>. </li>
<li>Toolkit for starting a peer initiative, <a href="https://store.samhsa.gov/product/Consumer-Operated-Services-Evidence-Based-Practices-EBP-KIT/SMA11-4633CD-DVD">https://store.samhsa.gov/product/Consumer-Operated-Services-Evidence-Based-Practices-EBP-KIT/SMA11-4633CD-DVD</a> </li>
<li>Voices of Transformation, <a href="https://power2u.org/voices-transformation-manual/">https://power2u.org/voices-transformation-manual/</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>
1. Peer respites (spaces offering safe respite)</h3>
<ul>
<li>Directory of peer respites:</li>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.power2u.org/crisis-alternatives.html">https://power2u.org/directory-of-peer-respites/</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.peerrespite.net/directory">http://www.peerrespite.net/directory</a></li>
</ul>
<li>Peer Respite Handbook, <a href="http://www.peerrespite.net/s/Peer-Respite-Final-2017.pdf">http://www.peerrespite.net/s/Peer-Respite-Final-2017.pdf</a></li>
<li>Research on peer respites, </li>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.power2u.org/evidence-for-peer-run-crisis.html">https://power2u.org/evidence-for-peer-run-crisis-alternatives/</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.madinamerica.com/2015/06/what-the-research-has-told-us-about-peer-run-respites/">http://www.madinamerica.com/2015/06/what-the-research-has-told-us-about-peer-run-respites/</a></li>
<li><a href="https://ps.psychiatryonline.org/doi/pdf/10.1176/appi.ps.201400422">https://ps.psychiatryonline.org/doi/pdf/10.1176/appi.ps.201400422</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.peerrespite.net/">http://www.peerrespite.net</a></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<h3>
<b>2. Peer support centers</b></h3>
<ul>
<li>Directory of Statewide Peer Organizations, https://power2u.org/consumer-run-statewide-organizations/</li>
<li>Examples of what can be done:</li>
<ul>
<li>Toivo Center by Advocacy Unlimited (Connecticut), <a href="http://toivocenter.org/" target="_blank">http://toivocenter.org/</a> </li>
<li>Western Massachusetts Recovery Learning Center,<a href="http://www.westernmassrlc.org/" target="_blank"> http://www.westernmassrlc.org</a></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<h3>
3. Alternatives to Suicide</h3>
<ul>
<li>Alt2Su trainings and groups, <a href="http://www.westernmassrlc.org/alternatives-to-suicide">http://www.westernmassrlc.org/alternatives-to-suicide</a></li>
<li>Unsuicide Website, <span style="color: #0000ee;"><u>http://unsuicide.wikispaces.com</u></span></li>
</ul>
<h3>
4. Support lines staffed with people who care and want to listen </h3>
<ul>
<li>Warmline Directory, <a href="http://www.warmline.org/">http://www.warmline.org</a></li>
<li>Examples of what can be done:</li>
<ul>
<li>Western Mass RLC Warmline, <a href="http://www.westernmassrlc.org/peer-support-line">http://www.westernmassrlc.org/peer-support-line</a> (Toll Free: 888.407.4515)</li>
<li>Pathways Vermont Support Line, <span style="color: #0000ee;"><u>http://www.pathwaysvermont.org/get-support/</u> (Call: (833) VT-TALKS)</span></li>
<li>David Romprey Oregon Support Line, <a href="http://communitycounselingsolutions.org/warmline_press.php">http://communitycounselingsolutions.org/warmline_press.php</a> (Toll-Free 1-800-698-2392)</li>
<li>Durango Colorado Stop Suicide Warmline (1-970-903-4158)</li>
</ul>
<li>How to start a warmline, <a href="https://power2u.org/peer-run-warmlines-resources/">https://power2u.org/peer-run-warmlines-resources/</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>
5. Intentional Peer Support, <a href="http://www.intentionalpeersupport.org/">http://www.intentionalpeersupport.org/</a></h3>
<ul>
<li>Facebook Learning Community, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/IPSLearningCommunity/">https://www.facebook.com/groups/IPSLearningCommunity/</a>I</li>
<li>Workbook (chapter 1), <a href="http://www.intentionalpeersupport.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/IPS-An-Alternative-Approach-2014-First-Chapter.pdf">http://www.intentionalpeersupport.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/IPS-An-Alternative-Approach-2014-First-Chapter.pdf</a></li>
<li>Competencies, <a href="http://www.intentionalpeersupport.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IPS-Core-Competencies-1-4-17.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.intentionalpeersupport.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IPS-Core-Competencies-1-4-17.pdf</a></li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
</ul>
<h3>
6. Emotional CPR, <a href="http://www.emotional-cpr.org/">http://www.emotional-cpr.org/</a></h3>
<ul>
<li>Videos, <a href="https://www.emotional-cpr.org/videos-about-ecpr.htm">https://www.emotional-cpr.org/videos-about-ecpr.htm</a></li>
<li>Webinars & presentations, <a href="https://www.emotional-cpr.org/resources.htm" target="_blank">https://www.emotional-cpr.org/resources.htm</a></li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
</ul>
<h3>
7. Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP), <a href="http://mentalhealthrecovery.com/">http://mentalhealthrecovery.com/</a></h3>
<br />
WRAP plans can be developed specifically for issues like wanting to die. WRAP plans also support identification of life-promoting, capacity-restoring activities like art, exercise, creativity, writing, social interaction, nutritious eating, meaningful vocation, relaxation, meditation, spiritual development, body work, massage, yoga, dance, etc.<br />
<ul>
<li>WRAP for Life (suicide prevention), <a href="http://mentalhealthrecovery.com/info-center/wrap-for-life-suicide-prevention-2/" target="_blank">http://mentalhealthrecovery.com/info-center/wrap-for-life-suicide-prevention-2/</a></li>
<li>Wellness Toolbox, <a href="http://mentalhealthrecovery.com/info-center/developing-a-wellness-toolbox/">http://mentalhealthrecovery.com/info-center/developing-a-wellness-toolbox/</a></li>
<li>Crisis Plan, <a href="http://mentalhealthrecovery.com/info-center/crisis-plan/">http://mentalhealthrecovery.com/info-center/crisis-plan/</a></li>
<li>WRAP on Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/100583899331/">https://www.facebook.com/groups/100583899331/</a></li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3>
8. Support for veterans </h3>
<i><b>U.S. vets are dying by suicide almost every hour on the hour every day of every year</b></i><br />
<ul>
<li>Vet to Vet, <a href="http://vet2vetusa.org/">http://vet2vetusa.org</a></li>
<li>Vet for Vet Warriors, <a href="https://www.vets4warriors.com/">https://www.vets4warriors.com/</a></li>
<li>Listen to a Veteran Project, <a href="http://whenjohnnyandjanecomemarching.weebly.com/">http://whenjohnnyandjanecomemarching.weebly.com/</a></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div>
<h3>
9. Support to withdraw from psychiatric drugs </h3>
<ul>
<li>Everything Matters: Beyond Meds, <a href="https://beyondmeds.com/">https://beyondmeds.com/</a></li>
<li>Freedom From Psych Drugs and Benzos, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/freedomfrompsychdrugs">https://www.facebook.com/groups/freedomfrompsychdrugs</a></li>
<li>Life Beyond SSRI Anti-Depressants, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/103788426372995/">https://www.facebook.com/groups/103788426372995/</a></li>
<li>Harm Reduction Guide for Coming Off Psychiatric Drugs, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Reduction-Guide-Coming-Psychiatric-Drugs/dp/0980070929" target="_blank">https://www.amazon.com/Reduction-Guide-Coming-Psychiatric-Drugs/dp/0980070929</a></li>
<li>Inner Compass Initiative, <a href="https://www.theinnercompass.org/">https://www.theinnercompass.org/</a></li>
<li>Mad in America Provider Directory, <a href="https://www.madinamerica.com/provider-directory/" target="_blank">https://www.madinamerica.com/provider-directory/</a></li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
</ul>
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
10. Support for creativity and resilience</h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Better Days International</b>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/280572615798759/">https://www.facebook.com/groups/280572615798759/</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Discussions, collaborations, workshops between experts by experience.</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ul>
<li><i>Better Days</i> Workbook<i>, </i><a href="http://www.lulu.com/us/en/shop/craig-lewis/better-days-a-mental-health-recovery-workbook/paperback/product-22040706.html">http://www.lulu.com/us/en/shop/craig-lewis/better-days-a-mental-health-recovery-workbook/paperback/product-22040706.html</a></li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Icarus Projec</b>t, <a href="https://theicarusproject.net/">https://theicarusproject.net</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Navigating the space between brilliance and madness</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ul>
<li>Icarus on Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/2394863930/">https://www.facebook.com/groups/2394863930/</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Crisis Toolkit, <a href="https://theicarusproject.net/welcome-to-the-crisis-toolkit/">https://theicarusproject.net/welcome-to-the-crisis-toolkit/</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Publications:</li>
</ul>
<ul><ul>
<li>Bipolar Roadmap, <a href="http://nycicarus.org/images/navigating_the_space.pdf">http://nycicarus.org/images/navigating_the_space.pdf</a></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul><ul>
<li>Friends Make the Best Medicine (organizing groups and events), <a href="http://nycicarus.org/images/fmtbm.pdf">http://nycicarus.org/images/fmtbm.pdf</a></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul><ul>
<li>Madness and Oppression, <a href="https://theicarusproject.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/MadnessAndOppressionGuide-compressed.pdf">https://theicarusproject.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/MadnessAndOppressionGuide-compressed.pdf</a></li>
</ul>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b> Poetry for Personal Power</b>, <a href="http://poetryforpersonalpower.com/">http://poetryforpersonalpower.co</a>m</blockquote>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>What helps you navigate adversity?</i></blockquote>
<h3>
11. Support for voices, visions and extreme or unusual experiences</h3>
<ul>
<li>Hearing Voices Network, <a href="http://www.hearing-voices.org/">http://www.hearing-voices.org</a> </li>
<li>Hearing Voices Network USA, <a href="http://www.hearingvoicesusa.org/">http://www.hearingvoicesusa.org/</a></li>
<li>International Spiritual Emergence Network, <a href="http://www.spiritualemergencenetwork.org/">http://www.spiritualemergencenetwork.org/</a></li>
<ul>
<li>On Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/spiritualemergencenetwork/">https://www.facebook.com/spiritualemergencenetwork/</a></li>
</ul>
<li>Intervoice, <a href="http://www.intervoiceonline.org/">www.intervoiceonline.org/</a></li>
<ul>
<li>On Facebook, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/intervoice/">https://www.facebook.com/groups/intervoice/</a></li>
</ul>
<li>Mad Pride International, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/MadPrideInternational/">https://www.facebook.com/groups/MadPrideInternational/</a> </li>
<li>Peerly Human, <a href="https://peerlyhuman.blogspot.com/">https://peerlyhuman.blogspot.com</a></li>
<li>Shades of Awakening, <a href="http://shadesofawakening.com/">http://shadesofawakening.com</a></li>
<ul>
<li>On Facebook, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1389895917996438/">https://www.facebook.com/groups/1389895917996438/</a></li>
</ul>
<li>Spiritual Emergence Anonymous, <a href="http://spiritualemergenceanonymous.org/">http://spiritualemergenceanonymous.org/</a> </li>
<li>The Call of Spiritual Emergency (Emma Bragdon), <a href="http://emmabragdon.com/test/books/">http://emmabragdon.com/test/books/</a></li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3>
12. Support for human needs and human rights</h3>
<ul>
<li>Absolute Prohibition Campaign, <a href="https://absoluteprohibition.wordpress.com/">https://absoluteprohibition.wordpress.com/</a> </li>
<ul>
<li>On Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/AbsoluteProhibition/">https://www.facebook.com/groups/AbsoluteProhibition/</a></li>
</ul>
<li>Center for the Human Rights of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry, <a href="http://chrusp.org/home/index">http://chrusp.org/home/index</a></li>
<li>Drop the Disorder, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1182483948461309/">https://www.facebook.com/groups/1182483948461309/</a></li>
<li>End Psychiatry Discussion Group, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/EndPsychiatryDiscussion/">https://www.facebook.com/groups/EndPsychiatryDiscussion/</a></li>
<li>Law Project for Psychiatric Rights, <a href="http://psychrights.org/">http://psychrights.org/</a></li>
<li>National Association of Rights, Protection and Advocacy (NARPA), <a href="http://www.narpa.org/">http://www.narpa.org/</a> </li>
<ul>
<li>On Facebook, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/159307817434833/">https://www.facebook.com/groups/159307817434833/</a></li>
</ul>
<li>MindFreedom International, http://www.mindfreedom.org/ </li>
<ul>
<li>On Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/MindFreedomCreativeRevolution/">https://www.facebook.com/groups/MindFreedomCreativeRevolution/</a></li>
</ul>
<li>Recovery In The Bin /Unrecovered (UK), https://recoveryinthebin.org/</li>
<ul>
</ul>
<li>Repealing Mental Health Laws, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/356040824414503/">https://www.facebook.com/groups/356040824414503/</a></li>
<li>Speak out Against Psychiatry, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/speakoutagainstpsychiatry/">https://www.facebook.com/groups/speakoutagainstpsychiatry/</a></li>
<ul>
<li>Guardian Article (UK), <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/joepublic/2011/jul/25/speak-out-about-psychiatry-treatment">https://www.theguardian.com/society/joepublic/2011/jul/25/speak-out-about-psychiatry-treatment</a></li>
</ul>
<li>United Nations </li>
<ul>
<li>Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, <a href="http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=150">http://www.un.org/disabilities/documents/convention/convoptprot-e.pdf</a></li>
<li>Universal Declaration of Human Rights, <a href="http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr">http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/index.html</a></li>
</ul>
<li>Wellness & Recovery Human Rights Campaign, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/WellnessRecoveryRights/">https://www.facebook.com/groups/WellnessRecoveryRights/</a></li>
</ul>
<br />
<h2>
Other Resources </h2>
<h3>
Alternatives to Drugs, Shock & Psychosurgery (yes, they still do that!)</h3>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Alternative and Complementary Treatments for Dysthymia, Major Depression, Seasonal Affective Disorder and Anxiety Spectrum Disorders, <a href="https://www.alternativementalhealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Depression2014-07-23.pdf">https://www.alternativementalhealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Depression2014-07-23.pdf</a></li>
<li>Alternative and Complementary Treatments for Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder and Associated Drug-induced Side Effects, <a href="https://hviteorn.no/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/CodexAlternus2015FifthIssue.pdf">https://hviteorn.no/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/CodexAlternus2015FifthIssue.pdf</a></li>
<li>Complementary and Alternative Medicine Treatments in Psychiatry, <a href="http://pdf.flyingpublisher.com/FPG_008_ComplementaryandAlternativeMedicineTreatmentsinPsychiatry_2012.pdf">http://pdf.flyingpublisher.com/FPG_008_ComplementaryandAlternativeMedicineTreatmentsinPsychiatry_2012.pdf</a></li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3>
Open Dialogue:</h3>
<div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Developing Open Dialogue, <a href="http://developingopendialogue.com/">http://developingopendialogue.com/</a></li>
<li>Institute for Dialogic Practice, <a href="http://www.dialogicpractice.net/">http://www.dialogicpractice.net/</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Resources: </li>
<ul>
<li>Overview, <a href="http://developingopendialogue.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Context138-Seikkula.pdf">http://developingopendialogue.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Context138-Seikkula.pdf</a></li>
<li>Principles, <a href="http://developingopendialogue.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/OPEN-DIALOGUE-principles.pdf">http://developingopendialogue.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/OPEN-DIALOGUE-principles.pdf</a></li>
<li>Key Elements, <a href="https://www.umassmed.edu/globalassets/psychiatry/open-dialogue/keyelementsv1.109022014.pdf">https://www.umassmed.edu/globalassets/psychiatry/open-dialogue/keyelementsv1.109022014.pdf</a></li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<h3>
Power Threat Meaning Framework</h3>
<ul>
<li>Introduction and related links, <a href="https://www.bps.org.uk/news-and-policy/introducing-power-threat-meaning-framework">https://www.bps.org.uk/news-and-policy/introducing-power-threat-meaning-framework</a></li>
</ul>
<div>
<h3>
Trauma-Informed Care</h3>
</div>
<ul>
<li>Peace for Tarpon (Florida), <a href="http://www.peace4tarpon.org/">http://www.peace4tarpon.org/</a></li>
<li>National Center for Trauma-Informed Care and Alternatives to Seclusion and Restraint (NCTIC), <a href="http://www.samhsa.gov/nctic">http://www.samhsa.gov/nctic</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.traumacenter.org/">S</a>idran Institute, <a href="https://www.sidran.org/">https://www.sidran.org/</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Resources: </li>
<ul>
<li>Breaking the Silence, <a href="http://www.thenationalcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/NC-Mag-Trauma-Web-Email.pdf">http://www.thenationalcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/NC-Mag-Trauma-Web-Email.pdf</a></li>
<li>Trauma-Informed Care in Behavioral Health Services (SAMHSA TIP 57), <a href="http://store.samhsa.gov/product/TIP-57-Trauma-Informed-Care-in-Behavioral-Health-Services/SMA14-4816">http://store.samhsa.gov/product/TIP-57-Trauma-Informed-Care-in-Behavioral-Health-Services/SMA14-4816</a></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
Do you know of other helpful resources that respect personhood and treat us as people first...? Please share!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Sarah Knutsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290844872665327137noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572480303268518836.post-67503480807148126922018-05-30T14:07:00.004-04:002020-09-27T18:06:40.036-04:00How Our Families Can Change the World<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsUuixQUzrwK7wVNG5yPR_qRE_hpAY4tnciE2lbg3a3gaEhNdiA3XMZixSeiAhXCV7wm7gmaXhyphenhyphenPoZ3c30M49UvvapVCQbYcDjHOFvISzH2hclObqH6-fJyTJ0YiLo2bB_EhNBRhyphenhyphenIAZU/s1600/grateful+for+my+family.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1019" data-original-width="1451" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsUuixQUzrwK7wVNG5yPR_qRE_hpAY4tnciE2lbg3a3gaEhNdiA3XMZixSeiAhXCV7wm7gmaXhyphenhyphenPoZ3c30M49UvvapVCQbYcDjHOFvISzH2hclObqH6-fJyTJ0YiLo2bB_EhNBRhyphenhyphenIAZU/s400/grateful+for+my+family.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
I post a lot of stuff about my honest experience of living. I do that to find others who share similar experiences, needs and values. I also do that in case others are out there alone and struggling and think they are the only ones. <div>
<br /></div>
<div>
At the same time, there's a lot of risk in this. Among other things, this world being what it is, I sometimes worry that my family might bear the brunt of it. For that reason, I'm incredibly grateful to my family for supporting me, my work and my sharing so openly. That's a rare gift in this world that values keeping up appearances more than genuineness, sincerity and an honest search to find and share the truth of your life as you see it. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I want to honor here how much my family has given me and taught me about the meaning of love. This includes hanging in there through really hard times of confusion and misunderstanding. It includes continuing to reach out despite feeling frustrated or frightened. It includes trying to understand a viewpoint that makes absolutely no sense at all to you and possibly even threatens things you care about a lot - simply because it matters to someone you love and are desperately trying not to lose. My family has offered all these things to me over the years - and continues to. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
For all of that, I am deeply grateful. The gift is priceless and beyond measure. I wish it for everyone. To me, it is a beautiful vision of what it means to be the kind of 'human family' that, with time and persistence, can change the world.</div>
Sarah Knutsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290844872665327137noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572480303268518836.post-46159963957879833792018-05-15T22:04:00.002-04:002020-09-27T18:06:55.924-04:00Death by Oppression: Is Suicide a Natural Response to Marginalization? - by the Borderline Academic<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/52CpEBrHEnE/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/52CpEBrHEnE?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe><br />
Is suicide a natural response marginalization...?<br />
<br />
Is suicide an individual issue or a social one?<br />
<br />
Is suicide caused by chemical imbalances or power imbalances?<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>The Borderline Academic </i>raises and thoughtfully addresses these questions in her presentation "Death by Oppression: Suicide as a Natural Response to Marginalization", offered as a free video seminar on Tuesday, May 15th ~8-9pm EST on Zoom.<br />
<br />
<br />
Emily highlighted key points from JOINER’S THEORY OF SUICIDE<br />
<br />
The theory can be illustrated by 3 intersecting circles, each with varying implications for predicting lethality:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Circle 1: Thwarted Belongingness - “I am alone.”</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Circle 2: Perceived Burdensomeness – “I am a burden.”</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Intersection of Circle 1 and Circle 2 = Desire for suicide</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Circle 3: Capability for Suicide - “I am not afraid to die.”</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Intersection of all 3 circles = Suicide or near-lethal suicide attempt</blockquote>
<br />
In addition, Emily connected a variety of socially salient topics relevant to the suicide discussion, including:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Minority Stress </li>
<li>Isms </li>
<li>Abuse </li>
<li>Othering </li>
<li>Bullying </li>
<li>Neglect</li>
<li>Isolation </li>
<li>Rejection </li>
<li>Discrimination</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
The presentation was a part of "May is Power Threat Meaning Month" - a social justice alternative to the pharma and treatment industry sponsored "May is Mental Health Month." More info and full schedule of events is availabler at: <a href="https://www.madinamerica.com/2018/05/may-power-threat-meaning/">https://www.madinamerica.com/2018/05/may-power-threat-meaning/</a><br />
<br />
There is a related discussion on Facebook happening at the Wellness & Recovery Human Rights Campaign, <a href="http://facebook.com/groups/WellnessRecoveryRights/">facebook.com/groups/WellnessRecoveryRights/</a><br />
<br />
If you like this, you might like the our 'Peerly Human' alternative to conventional mental health at: <a href="http://peerlyhuman.blogspot.com/">Peerlyhuman.blogspot.com</a>Sarah Knutsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290844872665327137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572480303268518836.post-84177931430807203032018-05-15T07:17:00.002-04:002020-09-27T18:07:12.806-04:00What is this Peerly Human thang...?<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pJpZNyXfyI8" width="459"></iframe><br />
<br />
Welcome to Peerly Human. Peerly Human is a peer-run, peer-funded alternative to mainstream mental health. Our community is run by us and for us from a human needs and social justice perspective. This talk outlines why we exist, what we are trying to do, how we are trying to do it and how you can join us.Sarah Knutsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290844872665327137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572480303268518836.post-26746010717588830262018-05-09T02:06:00.001-04:002020-09-27T18:08:02.177-04:00Revolutionizing Mental Health Awareness: May is Power Threat Meaning Month<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="cndhq" data-offset-key="8vq10-0-0">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLEburt0KJr8Wi7g3drgb55hyphenhyphen88jh35WD7EMEtufJ38Cq0dCNXUVvy3aKbCajv2O9-f4eZj-zrl6uezH5gI_KYJwOwaMkOB_E0caXrhRelQrP5rUADl7yZxh1CB4PrWzFoDQzQiTCyhuU/s1600/PTM+corrected.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 700; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="A Flyer with a Schedule of Events is attached. It reads: POWER, THREAT MEANING MONTH ANATOMY OF A BREAKDOWN (graphic) 1. Life is hard all by it self 2. Basic needs are insecure 3. Bias and prejudice shut us out 4. Trusted institutions let us down 5. Social responses make it worse 6. Injuries add up 7. BREAK DOWN MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS: LACK OF POWER AFFECTS US Body power – society values preferences, attributes and abilities that you don’t have or identify with Coercive power – you are subjected to violence, aggression, threats Legal power – systemic rules or sanctions limit your choices Economic power – you can’t afford needed goods, services, activities or opportunities on a par with others Interpersonal power – you can’t meet basic relational needs for intimacy, care and human protection Social/cultural power – limited access to knowledge, connections and qualifications that make life easier Ideological power – values, language and meaning are defined by powerful others MAY 2018 SCHEDULE Wednesday, May 2nd ~8-9:30 pm EST Power, Threat and the Meaning of “Mental Illness” Friday, May 4th ~8-9:30 pm EST Devalued Identities and "Mental Illness" Saturday, May 5th ~2-5 pm EST: Mini-Retreat Power, Threat and Unconventional Realities Wednesday, May 9th ~8-9:30 pm EST Surviving Rejection and Invalidation Friday, May 11th ~8-9:30pm EST Surviving Childhood Adversity Saturday, May 12th ~2pm - 5pm EST: Mini-Retreat Power, Threat and the Meanings of “Mothering” Wednesday, May 16th ~8-9:30pm EST Surviving Disrupted Identities and Roles Friday, May 18th ~8-9:30pm EST Surviving Setbacks and Defeat Saturday, May 19 ~2-5pm EST: Mini Retreat Power, Threat and the Meanings of "Suicide" Sunday, May 20 ~2-5pm EST: Mini-Retreat Power, Threat and the Meanings of 'Mania' Wednesday, May 23 ~8-9:30pm EST Surviving Entrapments Friday, May 25 ~8-9:30pm EST Surviving Disconnection and Loss Saturday, May 26 ~2-5pm EST: Mini-Retreat Power, Threat and Angry Meanings Sunday, May 27 ~2-5pm EST: Mini-Retreat Power, Threat and Addictive Meanings Sunday, May 27th ~Starting 10 PM EST Memorial Day Story Telling Marathon 26.2 hour vigil, our lives go the distance Tueday, May 29 ~8-9:30pm EST Surviving Social Exclusion and Shame Wednesday, May 30 ~8-9:30pm EST Surviving Coercive Power To Join Us: Join by computer: https://zoom.us/j/119362879 Join by phone: +1 669 900 6833 or +1 646 558 8656 Enter Meeting ID: 119 362 879 International callers: https://zoom.us/u/jkwt3wHh More info at: peerlyhuman.blogspot.com & facebook.com/groups/WellnessRecoveryRights/" border="0" data-original-height="1034" data-original-width="798" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLEburt0KJr8Wi7g3drgb55hyphenhyphen88jh35WD7EMEtufJ38Cq0dCNXUVvy3aKbCajv2O9-f4eZj-zrl6uezH5gI_KYJwOwaMkOB_E0caXrhRelQrP5rUADl7yZxh1CB4PrWzFoDQzQiTCyhuU/s400/PTM+corrected.PNG" title="Flyer for Power Threat Meaning Month" width="307" /></a><br />
To me, "May is Mental Health Month" has always seemed like an excuse to hold an annual four-week-long commercial for Pharma and bio-psychiatry. Under the guise of raising 'awareness' and reducing 'stigma', the PR reps out there make it safe for us average Joe's to admit how bad we feel or how stressed out we are. Then they tell us what our problem is ('mental illness') and conveniently offer us the solutions they are selling (pharmaceuticals and professional treatment). It's like the soda industry taking over July and turning 'thirst' into a public health concern. <i>Yes, every summer, you suffer from an urgent, potentially deadly, recurrent craving for liquids -- but thank god Coke and Pepsi have thoughtfully created products that will relieve your symptoms if taken daily as directed!!! </i><br />
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Suffice it to say, I've become a bit jaded. The flashy flyers, sagacious slogans and tantalizing toolkits notwithstanding, my pessimism about the possibility of anything paid or professional in the mental health industry to actually make the world I live in better instead of worse has grown exponentially with repeated exposure. For sure, during the first few rounds, there was excitement from the initial hype and the opportunity to actually participate and DO SOMETHING. But inevitably, for me, this was followed by let-down as retrospective awareness set in. <i>Hey, WTF...? I just put a boatload of energy and effort into this. But very little that actually matters to me has actually changed.... </i><br />
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The release of the Power Threat Meaning Framework by the British Psychological Society earlier this year (Johnstone, L. & Boyle, M., 2018b) might just have changed that for me. Thanks to the British Psychological Society (BPS) , there might finally be a provider-proposed paradigm that is worth the effort of making the public aware of. In contrast to the medical ("mental illness") model, the Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTM) is a non-pathologizing, unifying model of human bio-psycho-social functioning. It applies to <i><b>all</b></i> human beings - not just those of us with mental health labels. It is also not just for providers. Rather, it invites everyone to look at and offer their experience. And it supports all of us to recognize, and make sense of, the diverse, culturally-relevant strategies that people around the world may employ in order to survive, meet our core needs, protect ourselves or cope with overwhelming emotions.<br />
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This is a key difference between PTM and mental health as usual. Conventional mental health approaches take society as 'normal' and endeavor to treat so-called 'maladaptive' individuals who fail to 'adjust.' PTM, on the other hand, makes clear that meaning and distress must be understood and addressed at social, community and cultural levels, not just individual ones. In a 400-page meticulously-researched tome, PTM connects the dots and persuasively links wider social factors - like poverty, discrimination, abuse and violence - with the distressed or distressing emotional and behavioral responses that are currently being pathologized as 'mental illness.' (Johnstone, L. & Boyle, M., 2018b.) It joins the United Nations in urging a global shift in focus from 'chemical imbalance' to 'power imbalance' in mental health awareness and practice. (Johnstone, L. & Boyle, M., 2018c, p. 17; UNHRC , 2017, p.19.) As PTM aptly observes, 'the less access you have to conventional or approved forms of power, the more likely you are to adopt socially disturbing or disruptive strategies in the face of adversity.' (Johnstone, L. & Boyle, M., 2018c, p. 28.) Accordingly:<br />
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<i>The crisis in mental health should be managed not as a crisis of individual conditions, but as a crisis of social obstacles which hinders individual rights. Mental health policies should address the “power imbalance” rather than “chemical imbalance.”</i></blockquote>
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UNHRC ,
2017, p.19. </div>
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Why This Matters</h2>
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BPS openly acknowledges that this is not the first time that ideas like these have been proposed. It is, however, jaw-droppingly monumental that a major professional body in mental health finally has stood up to bio-psychiatry, and, effectively, declared its independence. The equivalent in the United States would be if the psychologists in the American Psychological Association told the medical doctors in the American Psychiatric Association: </div>
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<i>We don't care if you have MD's or think you are the boss of us. We're no longer going to follow your orders or consider ourselves bound by your thinking. We think you are wrong on the merits. We think your approach is hurting our clients. Accordingly, we are throwing out the model you developed and proposing our own. </i></blockquote>
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In a word, it's a revolutionary act. Every other mental health-related profession in nearly every country in the world has basically caved to whatever the medical model is dishing out. Despite the claim of psychologist, social workers, psychiatric nurses and clinical mental health counselors to be 'professionals' in their own right - that is, to have their own specialized knowledge, to promote the greater good, to operate in the public interest, to serve needs and interests of the clients who sought their services (Susskind, R., & Susskind, D., 2015) - these self-professed 'independent' bodies have, by and large, abdicated their responsibility to conduct their own independent analyses. To the contrary, they have all but chewed up and swallowed whole whatever the psychiatric industry was dishing out.<br />
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Their major excuse: "We can't do anything. The insurance industry has tied our hands." Which begs the following questions:<br />
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<ol>
<li>What kind of profession, worthy of the name profession, let's slimy corporations like insurance companies determine how they do business?</li>
<li>What kind of profession, worthy of the name profession, claims to serve the public interest by conforming its knowledge and practice to the dictates of insurance claim examiners?</li>
<li>What kind of profession, worthy of the name profession, claims to serve the best interests of its clients, when it continues to perpetuate an insurance billing model that does not reflect the actual needs and life circumstances of the lion's share of its clients?</li>
<li>What kind of profession, worthy of the name profession, continues to bill insurance companies and collect tax dollars from medicare and medicaid on the one hand, while, on the other hand, whispering to their clients behind closed doors and out of public eye: <i>"We know the DSM is a disaster and we don't believe that you really have x-diagnosis. But you don't want to have to pay for this out of pocket, right? </i>[<i>wink wink nod nod</i>]." </li>
<li>What kind of profession, worthy of the name profession, continues to actively and publicly represent that more and more social services funding is needed for more and more off-target, non-responsive services that slander the very clients they claim to serve - <i>because that is what insurance companies will pay for</i>?</li>
</ol>
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I don't know about you, but the law school I graduated from had a 5 letter word for this kind of conduct: F-R-A-U-D. </div>
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Declaration of Independence</h2>
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Not true, however, with psychologists in the UK. They stopped relying on the Nuremburg defense: 'S<i>omeone else is responsible for my values</i>'. Unlike other mental health 'professionals', they did not delegate their duty to their clients or their duty to develop an informed opinion to the 'higher authorities' of doctors, insurers and drug companies. Instead of taking the easy route and abdicating their responsibility, they actually did the hard work that therapists have been telling their clients to do for decades. They stood up. They took back their voice. They took back their agency. They took back their self-respect, their dignity and their personhood. They did their own research and reached their own conclusions. They developed their own hypothesis of what is going on in the minds and bodies of the people they serve.<br />
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And when all was said and done - the analysis in, the research exhaustively reviewed - they said to biopsychiatry:</div>
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<i>No more. It is finished. We withdraw our consent. We can no longer, in good conscience, defer to your judgment about what is right for the vulnerable, trusting souls who cross our threshold in search of our honest expertise and aid.</i></blockquote>
Now, that, in my book is something worth making the general public aware of. So here goes:<br />
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May 2018 is Power Threat Meaning Month </h2>
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<b>ONLINE SERIES</b><br />
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This online series of mental health awareness events introduces the Power Threat Meaning Framework released earlier this year by the British Psychological Society. All events are online and accessible by computer or telephone. Workshops and mini-retreats feature facilitated discussions on the foundational topics and concepts of the PTM model. Sessions will revolve around several core questions adapted from the PTM materials:<br />
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<ul>
<li><i>What has happened to you? </i>(In what ways have you felt over-powered, under-powered, dis-empowered ...?)</li>
<li><i>How did this affect you?</i> (What threats has this posed to your needs and survival?)</li>
<li><i>What sense can you make of it?</i> (What did these situations and experiences mean for you?)</li>
<li><i>What did you have to do to survive?</i> (What strategies did you use to respond to threats or create meaning from adversity?)</li>
<li><i>What values, strengths and resources have you been able to access?</i> (What power resources are known and available to you?)</li>
<li><i>What is your story?</i> (How does all this fit together?)</li>
</ul>
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<b>To Join Us:</b></h3>
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<b>Join by computer: </b><a href="https://zoom.us/j/119362879">https://zoom.us/j/119362879</a><br />
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<b>Join by phone: </b>+1 669 900 6833 or +1 646 558 8656<br />
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<b> </b>Enter Meeting ID: 119 362 879<br />
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<b>International callers: </b><a href="https://zoom.us/u/jkwt3wHh">https://zoom.us/u/jkwt3wHh</a><br />
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<b>SHEDULE OF REMAINING EVENTS</b><br />
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<b>Wednesday, May 9th ~8-9:30 pm EST</b> <br />
<i>Surviving Rejection and Invalidation</i><br />
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<b>Friday, May 11th ~8-9:30pm EST </b> <br />
<i>Surviving Childhood Adversity</i><br />
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<b>Saturday, May 12th ~2-5pm EST</b><br />
Mini-Retreat <br />
<i>Power, Threat and the Meanings of “Mothering”</i><br />
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<b>Tuesday, May 15th ~8-9pm EST</b><br />
The Borderline Academic<br />
<i>Death by Oppression: Suicide as a Natural Response to Marginalization </i><br />
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<b>Wednesday, May 16th ~8-9:30pm EST </b> <br />
<i>Surviving Disrupted Identities and Roles</i><br />
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<b>Friday, May 18th ~8-9:30pm EST </b><br />
<i>Surviving Setbacks and Defeat</i><br />
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<b>Saturday, May 19th ~2-5pm EST</b><br />
Mini Retreat <br />
<i>Power, Threat and the Meanings of "Suicide"</i><br />
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<b>Sunday, May 20th ~2-5pm EST</b><br />
Mini-Retreat<br />
<i>Power, Threat and the Meanings of 'Mania'</i><br />
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<b>Wednesday, May 23rd ~8-9:30pm EST </b><br />
<i>Surviving Entrapments</i><br />
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<b>Thursday, May 24th ~8-9pm EST </b><br />
The Borderline Academic<br />
<i>Smashing Paternalism: Intersections Between the Consumer/Survivor/Ex-patient Movement and the </i><br />
<i>Fat Acceptance Movement</i><br />
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<b>Friday, May 25 ~8-9:30pm EST </b><br />
<i>Surviving Disconnection and Loss</i><br />
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<b>Saturday, May 26 ~ 2-5pm EST</b><br />
Mini-Retreat<br />
<i>Power, Threat and Angry Meanings</i><br />
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<b>Sunday, May 27 ~ 2-5pm EST </b><br />
Mini-Retreat<br />
<i>Power, Threat and Addictive Meanings</i><br />
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<b>Sunday, May 27th ~ Starts 10pm EST… </b><br />
<b>(Ends 12:12am EST on </b><b>Tuesday May 29th)</b><b> </b><br />
<b>MEMORIAL DAY STORY-TELLING MARATHON</b><br />
<i>26.2 Hour Vigil - Our lives go the distance</i><br />
Bring your story - Bear witness to others<br />
Drop in or sign up for time in advance<br />
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<b>Tuesday, May 29th ~8-9:30pm EST </b> <br />
<i>Surviving Social Exclusion and Shame </i><br />
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<b>Wednesday, May 30 ~8-9:30pm EST </b> <br />
<i>Surviving Coercive Power</i><br />
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For more info:</div>
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<div>
<ul>
<li>Email Sarah at: <a href="mailto:peerlyhuman@gmail.com">peerlyhuman@gmail.com</a> </li>
<li>Visit our conversation on Facebook at the Wellness and Recovery Human Rights Campaign, <a href="http://facebook.com/groups/WellnessRecoveryRights/">facebook.com/groups/WellnessRecoveryRights/</a></li>
</ul>
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Power Threat Meaning (PTM) in a Nutshell</h2>
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Mental 'illness' has meaning. The meaning comes from this:</div>
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<h3>
1. Lack of power </h3>
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For a variety of personal, social and cultural reasons, we come to feel under-powered, over-powered, powerless or accountable to be powerful in ways that seem vitally important to us. </div>
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Here are some common examples of ways that lack of power can touch our lives: </div>
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<br /></div>
<ul>
<li>Body power – society values preferences, attributes and abilities that we don’t have or identify with</li>
<li>Coercive power – we are subjected to violence, aggression, threats</li>
<li>Legal power – systemic rules or sanctions limit our choices</li>
<li>Economic power – we can’t afford needed goods, services, activities or opportunities on a par with others</li>
<li>Interpersonal power – we can’t meet basic relational needs for intimacy, care and human protection</li>
<li>Social/cultural power – limited access to knowledge, connections and qualifications that make life easier</li>
<li>Ideological power – values, language and meaning are defined by powerful others</li>
</ul>
(Johnstone, L. & Boyle, M., 2018a.)<br />
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2. This feels threatening</h3>
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Needing power and not having it is uncomfortable and often highly distressing. Some common feelings ('meanings') that arise from lack of power include:</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuNTThnhGpsjPkb6kA1tf8X6vAsUENPigQqws13OFbFKo1ns8oRSZT-iiw5wZLKaQwexlcVIxcrgPeIDvB8jO7ooIR1m8eF68Ikz9Qy8CMVNuZX3cdcX131WXC9hsnhmIhj6QQ3UIdz0I/s1600/box+3+meanings.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: 24px; font-weight: 700; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="MEANING – what is the Meaning of these situations and experiences to you? (‘What sense did you make of it?’) Unsafe, afraid, attacked Trapped Abandoned, rejected Defeated Helpless, powerless Failed, inferior Hopeless Guilty, blameworthy, responsible Invaded Betrayed Controlled Shamed, humiliated Emotionally overwhelmed Sense of injustice/unfairness Emotionally ‘empty’ Sense of meaninglessness Bad, unworthy Contaminated, evil Isolated, lonely Alien, dangerous Excluded, alienated Different, ‘abnormal’" border="0" data-original-height="1034" data-original-width="1249" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuNTThnhGpsjPkb6kA1tf8X6vAsUENPigQqws13OFbFKo1ns8oRSZT-iiw5wZLKaQwexlcVIxcrgPeIDvB8jO7ooIR1m8eF68Ikz9Qy8CMVNuZX3cdcX131WXC9hsnhmIhj6QQ3UIdz0I/s400/box+3+meanings.PNG" title="Box 3: Meanings" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">How lack of power affects us</td></tr>
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<div>
(Johnstone, L. & Boyle, M., 2018a, p. 37.)</div>
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3. Survival (coping) responses get labelled 'symptoms' of 'mental illness'</h3>
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We respond to threat in ways that seek to overcome, escape or re-balance our perceived power deficits. Our responses can affect every aspect of our lives - e.g., physical, mental, social, spiritual. Here are some examples:</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUFFLMtXLUti7SqVCuMp-geNzBV1M-wWfPQbNDTgKtbggYKhjqmFbF3De_r-xllNAOT_487oQvAcVNJ2CNsuoE8uF3q-H9m8kOL8QpVDjpiUhFrSkiThQp9C_lN8S1j-QVyMcemLsM2ho/s1600/ptm+THREAT+RESPONSES.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Preparing to ‘fight’ or attack Preparing to ‘flee’, escape, seek safety Freeze response Hypervigilance, startle responses, insomnia Panic, phobias Fragmented memory encoding Memory suppression (amnesia) Hearing voices Dissociating (losing track of time/place; various degrees of splitting of awareness) Depersonalisation, derealisation Flashbacks Nightmares NEAD (‘non-epileptic attack disorder’) Emotional numbing, flattening, indifference Bodily numbing Submitting, appeasing Giving up, ‘learned helplessness’, low mood Protesting, weeping, clinging Suspicious thoughts Emotional regression, withdrawal ‘High’ or extreme moods; rapid mood changes (‘emotional dysregulation’) Holding unusual beliefs Having unusual visual, olfactory, tactile sensations Physical sensations – tension, dizziness, physical pain, tinnitus, sensations of heat or cold, exhaustion, skin irritation, gastrointestinal problems and many other bodily reactions Emotional defences: denying what has happened, idealising people, and so on. Intellectualisation (avoiding feelings and bodily sensations) Attention/concentration problems Confused/unstable selfimage/ sense of self Confused/confusing speech and communication Self-injury of various types Self-neglect Dieting, self-starvation Bingeing, over-eating Self-silencing Mourning, grieving Self-blame and selfpunishment Body hatred Compulsive thoughts Carrying out rituals and other ‘safety behaviours’ Collecting, hoarding Avoidance of/compulsive use of sexuality Impulsivity Anger, rage Aggression and violence Suicidal thinking and actions Distrust of others Feeling entitled Reduced empathy Distrust Avoiding threat triggers Striving, perfectionism, ‘drive’ response Using drugs, alcohol, smoking Overworking, overexercising, etc. Giving up hope/loss of faith in the world Relational strategies: rejection and maintaining emotional distance; seeking care and attachments; taking on caring roles; isolation/ avoidance of others; dominance, seeking control over others; and so on Ruminating, reflecting, anticipating, imagining, interpreting, meaningmaking" border="0" data-original-height="1451" data-original-width="946" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUFFLMtXLUti7SqVCuMp-geNzBV1M-wWfPQbNDTgKtbggYKhjqmFbF3De_r-xllNAOT_487oQvAcVNJ2CNsuoE8uF3q-H9m8kOL8QpVDjpiUhFrSkiThQp9C_lN8S1j-QVyMcemLsM2ho/s640/ptm+THREAT+RESPONSES.PNG" title="Box 4: Threat Responses" width="416" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Ways we try to cope with threat</td></tr>
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(Johnstone, L. & Boyle, M., 2018a, p. 40.)</div>
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Threat responses often have appear strange to others - and sometimes even ourselves. Their meanings may be intuitive and unspoken - even to us. We may not understand or appreciate that gravity of what we are up against. This is especially true if we live in a group or culture that marginalizes our core experiences. </div>
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<div>
These concepts are critically important to get if we want to make sense of 'mental illness'. In effect, it is these very threat responses - essentially our attempts to cope with overwhelming personal, social and existential odds - that are currently being diagnosed and treated as 'symptoms of mental illness' by conventional healthcare. </div>
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Just as important, however, the PTM framework recognizes that power operates positively (not just negatively!) Thus, the power of personal agency and social action can be developed to create meaningful individual and societal outcomes. In other words, we can rebalance power in ourselves - for example, how we treat ourselves in the face of vulnerabilities. And, instead of blaming ourselves, we can work to rebalance power in disabling relationships, systems and social dynamics in the world we live in. This, potentially, heals all of us.</div>
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<div>
<h2>
References</h2>
<i>Introducing the Power Threat Meaning Framework</i> (2018, Feb. 1). Leicester: British Psychological Society. Retrieved from <a href="https://www.bps.org.uk/news-and-policy/introducing-power-threat-meaning-framework">https://www.bps.org.uk/news-and-policy/introducing-power-threat-meaning-framework</a><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Johnstone, L. & Boyle, M. with
Cromby, J., Dillon, J., Harper, D., Kinderman, P., Longden, E., Pilgrim, D. &
Read, J. (2018). <i>The Power Threat Meaning Framework: Overview.</i> Leicester: British
Psychological Society. Available at <a href="https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/INF299%20PTM%20overview%20web.pdf" target="_blank">https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/INF299%20PTM%20overview%20web.pdf</a>.</div>
<br />
Johnstone, L. & Boyle, M. with Cromby, J., Dillon, J., Harper, D., Kinderman, P., Longden, E., Pilgrim, D. & Read, J. (2018). <i>The Power Threat Meaning Framework: Towards the identification of patterns in emotional distress, unusual experiences and troubled or troubling behaviour, as an alternative to functional psychiatric diagnosis.</i> Leicester: British Psychological Society. Available at <a href="https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/INF299%20PTM%20Main%20web.pdf">https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/INF299%20PTM%20Main%20web.pdf</a><br />
<br />
Johnstone, L. & Boyle, M. with Cromby, J., Dillon, J., Harper, D., Kinderman, P., Longden, E., Pilgrim, D. & Read, J. (2018, Jan. 18). <i>The Power Threat Meaning Framework [Powerpoint Slides], </i>retrieved from <a href="https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/PTM%20COMPOSITE%20VERSION%2025.1.18.pdf" target="_blank">https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/PTM%20COMPOSITE%20VERSION%2025.1.18.pdf</a><br />
<br />
Susskind, R., & Susskind, D. (2015). <i>The Future of the Professions: How Technology Will Transform the Work of Human Experts. </i>Oxford: Oxford University Press.<br />
<div>
<br />
UN General Assembly (2017). <i>Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest </i><i>attainable standard of physical and mental health.</i> United Nations Human Rights Council. Available at <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session29/Documents/A_HRC_29_33_ENG.DOCX">http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session29/Documents/A_HRC_29_33_ENG.DOCX</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
Sarah Knutsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290844872665327137noreply@blogger.com42tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572480303268518836.post-89212129419959869112018-05-05T03:01:00.001-04:002020-09-27T18:08:19.413-04:00Power, Threat and Unconventional Realities: ONLINE Mini-Retreat: Saturday, May 5th ~ 2-5 PM EST<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEmsYXQTGgOTToR0_htCyQgwT9y7KV1HPYYqttDhW2QOENQsFSV747Jv2Xf3R5W-khdF-txnXywpM5gejHB876nh6sqS1uAWQMJV_ExQq3p1EnYHgOu89gZdGsMxBkDEopMFZeIKL9pKo/s1600/PTM+corrected.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A Flyer with a Schedule of Events is attached. It reads: POWER, THREAT MEANING MONTH ANATOMY OF A BREAKDOWN (graphic) 1. Life is hard all by it self 2. Basic needs are insecure 3. Bias and prejudice shut us out 4. Trusted institutions let us down 5. Social responses make it worse 6. Injuries add up 7. BREAK DOWN MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS: LACK OF POWER AFFECTS US Body power – society values preferences, attributes and abilities that you don’t have or identify with Coercive power – you are subjected to violence, aggression, threats Legal power – systemic rules or sanctions limit your choices Economic power – you can’t afford needed goods, services, activities or opportunities on a par with others Interpersonal power – you can’t meet basic relational needs for intimacy, care and human protection Social/cultural power – limited access to knowledge, connections and qualifications that make life easier Ideological power – values, language and meaning are defined by powerful others MAY 2018 SCHEDULE Wednesday, May 2nd ~8-9:30 pm EST Power, Threat and the Meaning of “Mental Illness” Friday, May 4th ~8-9:30 pm EST Devalued Identities and "Mental Illness" Saturday, May 5th ~2-5 pm EST: Mini-Retreat Power, Threat and Unconventional Realities Wednesday, May 9th ~8-9:30 pm EST Surviving Rejection and Invalidation Friday, May 11th ~8-9:30pm EST Surviving Childhood Adversity Saturday, May 12th ~2pm - 5pm EST: Mini-Retreat Power, Threat and the Meanings of “Mothering” Wednesday, May 16th ~8-9:30pm EST Surviving Disrupted Identities and Roles Friday, May 18th ~8-9:30pm EST Surviving Setbacks and Defeat Saturday, May 19 ~2-5pm EST: Mini Retreat Power, Threat and the Meanings of "Suicide" Sunday, May 20 ~2-5pm EST: Mini-Retreat Power, Threat and the Meanings of 'Mania' Wednesday, May 23 ~8-9:30pm EST Surviving Entrapments Friday, May 25 ~8-9:30pm EST Surviving Disconnection and Loss Saturday, May 26 ~2-5pm EST: Mini-Retreat Power, Threat and Angry Meanings Sunday, May 27 ~2-5pm EST: Mini-Retreat Power, Threat and Addictive Meanings Sunday, May 27th ~Starting 10 PM EST Memorial Day Story Telling Marathon 26.2 hour vigil, our lives go the distance Tueday, May 29 ~8-9:30pm EST Surviving Social Exclusion and Shame Wednesday, May 30 ~8-9:30pm EST Surviving Coercive Power To Join Us: Join by computer: https://zoom.us/j/119362879 Join by phone: +1 669 900 6833 or +1 646 558 8656 Enter Meeting ID: 119 362 879 International callers: https://zoom.us/u/jkwt3wHh More info at: peerlyhuman.blogspot.com & facebook.com/groups/WellnessRecoveryRights/" border="0" data-original-height="1034" data-original-width="798" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEmsYXQTGgOTToR0_htCyQgwT9y7KV1HPYYqttDhW2QOENQsFSV747Jv2Xf3R5W-khdF-txnXywpM5gejHB876nh6sqS1uAWQMJV_ExQq3p1EnYHgOu89gZdGsMxBkDEopMFZeIKL9pKo/s400/PTM+corrected.PNG" title="Flyer for Power Threat Meaning Month" width="308" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h2>
Saturday, May 5th ~2-5 pm EST </h2>
Join by computer: <a href="https://zoom.us/j/119362879">https://zoom.us/j/119362879</a><br />
<br />
Join by phone: +1 669 900 6833 or +1 646 558 8656<br />
Enter Meeting ID: 119 362 879<br />
<br />
International callers: <a href="https://zoom.us/u/jkwt3wHh">https://zoom.us/u/jkwt3wHh</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Making Sense of "Non-Sense"</h2>
<div>
Twenty-five years ago I was on a psych ward thinking I was Jesus Christ in the Second Coming. </div>
<div>
Forty years ago I was a teenager sitting in church with an almost irrepressible desire to yell out <i>"Satan is here!!" </i><br />
<br />
The inclination would just appear in my mind as if planted by an outside force.<br />
<br />
Then, there would be the initial shock: <i> "How can I be thinking this? </i><br />
<br />
Then panic: <i>"What does this say about me?" </i><br />
<br />
Then shame: <i>"I have to get rid of this before someone finds out and I get kicked out of the human race."</i><br />
<br />
Alongside that would be an eerie feeling that my personal integrity depended on carrying out the suggested action. <i>The thought had occurred to me, after all. So how could I be really honest as a person - or true to myself - if I didn't act it out? </i><br />
<br />
From there the psychic taunters would pipe in: <i>"C'mon, you can do it. Chicken. Do it. Do it. If you had any gumption you'd do it." </i><br />
<br />
I only wish the impulse to rattle the adults of at the local Episcopal congregation (God's frozen people) was the most embarrassing, frightening thought that occurred to me. That was far from the case.<br />
<br />
There was the time I was jogging in the local park, musing about all the school records I would break in track and field and it 'occurred' to me that <i>"I could probably get away with murder." </i> The logic went like this: "<i>I've been a good kid all my life. They all think I'm a model citizen. Who would suspect me? I could just murder someone for the heck of getting away with murder. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
I was acutely aware of my lack of feeling. Just a game. The lives of my potential victims were irrelevant. The main thing was: <i>Could I break this major social more' and get away with it? Was I above the law that bound everyone else or not? </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Then there were the times, in my 20s, when I was looking after my friend's 6 year old son. We'd end up wrestling and the thought would come: <i>You could put your hand on his crotch. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Again, no feeling. No concern for his welfare. No actual desire sexually. Just the awareness: <i>I have power. I can use it. If I want to, this kid can't stop me. </i><br />
<br />
Most frightening of all, however, were the thoughts that came up with family, lovers -- anyone I got close enough to to spend a night in the same house with. <i>"You can murder them while they sleep."</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Thoughts like these tortured me for years. I was told by some mental health professionals that these thoughts were meaningless garbage. "<i>It's just the illness talking."</i> So I should just ignore it, focus on something else, and take my meds.<br />
<br />
Other mental health professionals saw me as deeply damaged. They were clear that my childhood had to have been very troubled. Only if we got to the roots of my family pathology could I ever hope to have a functional life.<br />
<br />
Neither approach was particularly useful in retrospect. As to the former approach, the meds didn't help. The thoughts kept coming, and I could never shake the feeling I was ignoring something important.<br />
<br />
As to the second approach, $100,000 of therapy over 20 years and still the same conclusion: <i>I had it better than most people I knew, and my head was screwed up nevertheless. </i> Plus, all the focusing on the thoughts made them worse. And all of that scrutinizing my life history for examples of how others had damaged me only made me feel more damaged. It was a vicious, inescapable cycle.<br />
<br />
Eventually I had to invent my own solution. I began to approach the thoughts as meaningful entities in their own right. I tried to see myself and my life from their perspective. I sincerely asked them what they wanted me to know about myself. <i>What was the message they were hoping I would get?</i><br />
<br />
Eventually it came to me:<br />
<br />
It was terrifying - this awareness of power. I really did have the power to do evil. I really did have the power to violate trust. I really did have the power to harm, irreparably, anyone who was kind enough to let me close to them.<br />
<br />
What I didn't know what whether I was trustworthy. <i>Could I be trusted by the people who were kind enough or vulnerable enough to let me into their lives? Could I trust myself to not abuse the opportunities for human closeness and connection that I was offered? How would I know if I was trustworthy? What would I do if, on examination, I discovered that I wasn't...?</i><br />
<br />
It took a lot of soul searching to get to the core of my own intentions. Eventually I came to believe that I wouldn't have been agonizing so much about these thoughts of hurting others if I really didn't care about whether I hurt others. Yes, I had my own failings - including intensity, passion and a tendency to get carried away that leads me to overstep bounds if I'm not paying attention. But, at core, I hate the idea of getting my own needs met at someone else's expense. Not that I never fail in this regard. But when I do, I can count on some part of me becoming deeply troubled by this and pretty much torturing me until I make the effort to make it right. <br />
<br />
That realization in and of itself helped a lot. It helped to know that, despite appearances to the contrary, somewhere in myself I really do care about the effects of my actions on other human beings.<br />
<br />
Along the way, I also realized that I really must care about being trustworthy and having enough integrity to put the needs of others on a par with my own. Again, if this kind of stuff didn't matter to some core part of me, I wouldn't be agonizing to the point of incapacity over questions like these in the first place.<br />
<br />
This latter awareness was tremendously important to me. It literally changed the direction of my life. It helped me see myself not as I was - someone motivated only by punishment and external consequences, like the fear of getting caught - but as the person of principle, integrity and unequivocal regard for others that some deep part of me wanted to become. From that point on the question became not whether I had integrity or not, but instead <i>how to stay continually accountable to the values and integrity that some part of me deeply wanted me to live.</i><br />
<br />
All good and well so far, but what about the psych ward Jesus stuff? <i>Where does that fit in? </i><br />
<br />
Well, for me, that experience, too, was powerful and life-changing. If I had just followed the advice of the mental health profession - and dismissed it as 'illness' and taken my meds - that would not have been the case. Equally important, if I had caved to the temptation at the time to take my thoughts literally - that would not have been the case either. It would have been easy to get stuck in the powerful attraction of being 'chosen' as some spiritual big shot with superhuman connections to the divine.<br />
<br />
In the end, the realization was this: I'm not any more connected to god or the Universe than the next person. At the same time, to be at peace with myself, there are certain principles that I have to live. One of these principles is the importance of taking risks and making personal sacrifice in service of helping to create the world I want to live in. Essentially, what Christians call <i>"laying down your life for your friends."</i><br />
<br />
Partly that's what convinced me to be open about my own struggles here. I keep saying that I want world where it is safer for human beings to be vulnerable and honest about who we really are. But that is never going to happen unless some of us take the risk. <i>So why not me ?</i><br />
<br />
One of the things I like about the Power Threat Meaning Framework that we are talking about in this series is that it talks about the positive use of power. For me, taking the risk to be vulnerable and honest is about positive power. It says I believe there are more important values to human existence than saving face or looking good in the eyes of conventional society.<br />
<br />
Surprising as it may seem, I am not alone in that conviction. Arguably, this was the premise upon which one of the most effective peer support movements in human history was founded. Indeed, some 80 years ago, a straggly handful of barely-recovered drunks in the fledgling organization <i>Alcoholics Anonymous</i> encouraged their membership as follows:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>This painful past may be of infinite value to other families still struggling with their problem. We think each family which has been relieved owes something to those who have not, and when the occasion requires, each member of it should only be too willing to bring former mistakes, no matter how grievous, out of their hiding places. Showing others who suffer how we were given help is the very thing that makes life seem so worthwhile to us now. Cling to the thought that, in God's hands, the dark past is the greatest possession you have--the key to life and happiness for others. With it you can avert death and misery for them.</i></blockquote>
<u><br /></u>
<u>Alcoholics Anonymous</u>, page 124.<br />
<br />
In actuality, this has been my experience. Nothing has salved my wounds more than discovering others who were kind and courageous enough to risk saying 'me too' in my most alienated, frightened hours. In effect they said:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I stand with you. You are not alone. Your reality may be unconventional, but so is mine. I will not let you be rejected or thrown out by the human race for owning your truth. To the contrary, I welcome your truth and honor it. Your truth is a human truth, as is mine. Both our truths have value and are welcome here. I honor your courage in sharing your truth, as you honor me by receiving and welcoming mine. </i></blockquote>
<br />
This positive use of power - the power to match vulnerability with vulnerability in service of connection and restoration - is for me the greatest gift we human beings can offer each other. At least I can say with confidence, it is the greatest, most healing gift anyone has ever offered to me. <br />
<br />
<h2>
Today's Retreat</h2>
</div>
<div>
The mini-retreat today will offer a facilitated opportunity to explore power, threat, meaning and their relationship to unconventional realities we may be experiencing. The discussion will focus on 6 core questions adapted from the Power Threat Meaning Framework that inspired this series: </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>‘What has happened to you?’ (In what ways has your experience of unconventional realities led to you feeling over-powered, under-powered, dis-empowered ...?)</li>
<li>‘How did this affect you?’ (What threats has this posed to your needs and survival?)</li>
<li>‘What sense can you make of it?’ (What did these situations and experiences mean for you?)</li>
<li>‘What did you have to do to survive?’ (What strategies did you use to respond to threats or create meaning from adversity?)</li>
<li>‘What values, strengths and resources have you been able to access? (Or might you try to access?)</li>
<li>‘What is your story?’ (How does all this fit together?)</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The Power Threat Meaning Framework: Guided Discussion, </div>
<div>
<a href="https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/PTM%20Appendix%201.pdf" target="_blank">https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/PTM%20Appendix%201.pdf</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">For more info:</span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Email Sarah at: peerlyhuman@gmail.com </li>
<li>Visit our conversation on Facebook at the Wellness and Recovery Human Rights Campaign, <a href="http://facebook.com/groups/WellnessRecoveryRights/">facebook.com/groups/WellnessRecoveryRights/</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
<h2>
Power, Threat Meaning in a Nutshell</h2>
<br />
The Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTM) was introduced by the British Psychological Society in February 2018. The framework highlights the links between wider social factors - like poverty, discrimination, abuse and violence and distressed or distressing emotional and behavioral responses. It describes the diverse strategies that human beings use to cope with overwhelming emotions in order to survive and protect themselves and meet their core needs. Introducing the Power Threat Meaning Framework, <a href="https://www.bps.org.uk/%E2%80%A6/introducing-power-threat-meaning-f%E2%80%A6.">https://www.bps.org.uk/news-and-policy/introducing-power-threat-meaning-framework</a>.</div>
<br />
Equally important is the solution proposed by the Power Threat Meaning Framework Unlike most mental health approaches, PTM argues that meaning and distress must be understood and addressed at social, community and cultural levels, not just individual ones. It joins the United Nations in recommending that a shift of focus towards 'power imbalance' rather than 'chemical imbalance' in mental health awareness and practice. In a word, 'the less access you have to conventional or approved forms of power, the more likely you are to adopt socially disturbing or disruptive strategies in the face of adversity.' PTM Launch Slideshow, slide 28, <a href="https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/PTM%20COMPOSITE%20VERSION%2025.1.18.pdf" target="_blank">https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/PTM%20COMPOSITE%20VERSION%2025.1.18.pdf</a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Better yet, the framework is non-pathologizing and suggests a unifying, overarching model of human psychosocial functioning that applies to all of human beings, including those without mental health labels. Also encouraging: the approach recognizes that power operates positively (not just negatively!). It therefore encourages both personal agency and social action to create meaningful personal and societal outcomes. Power Threat Meaning Framework Overview, </span><a href="https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/INF299%20PTM%20overview%20web.pdf" style="font-family: "times new roman";">https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/INF299%20PTM%20overview%20web.pdf</a></div>
<div>
<div>
</div>
</div>
Sarah Knutsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290844872665327137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572480303268518836.post-68399322748523811162018-05-04T01:24:00.002-04:002020-09-27T18:08:32.275-04:00Devalued Identities and "Mental Illness" - ONLINE WORKSHOP: Fri. May 4 ~ 8-9:30 PM EST<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEmsYXQTGgOTToR0_htCyQgwT9y7KV1HPYYqttDhW2QOENQsFSV747Jv2Xf3R5W-khdF-txnXywpM5gejHB876nh6sqS1uAWQMJV_ExQq3p1EnYHgOu89gZdGsMxBkDEopMFZeIKL9pKo/s1600/PTM+corrected.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A Flyer with a Schedule of Events is attached. It reads: POWER, THREAT MEANING MONTH ANATOMY OF A BREAKDOWN (graphic) 1. Life is hard all by it self 2. Basic needs are insecure 3. Bias and prejudice shut us out 4. Trusted institutions let us down 5. Social responses make it worse 6. Injuries add up 7. BREAK DOWN MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS: LACK OF POWER AFFECTS US Body power – society values preferences, attributes and abilities that you don’t have or identify with Coercive power – you are subjected to violence, aggression, threats Legal power – systemic rules or sanctions limit your choices Economic power – you can’t afford needed goods, services, activities or opportunities on a par with others Interpersonal power – you can’t meet basic relational needs for intimacy, care and human protection Social/cultural power – limited access to knowledge, connections and qualifications that make life easier Ideological power – values, language and meaning are defined by powerful others MAY 2018 SCHEDULE Wednesday, May 2nd ~8-9:30 pm EST Power, Threat and the Meaning of “Mental Illness” Friday, May 4th ~8-9:30 pm EST Devalued Identities and "Mental Illness" Saturday, May 5th ~2-5 pm EST: Mini-Retreat Power, Threat and Unconventional Realities Wednesday, May 9th ~8-9:30 pm EST Surviving Rejection and Invalidation Friday, May 11th ~8-9:30pm EST Surviving Childhood Adversity Saturday, May 12th ~2pm - 5pm EST: Mini-Retreat Power, Threat and the Meanings of “Mothering” Wednesday, May 16th ~8-9:30pm EST Surviving Disrupted Identities and Roles Friday, May 18th ~8-9:30pm EST Surviving Setbacks and Defeat Saturday, May 19 ~2-5pm EST: Mini Retreat Power, Threat and the Meanings of "Suicide" Sunday, May 20 ~2-5pm EST: Mini-Retreat Power, Threat and the Meanings of 'Mania' Wednesday, May 23 ~8-9:30pm EST Surviving Entrapments Friday, May 25 ~8-9:30pm EST Surviving Disconnection and Loss Saturday, May 26 ~2-5pm EST: Mini-Retreat Power, Threat and Angry Meanings Sunday, May 27 ~2-5pm EST: Mini-Retreat Power, Threat and Addictive Meanings Sunday, May 27th ~Starting 10 PM EST Memorial Day Story Telling Marathon 26.2 hour vigil, our lives go the distance Tueday, May 29 ~8-9:30pm EST Surviving Social Exclusion and Shame Wednesday, May 30 ~8-9:30pm EST Surviving Coercive Power To Join Us: Join by computer: https://zoom.us/j/119362879 Join by phone: +1 669 900 6833 or +1 646 558 8656 Enter Meeting ID: 119 362 879 International callers: https://zoom.us/u/jkwt3wHh More info at: peerlyhuman.blogspot.com & facebook.com/groups/WellnessRecoveryRights/" border="0" data-original-height="1034" data-original-width="798" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEmsYXQTGgOTToR0_htCyQgwT9y7KV1HPYYqttDhW2QOENQsFSV747Jv2Xf3R5W-khdF-txnXywpM5gejHB876nh6sqS1uAWQMJV_ExQq3p1EnYHgOu89gZdGsMxBkDEopMFZeIKL9pKo/s320/PTM+corrected.PNG" title="Flyer for Power Threat Meaning Month" width="246" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h2>
Friday, May 4th ~8-9:30 pm EST </h2>
Join by computer: <a href="https://zoom.us/j/119362879">https://zoom.us/j/119362879</a><br />
<br />
Join by phone: +1 669 900 6833 or +1 646 558 8656<br />
Enter Meeting ID: 119 362 879<br />
<br />
International callers: <a href="https://zoom.us/u/jkwt3wHh">https://zoom.us/u/jkwt3wHh</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Devalued identities cause "Mental Illness"</h2>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As a general rule, those of us with socially devalued identities are far more likely to be diagnosed as having both common and severe mental health problems in proportion to our numbers. Harm from devalued identities affects not only our ‘minority’ concerns like ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability or being defined as ‘mentally ill’, but also our large group memberships as women, children, seniors, 'working-class' or 'poor'. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As a practical matter, our membership in any devalued group exposes us to a greater degree of discrimination and threat. This, in turn, increases the likelihood of our experiencing even more relational and social adversities, along with physical health problems. If we have multiple marginalized identities (e.g. black and disabled; female and poor; gay and ‘mentally ill’), our odds of experiencing adversity and its attendant ill effects increase exponentially. This is confirmed by the evidence about class, ‘race’ and gender gradients in mental health, criminal justice and other welfare systems.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
This only makes sense. A simple fact of the human condition is that none of us is immune from the adversities of life, no matter how socially or economically privileged. At the same time, socially valued identities tend to offer far greater compensatory power, status and control. A hallmark of privileged identities is the ability to access social capital in the face of distress, as well as greater options for support, escape, protection, safety and healing. Indeed, these cultural advantages are what make ‘privileged' qualities seem so socially appealing in the first place.<br />
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Accordingly, those of us with marginalized identities, all too often, experience subordination, exclusion and oppression. These may take the form of chronic background threats - living in deprived and unsafe environments, frequent reminders of the potential for violence or aggression toward ‘people like us’, and discrimination in pay and employment, education, housing, transportation, healthcare…. There may be repeated encounters with negative stereotypes, hostility, harassment and ‘micro-aggressions’ – those multiple, brief daily interactions that subtly denigrate us in relation to our group membership.<br />
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Even harder to detect are the socially acceptable, culturally desirable practices that ensure that ‘people like us’ are continually monitored and contained. God forbid that, in being ourselves, the cultural pollution we represent should intrude upon the manicured image that the dominant culture wishes to maintain of itself. A ready example is the way that those of us with 'mental illness' are repeatedly reminded to take our meds, call our doctors or attend to our 'self-care' when we express normal human responses to a difficult day. Long way of saying, that those of us in marginalized groups are often told what is and is not ok to believe about ourselves (you can believe you are ill, but not that your anger or high ideals are justified) and how the reality of our lives may and may not permissibly be defined (you can believe that you have a broken brain, not that your voices are real).<br />
<br />
This is how the power of the dominant culture operates in the lives of those of us whose identities are devalued.<br />
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Suffice it to say, none of this feels very good. In fact, most of us find it highly uncomfortable (threatening) to live with. We frequently find it necessary to devote a lot of attention and energy to the following:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Regulating overwhelming feelings </li>
<li>Protecting ourselves from physical danger </li>
<li>Maintaining identity, self-image and self-esteem </li>
<li>Preserving a place within the social group </li>
<li>Protecting against attachment loss, hurt and abandonment </li>
</ul>
<br />
The ‘symptoms’ of ‘mental illness’ (e.g., vigilance, defensiveness, avoidance, denial, stress, overwhelm, reactivity, breakdown) and its attendant labels are only a short step from here.<br />
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These important points - and countless others - are outlined in the Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTM) introduced by the British Psychological Society in February 2018. Power Threat Meaning Framework Overview, pages 47-52, <a href="https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/INF299%20PTM%20overview%20web.pdf">https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/INF299%20PTM%20overview%20web.pdf</a><br />
<div>
The framework highlights the links between wider social factors - like poverty, discrimination, abuse and violence and distressed or distressing emotional and behavioral responses. It describes the diverse strategies that human beings use to cope with overwhelming emotions in order to survive and protect themselves and meet their core needs. Introducing the Power Threat Meaning Framework, <a href="https://www.bps.org.uk/%E2%80%A6/introducing-power-threat-meaning-f%E2%80%A6.">https://www.bps.org.uk/news-and-policy/introducing-power-threat-meaning-framework</a></div>
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Equally important is the solution proposed by the Power Threat Meaning Framework Unlike most mental health approaches, PTM argues that meaning and distress must be understood and addressed at social, community and cultural levels, not just individual ones. It joins the United Nations in recommending that a shift of focus towards 'power imbalance' rather than 'chemical imbalance' in mental health awareness and practice. In a word, 'the less access you have to conventional or approved forms of power, the more likely you are to adopt socially disturbing or disruptive strategies in the face of adversity.' PTM Launch Slideshow, slide 28, <a href="https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/PTM%20COMPOSITE%20VERSION%2025.1.18.pdf" target="_blank">https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/PTM%20COMPOSITE%20VERSION%2025.1.18.pdf</a><br />
<br />
Better yet, the framework is non-pathologizing and suggests a unifying, overarching model of human psychosocial functioning that applies to all of human beings, including those without mental health labels. Also encouraging: the approach recognizes that power operates positively (not just negatively!). It therefore encourages both personal agency and social action to create meaningful personal and societal outcomes.<br />
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<h2>
Tonight's workshop</h2>
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The workshop tonight will offer a facilitated discussion on the relationship between devalued identities and 'mental illness.' The discussion will focus on 6 core questions adapted from the PTM model: </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>‘What has happened to you?’ (In what ways have devalued identities led to you being over-powered, under-powered, dis-empowered ...?)</li>
<li>‘How did this affect you?’ (What threats has this posed to your needs and survival?)</li>
<li>‘What sense can you make of it?’ (What did these situations and experiences mean for you?)</li>
<li>‘What did you have to do to survive?’ (What strategies did you use to respond to threats or create meaning from adversity?)</li>
<li>‘What values, strengths and resources have you been able to access? (Or might you try to access?)</li>
<li>‘What is your story?’ (How does all this fit together?)</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The Power Threat Meaning Framework: Guided Discussion, </div>
<div>
<a href="https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/PTM%20Appendix%201.pdf" target="_blank">https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/PTM%20Appendix%201.pdf</a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">For more info:</span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Email Sarah at: peerlyhuman@gmail.com </li>
<li>Visit our conversation on Facebook at the Wellness and Recovery Human Rights Campaign, <a href="http://facebook.com/groups/WellnessRecoveryRights/">facebook.com/groups/WellnessRecoveryRights/</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
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Sarah Knutsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290844872665327137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572480303268518836.post-43667676416191440622018-05-02T01:28:00.004-04:002020-09-27T18:08:43.600-04:00Power, Threat and the Meaning of "Mental Illness" - ONLINE WORKSHOP: Wed. May 2 ~ 8-9:30 PM EST<h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLEburt0KJr8Wi7g3drgb55hyphenhyphen88jh35WD7EMEtufJ38Cq0dCNXUVvy3aKbCajv2O9-f4eZj-zrl6uezH5gI_KYJwOwaMkOB_E0caXrhRelQrP5rUADl7yZxh1CB4PrWzFoDQzQiTCyhuU/s1600/PTM+corrected.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="A Flyer with a Schedule of Events is attached. It reads: POWER, THREAT MEANING MONTH ANATOMY OF A BREAKDOWN (graphic) 1. Life is hard all by it self 2. Basic needs are insecure 3. Bias and prejudice shut us out 4. Trusted institutions let us down 5. Social responses make it worse 6. Injuries add up 7. BREAK DOWN MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS: LACK OF POWER AFFECTS US Body power – society values preferences, attributes and abilities that you don’t have or identify with Coercive power – you are subjected to violence, aggression, threats Legal power – systemic rules or sanctions limit your choices Economic power – you can’t afford needed goods, services, activities or opportunities on a par with others Interpersonal power – you can’t meet basic relational needs for intimacy, care and human protection Social/cultural power – limited access to knowledge, connections and qualifications that make life easier Ideological power – values, language and meaning are defined by powerful others MAY 2018 SCHEDULE Wednesday, May 2nd ~8-9:30 pm EST Power, Threat and the Meaning of “Mental Illness” Friday, May 4th ~8-9:30 pm EST Devalued Identities and "Mental Illness" Saturday, May 5th ~2-5 pm EST: Mini-Retreat Power, Threat and Unconventional Realities Wednesday, May 9th ~8-9:30 pm EST Surviving Rejection and Invalidation Friday, May 11th ~8-9:30pm EST Surviving Childhood Adversity Saturday, May 12th ~2pm - 5pm EST: Mini-Retreat Power, Threat and the Meanings of “Mothering” Wednesday, May 16th ~8-9:30pm EST Surviving Disrupted Identities and Roles Friday, May 18th ~8-9:30pm EST Surviving Setbacks and Defeat Saturday, May 19 ~2-5pm EST: Mini Retreat Power, Threat and the Meanings of "Suicide" Sunday, May 20 ~2-5pm EST: Mini-Retreat Power, Threat and the Meanings of 'Mania' Wednesday, May 23 ~8-9:30pm EST Surviving Entrapments Friday, May 25 ~8-9:30pm EST Surviving Disconnection and Loss Saturday, May 26 ~2-5pm EST: Mini-Retreat Power, Threat and Angry Meanings Sunday, May 27 ~2-5pm EST: Mini-Retreat Power, Threat and Addictive Meanings Sunday, May 27th ~Starting 10 PM EST Memorial Day Story Telling Marathon 26.2 hour vigil, our lives go the distance Tueday, May 29 ~8-9:30pm EST Surviving Social Exclusion and Shame Wednesday, May 30 ~8-9:30pm EST Surviving Coercive Power To Join Us: Join by computer: https://zoom.us/j/119362879 Join by phone: +1 669 900 6833 or +1 646 558 8656 Enter Meeting ID: 119 362 879 International callers: https://zoom.us/u/jkwt3wHh More info at: peerlyhuman.blogspot.com & facebook.com/groups/WellnessRecoveryRights/" border="0" data-original-height="1034" data-original-width="798" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLEburt0KJr8Wi7g3drgb55hyphenhyphen88jh35WD7EMEtufJ38Cq0dCNXUVvy3aKbCajv2O9-f4eZj-zrl6uezH5gI_KYJwOwaMkOB_E0caXrhRelQrP5rUADl7yZxh1CB4PrWzFoDQzQiTCyhuU/s400/PTM+corrected.PNG" title="Flyer for Power Threat Meaning Month" width="307" /></a></div>
Wednesday, May 2nd ~8-9:30 pm EST </h2>
Join by computer: <a href="https://zoom.us/j/119362879">https://zoom.us/j/119362879</a><br />
<br />
Join by phone: +1 669 900 6833 or +1 646 558 8656<br />
Enter Meeting ID: 119362879<br />
<br />
International callers: <a href="https://zoom.us/u/jkwt3wHh">https://zoom.us/u/jkwt3wHh</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
"Mental Illness" has meaning</h2>
That is the point of the Power Threat Meaning Framework introduced by the British Psychological Society in February 2018, <a href="https://www.bps.org.uk/%E2%80%A6/introducing-power-threat-meaning-f%E2%80%A6.">https://www.bps.org.uk/news-and-policy/introducing-power-threat-meaning-framework</a>. The framework highlights the links between wider social factors - like poverty, discrimination, abuse and violence and distressed or distressing emotional and behavioral responses. It describes the diverse strategies that human beings use to cope with overwhelming emotions in order to survive and protect themselves and meet their core needs. It argues that meaning and distress must be understood and addressed at social, community and cultural levels, not just individual ones. It joins the United Nations in recommending that a shift of focus towards 'power imbalance' rather than 'chemical imbalance' in mental health awareness and practice. In a word, 'the less access you have to conventional or approved forms of power, the more likely you are to adopt socially disturbing or disruptive strategies in the face of adversity.' PTM Launch Slideshow, slide 28, <a href="https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/PTM%20COMPOSITE%20VERSION%2025.1.18.pdf" target="_blank">https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/PTM%20COMPOSITE%20VERSION%2025.1.18.pdf</a><br />
<br />
The framework is non-pathologizing and suggests a unifying, overarching model of human psychosocial functioning that applies to all of human beings, including those without mental health labels. Equally encouraging, the PTM framework recognizes that power operates positively (not just negatively!). The framework encourages both personal agency and social action to create meaningful personal and societal outcomes.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h2>
Power Threat Meaning (PTM) in a Nutshell</h2>
<div>
Mental 'illness' has meaning. The meaning comes from this:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
1. Lack of power </h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
For a variety of personal, social and cultural reasons, we come to feel under-powered, over-powered, powerless or accountable to be powerful in some way that seems important to us. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Here are some common examples of ways that lack of power can touch our lives: </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<ul>
<li>Body power – society values preferences, attributes and abilities that you don’t have or identify with</li>
<li>Coercive power – you are subjected to violence, aggression, threats</li>
<li>Legal power – systemic rules or sanctions limit your choices</li>
<li>Economic power – you can’t afford needed goods, services, activities or opportunities on a par with others</li>
<li>Interpersonal power – you can’t meet basic relational needs for intimacy, care and human protection</li>
<li>Social/cultural power – limited access to knowledge, connections and qualifications that make life easier</li>
<li>Ideological power – values, language and meaning are defined by powerful others</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3>
2. This feels threatening</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Needing power and not having it is uncomfortable and often highly distressing. Some common feelings ('meanings') that arise from lack of power include:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuNTThnhGpsjPkb6kA1tf8X6vAsUENPigQqws13OFbFKo1ns8oRSZT-iiw5wZLKaQwexlcVIxcrgPeIDvB8jO7ooIR1m8eF68Ikz9Qy8CMVNuZX3cdcX131WXC9hsnhmIhj6QQ3UIdz0I/s1600/box+3+meanings.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: 24px; font-weight: 700; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img alt="MEANING – what is the Meaning of these situations and experiences to you? (‘What sense did you make of it?’) Unsafe, afraid, attacked Trapped Abandoned, rejected Defeated Helpless, powerless Failed, inferior Hopeless Guilty, blameworthy, responsible Invaded Betrayed Controlled Shamed, humiliated Emotionally overwhelmed Sense of injustice/unfairness Emotionally ‘empty’ Sense of meaninglessness Bad, unworthy Contaminated, evil Isolated, lonely Alien, dangerous Excluded, alienated Different, ‘abnormal’" border="0" data-original-height="1034" data-original-width="1249" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuNTThnhGpsjPkb6kA1tf8X6vAsUENPigQqws13OFbFKo1ns8oRSZT-iiw5wZLKaQwexlcVIxcrgPeIDvB8jO7ooIR1m8eF68Ikz9Qy8CMVNuZX3cdcX131WXC9hsnhmIhj6QQ3UIdz0I/s400/box+3+meanings.PNG" title="Box 3: Meanings" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How lack of power affects us</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
PTM Framework Overview, page 37, https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/INF299%20PTM%20overview%20web.pdf</div>
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<br /></div>
<h3>
3. Survival (coping) responses get labelled 'symptoms' of 'mental illness'</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We respond to threat in ways that see to overcome, escape or re-balance our perceived power deficits. Our responses can be physical, mental, social, spiritual. They can affect every aspect of our lives. Here are some examples:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUFFLMtXLUti7SqVCuMp-geNzBV1M-wWfPQbNDTgKtbggYKhjqmFbF3De_r-xllNAOT_487oQvAcVNJ2CNsuoE8uF3q-H9m8kOL8QpVDjpiUhFrSkiThQp9C_lN8S1j-QVyMcemLsM2ho/s1600/ptm+THREAT+RESPONSES.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Preparing to ‘fight’ or attack Preparing to ‘flee’, escape, seek safety Freeze response Hypervigilance, startle responses, insomnia Panic, phobias Fragmented memory encoding Memory suppression (amnesia) Hearing voices Dissociating (losing track of time/place; various degrees of splitting of awareness) Depersonalisation, derealisation Flashbacks Nightmares NEAD (‘non-epileptic attack disorder’) Emotional numbing, flattening, indifference Bodily numbing Submitting, appeasing Giving up, ‘learned helplessness’, low mood Protesting, weeping, clinging Suspicious thoughts Emotional regression, withdrawal ‘High’ or extreme moods; rapid mood changes (‘emotional dysregulation’) Holding unusual beliefs Having unusual visual, olfactory, tactile sensations Physical sensations – tension, dizziness, physical pain, tinnitus, sensations of heat or cold, exhaustion, skin irritation, gastrointestinal problems and many other bodily reactions Emotional defences: denying what has happened, idealising people, and so on. Intellectualisation (avoiding feelings and bodily sensations) Attention/concentration problems Confused/unstable selfimage/ sense of self Confused/confusing speech and communication Self-injury of various types Self-neglect Dieting, self-starvation Bingeing, over-eating Self-silencing Mourning, grieving Self-blame and selfpunishment Body hatred Compulsive thoughts Carrying out rituals and other ‘safety behaviours’ Collecting, hoarding Avoidance of/compulsive use of sexuality Impulsivity Anger, rage Aggression and violence Suicidal thinking and actions Distrust of others Feeling entitled Reduced empathy Distrust Avoiding threat triggers Striving, perfectionism, ‘drive’ response Using drugs, alcohol, smoking Overworking, overexercising, etc. Giving up hope/loss of faith in the world Relational strategies: rejection and maintaining emotional distance; seeking care and attachments; taking on caring roles; isolation/ avoidance of others; dominance, seeking control over others; and so on Ruminating, reflecting, anticipating, imagining, interpreting, meaningmaking" border="0" data-original-height="1451" data-original-width="946" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUFFLMtXLUti7SqVCuMp-geNzBV1M-wWfPQbNDTgKtbggYKhjqmFbF3De_r-xllNAOT_487oQvAcVNJ2CNsuoE8uF3q-H9m8kOL8QpVDjpiUhFrSkiThQp9C_lN8S1j-QVyMcemLsM2ho/s640/ptm+THREAT+RESPONSES.PNG" title="Box 4: Threat Responses" width="416" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ways we try to cope with threat</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
PTM Framework Overview, page 40, https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/INF299%20PTM%20overview%20web.pdf</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Threat responses often have appear strange to others - and sometimes even ourselves. Their meanings may be intuitive and unspoken - even to us. We may not understand or appreciate that gravity of what we are up against. This is especially true if we live in a group or culture that marginalizes our core experiences. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This is critically important to get if we want to make sense of 'mental illness'. In effect, it is these very threat responses - essentially our attempts to cope with overwhelming personal, social and existential odds - that are currently being diagnosed and treated as 'symptoms of mental illness' by conventional healthcare. </div>
<div>
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<h2>
Tonight's workshop</h2>
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The workshop tonight will introduce the PTM paradigm and offer a facilitated discussion. The discussion will focus on 6 core questions posed by the PTM model: </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>‘What has happened to you?’ (How is Power operating in your life?)</li>
<li>‘How did it affect you?’ (What kind of Threats does this pose?)</li>
<li>‘What sense did you make of it?’ (What is the Meaning of these situations and experiences to you?)</li>
<li>‘What did you have to do to survive?’ (What kinds of Threat Response are you using?)</li>
<li>‘What are your strengths?’ (What access to Power resources do you have?)</li>
<li>‘What is your story?’ (How does all this fit together?)</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The Power Threat Meaning Framework: Guided Discussion, </div>
<div>
<a href="https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/PTM%20Appendix%201.pdf" target="_blank">https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/PTM%20Appendix%201.pdf</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">For more info:</span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Email Sarah at: peerlyhuman@gmail.com </li>
<li>Visit our conversation on Facebook at the Wellness and Recovery Human Rights Campaign, <a href="http://facebook.com/groups/WellnessRecoveryRights/">facebook.com/groups/WellnessRecoveryRights/</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
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Sarah Knutsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290844872665327137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572480303268518836.post-88167463369077367142018-03-31T06:13:00.002-04:002020-09-27T18:09:02.538-04:00How the Human Stress Response Explains Away "Bipolar Disorder"My current diagnosis is "Bipolar I Disorder." In a few years, that likely won't exist. I might even be able to sue my clinician for not assessing - or ruling out - known biological markers of stress that overlap with conventional diagnostic features.<br />
<br />
Here is how it works.<br />
<br />
<h2>
What we now know about the stress model</h2>
For a variety of complicated reasons, some of us develop an overactive stress baseline (sympathetic / fight or flight response) early on in life. Here's the down and dirty from Robert Sapolsky, world-renowned neurobiologist and primatologist at Stanford University:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Across numerous species, major early-life stressors produce both kids and adults with elevated levels of glucocorticoids (along with CRH and ACTH, the hypothalamic and pituitary hormones that regulate glucocorticoid release) and hyperactivity of the sympathetic nervous system. 32 Basal glucocorticoid levels are elevated—the stress response is always somewhat activated—and there is delayed recovery back to baseline after a stressor. Michael Meaney of McGill University has shown how early-life stress permanently blunts the ability of the brain to rein in glucocorticoid secretion. </blockquote>
(Sapolsky, 2017, pp. 194-95.)<br />
<br />
A simple way of thinking about this is that a lot of us start our lives in 'high idle' mode. The engine is always a little too revved and running a bit fast for its own good. Plus, it's harder than usual to calm it down. This puts added wear and tear on the system, and that begins to show over the years.<br />
<br />
There are a zillion ways the effects of a high rev can manifest. The stress response affects virtually every aspect of human functioning. Here are some that Sapolsky (2004) discusses in another book:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Functioning of glands, hormones, neurotransmitters</li>
<li>Heart, blood pressure, cholesterol, breathing</li>
<li>Metabolism, appetite, digestion, stomach and gut functioning</li>
<li>Growth and development</li>
<li>Sex and reproduction</li>
<li>Immune system, vulnerability to disease</li>
<li>Pain </li>
<li>Memory</li>
<li>Sleep</li>
<li>Aging and Death 239</li>
<li>Mental health and well-being</li>
<li>"Depression", motivation, ability to experience pleasure</li>
<li>Personality and temperament</li>
<li>Vulnerability to addiction</li>
</ol>
<br />
In other words, there's practically nothing that happens in human minds and bodies that the stress response doesn't potentially affect.<br />
<br />
How the stress response affects us individually is a different matter. Human beings are incredibly diverse in our life circumstances, experiences, interests and gifts. There is no manual for life. Nor is there any one right way of doing things. Rather, human development is more of a creative endeavor.<br />
<br />
Each of us constructs a response to the challenges we face based on what we have to work with (personally, socially, environmentally) at the time. With time and repetition, some responses start to come more naturally than others. They start to feel like the essence of 'me.' And, in all likelihood what I come up with - and ends up feeling entirely natural to me - will end up being entirely different from what you come up with - and what ends up feeling natural to you.<br />
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That's the beauty and diversity of life. It potentially gives us a lot to learn from each other.<br />
<h2>
So what's going on with 'mania'?</h2>
Well, here's a really interesting piece of information. As it turns out, the human stress response (sympathetic/ fight-flight) is a real swinger. It plays for both teams. In other words, the stress response doesn't just get turned on by fear - like if I'm being chased by a bear. It also turns on <i><b>if I am the bear</b></i> and chasing you. This was discovered by a bunch of researchers at the University of Florida. (Bradley et al. 2001; Bradley et al., in press; Lang et al. 2010; Lang et al. 2013; Schupp et al. 2004.) Here is one of the diagrams they drew to illustrate what they found:<br />
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<br />
(Schupp et al., 2004, p. 598.)<br />
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As you can see, the upside of the stress response (appetitive motivation) has a lot of overlap with the exciting and pleasurable things that many of us tend to chase after when we're so-called 'manic.'<br />
<br />
When you think about it, it makes sense though.<br />
<br />
The human stress / survival response (sympathetic nervous system/ fight-flight) developed to help us survive - both as individuals and as a species. Our survival is not just about getting away from threats as fast as we can. Survival also requires us to be alert and on the ball for potential opportunities.<br />
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It's not enough to just know there's an opportunity. A lot of opportunities are only there for a moment. Like classic cat and mouse, you have to gear up and go after it before it gets away.<br />
<br />
Think of bargain shopping at Walmart on Black Friday. I have to be able to mobilize really quickly if I'm going to snatch up that hot deal on a big screen TV. Fortunately, the survival response is there for me. It's all over the stuff that matters to human beings the most - thereby enabling me to out-hustle or out-wrestle the next guy who is all over the same Walmart bargain that I am.<br />
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<br />
Physiology of "Mania": Symptom by symptom.<br />
<br />
So now that we have a basic outline of what's going on, let's take a look at so-called 'mania.' We'll go through the criteria for a 'manic episode' symptom by symptom so you can see how the stress response is potentially operating here.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<u><b>DSM 5 Critieria for Manic Episode</b> </u></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br />
A) A distinct period of abnormally and<span style="background-color: cyan;"> persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood </span>and abnormally and <span style="background-color: cyan;">persistently increased goal-directed activity or energy</span>, lasting <span style="background-color: cyan;">at least 1 week</span> and present most of the day, nearly every day (or any duration if hospitalization is necessary. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
B) During the period of mood disturbance and increased energy or activity, three (or more) of the <span style="background-color: cyan;">following symptoms</span> (four if the mood is only irritable) are present to a significant degree and represent a noticeable change from usual behavior: </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
1. <span style="background-color: cyan;">Inflated self-esteem or grandiosity.</span><br />
2. <span style="background-color: cyan;">Decreased need for sleep</span> (e.g., feels rested after only 3 hours of sleep).<br />
3. <span style="background-color: cyan;">More talkative than usual</span> or <span style="background-color: cyan;">pressure to keep talking</span>.<br />
4.<span style="background-color: cyan;"> Flights of ideas</span> or subjective experience that <span style="background-color: cyan;">thoughts are racing</span>.<br />
5. <span style="background-color: cyan;">Distractability</span> (i.e., attention too easily drawn to unimportant or irrelevant external stimuli), as reported or observed.<br />
6. <span style="background-color: cyan;">Increase in goal-directed activity</span> (either socially, at work or school, or sexually) or <span style="background-color: cyan;">psychomotor agitation</span> (i.e., purposeless<br />
non-goal-directed activity).<br />
7. Excessive involvement in <span style="background-color: cyan;">activities that have a high potential for painful consequences </span>(e.g., engaging in unrestrained<br />
buying sprees, sexual indiscretions, or foolish business investments). </blockquote>
<br />
<br />
Let's start with Criteria A first: <span style="background-color: yellow;"> elevated, expansive, or irritable mood</span><span style="background-color: white;">, </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">increased energy</span><span style="background-color: white;">, </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">increased goal-directed activity</span><span style="background-color: white;">. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">To really see what's going on, let's go back to that Walmart bargain and take a look at what is happening physically and mentally: </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<br />
<ul>
<li>First of all, an opportunity like this doesn't come every day. </li>
<li>In all likelihood, I'm gonna get something I desperately want at a price I can finally afford. </li>
<li>But there's a catch: I get the bargain if and only if the item I want is still on the shelf -- which requires me to activate like crazy to beat out the next guy. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">So is my mood expansive or elevated...? You bet. It's the chance of a year, and I might get it. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">Am I going to get potentially irritated...? Well, if anything cuts me off or gets in my way, you bet. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">Is my energy increased...? You bet. I have to make a dash for it.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">Am I goal-directed...? You bet. That's the whole purpose. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Does it last a week...? Probably not, because it's a one-day sale. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">But it could. - Like if I had to compete with the other customers in a survivor show for the chance to get the best deal - and that competition went on for a week or a month.... Well then, if I really, really wanted that item, and this was my one chance, I might well stay revved for as long as it took to give myself the best chance I could at landing the prize. And, just the same as if I was in a war zone and had to stay in high alert, my body would likely rise to the occasion for as long as I needed it to to protect my interests as much as possible. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">Okay, onto Criteria B. Here's where you have to understand a bit more about the fight or flight response and how it actually affects us. When I'm chasing the opportunity of a lifetime, this is what my body does: </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<br />
<ol>
<li>Adrenalin surges. My heart pounds, lungs pump and blood pressure amps. All of this is in service of getting as much fuel and oxygen to my muscles as possible. </li>
<li>My hair stands on end, my fists clench, my legs get ready to run. Everything is primed and ready to pounce at the drop of a hat. </li>
<li>My digestion shuts down. My stomach gets queasy and light. My bladder and bowels empty - just to make sure there's no needless surplus holding me back. </li>
<li>Higher order thinking (judgment) gets put on hold. That takes energy that my muscles need to move me. It also takes wayyyyy too long. This is a time for action! I can't afford to get bogged down in details. Once the cat is in the bag, there will be plenty of time for a more careful and reflective appraisal of what could be different. </li>
<li>With judgment out of the way, out come the fast reflexes and old habits. The autonomic system takes over behind the scenes and starts calling the plays. Whatever it is that I do best and know best - whatever comes most naturally - is what that system goes with. After all, the stakes are high. This is the Superbowl of my life. I'm not going to try out a new quarterback or a new play. I'm also not going to put in the second string. No way! It's the stuff I've already done a zillion times over that is going to get done once again in this frame of mind.</li>
<li>Next come the tunnel vision and the tunnel hearing to shut out all the outside distractions. Attention rivets. This allows me to hyper-focus and totally zoom in on my vision of what I want to happen. </li>
<li>I feel no pain. Literally. Endorphins, my body's natural opioids, are in full gear now, again making sure that nothing distracts me from the task at hand. </li>
<li>It gets even better. The fact that I'm pursuing a highly meaningful personal goal is giving me massive hits of dopamine - which is essentially endogenous cocaine. In other words, I'm getting encouraged and reinforced by my body's own reward system to whole-heartedly pursue something I care about a lot. </li>
</ol>
<div>
Ok, now let's go back to Criteria B. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="background-color: yellow;">1. Inflated self-esteem or grandiosity.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> Am I feeling pretty powerful here? You bet. An opportunity of a life time is within reasonable reach. My muscles are pumped. I'm feeling no pain. I'm getting massive internal rewards. E</span><span style="background-color: white;">ndogenous cocaine is telling me I'm doing great. </span><span style="background-color: white;">Any outside feedback that could discourage me is being shut out. Yep, this space feels pretty awesome. And if I weren't pretty awesome too, then why would I be here? </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: yellow;">2. Decreased need for sleep</span><span style="background-color: white;"> Let's be honest. Is there any chance in hell my body is going to let me sleep in these circumstances....?<br /> </span><span style="background-color: yellow;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: yellow;">3. More talkative than usual or pressure to keep talking.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> Yep, for sure. If I care about you or you care about me, you bet I'm talking. This is the opportunity of a life time. I want you to know about it. I want you to get in on it. I want your support 100%. This is way, way, way too precious for either of us to miss out on. And, I'm gonna make sure you know that. I'm also going to make sure you have all the information you need to help this plan succeed. Heck, you can even carry it out without me if I go down.</span><span style="background-color: yellow;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: yellow;">4. Flights of ideas, racing thoughts. </span><span style="background-color: white;"> You bet. There's so much to figure out and so many angles to anticipate. All possibilities must be considered. All vulnerabilities must be anticipated and addressed.<br /> </span><span style="background-color: yellow;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: yellow;">5. Distractability</span><span style="background-color: white;"> Frankly I might never feel this good again. I'm on a roll and I better take advantage of this energy while it's here. There's not a moment to lose. I need to make sure that I get everything I can possibly get while the universe is being this generous to me and making me feel this amazingly great. Yes, I know you might think you have important things to say to me. But that can wait. We can talk anytime. You don't understand. <i><b>This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.</b></i> </span><span style="background-color: yellow;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: yellow;">6. Goal-directed activity, psychomotor agitation. </span><span style="background-color: white;"> Yep. This is here for sure, like we talked about above, for all the reasons above. </span><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">7. </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">Risky activities, high potential for painful consequences (unrestrained </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">buying sprees, sexual indiscretions, or foolish business investments). </span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;"> Exactly. This is where the survival response is really so deadly.<br /> </span><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">In simple fact, whole purpose of the survival response is to facilitate quick action and fast resolution. So it's basically telling me that everything is urgent and to run, run, run. Because after all this is the <i><b>opportunity of a life time.</b></i> So, nail it down, right now. Once we have it in hand, there will be plenty of time afterward to think about what we did, how we did it, how it might go better next time. But, says my brain in the survival frame of mind, <i><b>this is not the time</b></i>. </span><br />
<br />
In these circumstances, my better judgment really doesn't have a chance. It's under-resourced at the same time that my body is primed for action and my old habits are given a free reign. There's also very little chance of any outside feedback getting past the fire wall being that is being patrolled by the high intensity tunnel vision/ tunnel hearing hyper-focus system that is keen to insure that 100% of my attention is focused on pursuing this reward.<br />
<br />
So that about does it. Dispensed with the all the symptoms of so-called genetic, chemically-imbalanced 'mania' armed only with the little ole garden-variety human stress response that happens for millions of Americans every Thanksgiving.<br />
<br />
If you've been following me so far, and relating it to your own experience, then quite possibly you're beginning to see how all of this might come together to create the 'perfect storm' that gets labelled a 'manic episode.'<br />
<br />
But what about that inevitable crash that comes the so-called 'mania'? Where does that come from?<br />
<br />
Piece of cake. The survival response runs on borrowed time and energy. It requires sacrifice from all sorts of other bodily systems. At the time, I have no idea this is happening. The adrenaline, the power surge, the dopamine hits, the pain killers, the hyper-focus frame of mind all converge to keep me chasing short-term gains.<br />
<br />
Once I come back to earth, however, it's payback time. There's a boatload of refueling, replenishing and damage repair that has to be done - at the very least in my own body, quite possibly in my life as well.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Let's talk Biomarkers.</h2>
<br />
Hopefully by now you can see how most - if not all - of the so-called 'bipolar' symptoms connect to the human stress (survival) response. The even better news is that there is a way to test to see if this is what's happening. There are numerous biomarkers for these kinds of stress states: blood pressure, blood sugar and oxygen levels, blood and saliva tests for hormones (e.g., adrenalin, glucocorticoids), skin conductivity tests, muscle tension or twitching, frequency of movement, whether fine motor or large motor movements are more prevalent, pupil dilation, whether visual perception is biased toward detail or gross impressions, brain scans to see what neural pathways are 'hot' or 'cold' .... the list goes on.<br />
<br />
<h2>
What about other DSM Disorders...?</h2>
<br />
Yep, they all potentially have their stress response correlates, with symptoms that match known 'stress signatures' as well. It's only a matter of time before we start to map them and do the real/ honest science that so many of us have been calling for all along. <br />
<br />
Stay tuned - we'll be debunking some of these other 'disorders' from a stress response perspective in the near future.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Why this matters</h2>
Let's suppose you tell me that the wreckage I create in a 'bipolar' state of mind is due to a genetic or disease condition that renders my brain structurally defective. If that's the case, then any hope I have of effective treatment is logically the purview of brain scientists, doctors and surgeons. My major role is to pray that they figure out a cure and soon.<br />
<br />
On the other hand, suppose the problem isn't that at all. Suppose, what's really driving my so-called 'mania' is that my stress/ survival response is firing wildly.<br />
<br />
Then the solution is a lot more within the realm of something I can work with. Yes I have some learning to do. I need to understand the basics of how the survival system operates. I need to learn what turns it on - and even more importantly, what turns it off.<br />
<br />
But if I have that basic knowledge (which the average person can be taught in a few hours) then I have a tremendous amount I can work with through my own observation and trial and error.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Working with 'Mania'</h2>
<br />
<br />
Here are some basics that I've found useful for me.<br />
<br />
<h2>
What turns me on?</h2>
<br />
The survival response turns on from fear. Predator fear and prey fear look a little different. Predators get scared of losing opportunities. Prey get scared of becoming them. But fear is still the basic trigger that activates the system.<br />
<br />
<h2>
What turns me off?</h2>
I used to think there was no way to shut this thing down. It had been a part of me - and basically running my life - for long as long as I could remember. I couldn't imagine how I could work with it. I had tried so many things, none of them really seemed to work. The drugs shut me down, but killed everything I enjoyed about myself along with it. I felt stuck. <br />
<br />
Things started to change when I began to see my body as my ally, rather than my enemy.<br />
<br />
The simple fact is this: My body basically hates being in survival mode. The survival system burns up energy and resources like they are going out of style. It's simply not sustainable.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
There are 300 trillion cells in the human body. The survival response oversupplies a few of them, but leaves the vast majority high and dry. For the rest of these cells, life in survival mode is pretty dismal. Their needs are all basically getting ignored and going unmet while the survival system is off and running. They are not happy about this at all. Nothing would make them happier than to exit survival mode and go back to the other option (happy, sustainable, relaxed) that every human body has to offer.<br />
<br />
This other option is the rest and refresh mode of the parasympathetic nervous system. You don't hear much about this system. It's considered boring, compared to fight or flight. It's basically involved in repair and maintenance.<br />
<br />
But, when you think about it, there is tremendous wisdom and potential in this restorative bodily system. It's what lets us digest food, keep a steady heart beat, not forget to breath, replenish resources and sleep at night. It's what allows us to grow, heal injuries, defend against infection, reproduce - and love and connect with ourselves, each other and whatever is beyond.<br />
<br />
Better yet, this restorative (parasympathetic) part of us has been with us since the womb. It knows our needs and how to meet them better than anyone else could. No cell in the body is even more than 5 cells away from the capillary network it manages. It literally does brain surgery on us every night while we sleep to heal the damage of the day.<br />
<br />
Put another way: The ‘dumbest’ one of us on the planet has a parasympathetic nervous system that is smarter than any neuroscientist who ever lived. If that weren’t the case, none of us could be alive right now.<br />
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<br />
<h2>
Turning Off 'Mania'</h2>
<br />
If I want to function in this world, my body basically gives me two choices:<br />
<br />
1. A survival (stress) response that revs me up and keeps me running and chasing.<br />
<br />
2. A restorative system (parasympathetic) that offers less excitement but the option of real serenity and sustainability (well-being).<br />
<br />
My personal belief is this: <i>I have to decide ‘which wolf I want to feed.’</i><br />
<br />
For me, that means actively choosing which bodily system I want to live in and relate to life from as human being. Is it the body of trust and connection - of sustainability, restoration and well-being? Or is it the body of excitement, ambition and hot pursuit...? <br />
<br />
Setting my mind to go for the trust and connection body is about half the battle. Here are some other tips I've found useful:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>The survival (stress) system goes on for a reason. It is signalling me that something I care about feels unsafe or at risk. Once that risk is addressed, the system has no reason for stay on. It turns off naturally once I start to feel secure. As a result, I generally approach my activation with an eye to restoring a sense of safety and well-being. I ask myself what I'm scared of and try to listen honestly for the answer. Sometimes just doing this much - honestly owning that I'm scared of something and facing the truth of what that is - can help a lot. </li>
<li>There’s a bit of a trick to making conscious contact with the body of well being (restorative system). I can’t access this part of me by trying harder or forcing myself to feel something. The harder I try, the more my survival (stress) system revs up. The restorative (well-being) system turns on when I make a decision to let go and allow myself to be helped. I consciously shift my focus from trying to fix it to actively cultivating my capacity to trust and be cared for. This parallels the wisdom of many religions (and also Twelve Step programs). My personal belief is that this is not an accident, but more on that another time. </li>
<li>As someone with a boatload of social trauma, and a really bad relationship with my body historically, making this shift this has not come easily. Nevertheless, I’ve found it possible with practice. Over time, the internal motor has begun to slow down. Everything is not always a crisis any more. It doesn't always have to get fixed right away - and sometimes not at all! There is now a frame of mind that I can access where everything really is ok just the way it is. </li>
<li>In trying to lessen the amount of time I spend in survival reactivity, it helps to learn to recognize the signs of amping up. I can then use that ‘biofeedback’ as a mindfulness bell to return to the body of well being. Once back in that state of relative well being, I can begin to gently inquire into what is scaring me and allow possibilities for addressing it to bubble up.</li>
<li>The long and the short of it is that there’s a zillion ways to feel scared, but also a zillion resources for feeling safer. There’s also a zillion options for finding something or someone I can potentially put my trust in. That’s where the diversity of life and experience on planet earth is a huge asset.</li>
<li>It can also help to do things that physically reassure my body and the cells in me that we are not in crisis. I try to find ways to be with myself that are totally different from how my body would act if I were running from a bear. This includes moving slowly and intentionally, activating my curiosity about small things, doing stuff that takes fine motor coordination instead of large muscle groups, making tiny gentle touching movements one finger at a time, wiggling my toes one toe at a time, doing something familiar and easy like making my bed or washing a dish, playing my guitar… The possibilities are endless.</li>
<li>It’s important to be patient. As Sapolsky points out, the transition from survival (sympathetic) activation to restorative well being (parasympathetic) is a delicate one. It’s bad for the body to have both systems firing at the same time (like heart attack bad). Also, it takes awhile to clear one set of hormones from the bloodstream and introduce new ones. Thus, the body needs to time to make a safe transition. This takes a while – a minimum of 10-20 minutes - and more likely an hour or two. Sometimes, I even find it happening slowly over several days when I've been on a real emotional bender. </li>
<li>Waiting out this transition can feel really uncomfortable. The more activated I am, generally the harder it is to sit tight. But, if I’m able to keep trusting in the process (instead of panicking and ratcheting myself back into stress reactivity), my body gets progressively more comfortable. My muscles relax as my cardiovascular and endocrine systems stop pumping and priming them for action. The circulatory system starts re-routing oxygen and glucose to my stomach, intestines, pancreas, kidneys and prefrontal cortex. Queasiness, cravings and gut discomfort dissolve as my digestive system reboots into a context of relative calm. Rational capacities return, and big picture perspective and judgment radically improve as my brain has increasingly more to work with. The end result is that I become progressively interested in – and capable of enjoying – rest, relaxation, sleep, healthy food, recreation, mundane social interactions and life management tasks. My body repairs and restores. </li>
</ol>
<br />
Eventually I feel human again.<br />
<br />
<ol>
</ol>
Below are some steps that I use to help me make the transition. I practice them daily, often by setting a timer and doing them as a meditation (e.g., 1-2 minutes per step).<br />
<ol>
</ol>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy1yEysGJdivRnNNG54glstX4WfFcPuk3n3ns1g9DZf2j7QHEBeAjHYGjsBynSj_yBfZujmBlVc6meWff_21gVc1BBWSyN0DzaxZCMWbqJozkgM6BX1K3WGrLQFRH2Zo9TezmopWDXDAU/s1600/Steps+1+to+6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy1yEysGJdivRnNNG54glstX4WfFcPuk3n3ns1g9DZf2j7QHEBeAjHYGjsBynSj_yBfZujmBlVc6meWff_21gVc1BBWSyN0DzaxZCMWbqJozkgM6BX1K3WGrLQFRH2Zo9TezmopWDXDAU/s640/Steps+1+to+6.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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It actually really works, if I’m willing to try it.<br />
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<h2>
REFERENCES:</h2>
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Bradley, M. M., Codispoti, M., Cuthbert, B. N., & Lang, P. J. (2001). Emotion and motivation I: Defensive and appetitive reactions in picture processing. Emotion, 1(3), 276-298. <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/cd1a/a512069ea32d00bba9e2d9e62f172304652f.pdf.">https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/cd1a/a512069ea32d00bba9e2d9e62f172304652f.pdf.</a><br />
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Bradley, M. M. & Lang, P. J. (in press). Motivation and emotion. In J.T. Cacioppo, L. G. Tassinary, and G. Berntson (Eds.), http://brain-mind.med.uoc.gr/sites/default/files/aaaaEmotion_0.pdf, Handbook of Psychophysiology (2rd Edition). New York: Cambridge University Press, <span style="color: #0000ee;"><u>http://brain-mind.med.uoc.gr/sites/default/files/aaaaEmotion_0.pdf</u></span><br />
<br />
Lang, P. J., & Bradley, M. M. (2013). Appetitive and Defensive Motivation: Goal-Directed or Goal-Determined? Emotion Review : Journal of the International Society for Research on Emotion, 5(3), 230–234. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3784012/pdf/nihms452994.pdf">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3784012/pdf/nihms452994.pdf</a><br />
<br />
Lang, P. J., & Bradley, M. M. (2010). Emotion and the motivational brain. Biological Psychology, 84(3), 437–450. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3612949/pdf/nihms-164194.pdf">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3612949/pdf/nihms-164194.pdf</a><br />
<br />
Sapolsky, R. (2017). Behave: the biology of humans at our best and worst. New York : Penguin Press, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/19107284-d0wnload-behave-pdf-audiobook-by-robert-m-sapolsky">https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/19107284-d0wnload-behave-pdf-audiobook-by-robert-m-sapolsky</a> (pages 194-95).<br />
<br />
Sapolsky, R. (2004). Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, 3rd Edition (New York: Holt Paperbacks), <a href="https://www.mta.ca/pshl/docs/zebras.pdf">https://www.mta.ca/pshl/docs/zebras.pdf</a>.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Schupp, H., Cuthbert, B., et al. (2004). Brain processes in emotional perception: Motivated attention, Cognition and Emotion, 18:5, 593-611, <a href="http://wwwtest.kch.uiuc.edu/Research/Labs/neurocognitive-kinesiology/files/Articles/Brain_processes_in_emotional_perception_Motivated_attention.pdf">http://wwwtest.kch.uiuc.edu/Research/Labs/neurocognitive-kinesiology/files/Articles/Brain_processes_in_emotional_perception_Motivated_attention.pdf</a>Sarah Knutsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290844872665327137noreply@blogger.com37tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572480303268518836.post-91131396566576103642018-03-25T13:33:00.003-04:002020-09-27T18:09:31.449-04:00Reality In a Nutshell: How the Normal Stress Response Explains Away 'Mental Illness"(in progress)<br />
<br />
A troubling fact of the medical model of mental illness is that the lion’s share of psychiatric<br />
diagnoses lack inter-rater reliability and fail to specify a coherent theory as to actual causation.<br />
In recent years, both the NIMH and the British Psychological Society have given the current<br />
diagnostic system a vote of no confidence and called for re-examination. Post by Former NIMH Director Thomas Insel: Transforming Diagnosis (April 29. 2013), <a href="https://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/directors/thomas-insel/blog/2013/transforming-diagnosis.shtml">https://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/directors/thomas-insel/blog/2013/transforming-diagnosis.shtml</a>; Johnstone, L. (May 13, 2013), UK Clinical Psychologists Call for the Abandonment of Psychiatric Diagnosis and the ‘Disease’ Model, <a href="https://www.madinamerica.com/2013/05/uk-clinical-psychologists-call-for-the-abandonment-of-psychiatric-diagnosis-and-the-disease-model/">https://www.madinamerica.com/2013/05/uk-clinical-psychologists-call-for-the-abandonment-of-psychiatric-diagnosis-and-the-disease-model/</a>.<br />
<br />
The question remains how to explain behavioral health phenomena that many people find troubling in a coherent, comprehensible way. The Social Justice Model of Fundamental Human Needs was proposed for this purpose in 2016. Einstein, Social Justice and the New Relativity, <a href="https://www.madinamerica.com/2016/02/einstein-social-justice-new-relativity/">https://www.madinamerica.com/2016/02/einstein-social-justice-new-relativity/</a>. In January 2018, the British Psychological Society went on record with a highly similar model - the Power Threat Meaning Framework - recognizing the importance of individual experience, trauma, culture and social justice considerations in the phenomena that are currently labeled and treated as 'mental illness. Johnstone, L. & Boyle, M. (2018). The Power Threat Meaning Framework: Towards the identification of patterns in emotional distress, unusual experiences and troubled or troubling behaviour, as an alternative to functional psychiatric diagnosis. Leicester: British Psychological Society, <a href="https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/INF299%20PTM%20Main%20web.pdf">https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/INF299%20PTM%20Main%20web.pdf</a>.<br />
<br />
The Power Threat Meaning framework proposed by the British Psychological Society model does an incredible job of articulating the research and rationale for moving beyond the medical model of mental illness. It also clearly articulates the problematic nature of biomedical research, as well as why this research falls far short of giving us satisfactory explanations and meaningful information about the phenomena at issue. A question left open by the Power Threat Meaning framework, however is this:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>What actually <i>is</i> the role human biology in the phenomena we are calling 'mental illness'?</li>
<li>What part does human biology play in affecting how important life experiences (like threat or trauma) and their personal, social and cultural meanings are expressed in real time in living breathing human beings</li>
</ol>
<br />
This purpose of this paper here is to address that gap. Here we propose that the human stress response - if understood in the level of detail that modern stress research is now making possible - holds promising explanatory power:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>It is fully capable of providing a physical mechanism by which individual and social meanings of great personal importance are expressed. </li>
<li>It likely evolved in animals and humans, in part, to serve this purpose.</li>
<li>It potentially functions as the driving force behind nearly all of the somatic 'symptoms' - and contributes to many to many of the subjective experiences - that are labeled 'disorders' by the DSM. </li>
<li>It explains not only aversive responses to threat or pain (e.g., anxiety, depression), but also excited responses to opportunities and pleasure (e.g., mania, addiction). </li>
</ol>
<div>
This way of understanding also has important implications for those interested in social justice, equality and dignity for those labeled 'mentally ill.' The stress model is universal and applies to all human beings. Its fundamental operations are something that all human beings experience and have personal experience with. The information related to the stress model - and how to relate to ourselves and others skillfully when in excited or distressed - is thus universally relevant. All human beings, everywhere, can benefit from knowing more about it. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The universality of the stress model is a great leveler. Everyone experiences stress or excitement. Everyone has experience with trying to manage stress and excitement in themselves. Everyone has been impacted by the stress or excitement of others. Everyone has had some successes and probably many failures in trying to contain the personal and social damage when stress or excitement goes too high and powers up to levels that feel subjectively 'unsafe.' </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This first hand knowledge potentially makes all of us 'experts.' It potentially empowers us as individuals, families, allies and people of goodwill to take meaningful action and offer meaningful assistance to resolve crisis situations. The major requirement is that we learn what is known about the human stress response, how it operates - what brings it up and what helps to tone it down. From there, the task is simply to be begin to observe the stress response in ourselves: </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>How do I respond to threats and opportunities? </li>
<li>What happens in me when I feel threatened or excited? </li>
<li>How do I treat myself and others when something I care about a lot is at stake?</li>
<li>How does that tend to work out for all of us in the end? </li>
</ul>
</div>
<br />
From there, the task is simply to use imagination and empathy. My first effort is usually to try to relate to relate to others in ways that would work for me in a similar situation.<br />
<br />
PLEASE NOTE: There is a crucial distinction here. I really have to put myself in the other's shoes and ask what I would want in their shoes. This is very different from just following conventional advice about what to say or do when someone 'gets out of line."<br />
<br />
Most of the time this works. The more in touch I get with myself the better I do. The more in touch I get with what stressed me out (instead of just blocking it out of my mind) the more experience I have to work with. The more in touch I get with myself during the times I'm really stressed out more I can empathize with how hard it is to be in a given situation. The more in touch I get with what I really need or want from others when I'm stressed out better my intuition becomes about what I might be able to offer -- and just as important how to offer it in a respectful rather than degrading way.<br />
<br />
But, suppose that doesn't work. My best efforts have failed me and I'm still really striking out. In other words, what if someone seems to me to be getting more rather than less stressed or extreme as a result of my actions.<br />
<br />
<i>Well, then, now I'm stressed right? </i><br />
<br />
That leads to option #2. If I'm just trying to be a good samaritan to a random citizen, at this point, I might give up and walk away. <i>I tried to do what I know how to do, but it didn't work. I offered what I had, it wasn't enough. Win some, lose some. I got a life to live.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
But what if this person is my life? What if we our lives overlap or are inextricably intertwined in some important way?<br />
<br />
Now we're at option #3.<br />
<br />
I own my own stress and ask <i>the other person </i>for help to manage it.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>I honestly tell them what I'm looking for: <i>I want to understand. But I feel like I keep missing you.</i></li>
<li>I try to verbalize what that experience might be like from their side: <i>I'm guessing it might be really frustrating for you to be experiencing something you care a lot about and have someone seem to be trying really hard, but still not be able to understand</i>. </li>
<li>I own my stress: <i>I worry that I might be making your life worse rather than better right now - and I totally don't want to do that. </i> </li>
<li>I own what my stress is about for me: <i> I think I'm scaring myself here. I'm used to being able to relate in really difficult situations. I don't like feeling like I'm failing you. </i></li>
<li>I ask for help in finding a workable direction for both of us: <i>Do you have any ideas how we could go forward? Is there anything I should be doing differently here? </i></li>
<li>I ask for the practical support I need to hang in there with the conversation: <i>I'm having trouble following so many points at once. Can we get a paper and make a diagram so I can see what relates to what? </i></li>
</ul>
<br />
It's about that simple. It works 90% of the time - with 90% of people. And I spend a lot of time with stressed out people.<br />
<br />
OK so onto the model....<br />
<br />
<h2>
The Stress Model of Human Survival Reactivity</h2>
<div>
(in mostly outline form, in progress) </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
The following comes out of my own lived experience (which includes numerous personal diagnostic labels - bulimia’, ‘anxiety’, ‘psychotic NOS’, ‘OCD’, ‘OCPD’, ‘depression’, ‘bipolar’…), a law degree, former clinical practice as a therapist, completing the coursework for a doctorate in pastoral counseling, and subsequent disability pension due to mental extremes. I basically have been trying to find a way to honestly and accurately describe what is going on for me – and the DSM / medical explanations don't help or seem to fit. Some of the treatments I tried helped in small ways, but none of them was a complete answer. Many things I was told to do made things worse instead of better, or created new problems of their own. Even worse, the advice of mental health experts put me in conflict with my own knowing. This made me more confused and drove the truths I believe my mind and body were trying to get across to me even further underground.<br />
<br />
For many years, I gave up my own agency. I relied on the advice of mental health professionals, increasingly ceding my own authority. I hoped beyond hope that someday all my hard work would pay off. Eventually, I would experience the promised 'break though' and all would be well with myself and my future. At last, I could have the life I saw others having and was working so hard to deserve!<br />
<br />
At some point I realized the process, for me, was never going to end. There was always going to deeper aspect of myself to pathologize. No matter how hard I tried to do it their way, the simple fact was this: If I kept being honest about what I found, no one in the mental health profession was ever going to pronounce me well.<br />
<br />
The realization was utterly demoralizing. I really was 'mentally ill' and no escape was possible. Those were my initial thoughts. <br />
<br />
Then I decided to take my future into my own hands. I knew people who had used the same techniques I had, and got better. What were they doing differently? Why did it work for them and not me?<br />
<br />
I applied to graduate school in a mental health program and started trying to figure this out. In some ways, the experience was a failure. I never found an answer to my initial question. I never learned how to make the mental health work for me. Even as a practicing therapist, I kept getting worse instead of better.<br />
<br />
But I did get exposed to some new ideas, and set on a new path of inquiry, that (for me) has made a huge difference. This, in turn, led me to develop this following model (Stress Model of Survival Reactivity) that I'm about to share with you. It's the first thing I've come across that has allowed me to make sense of - and productively work with - the intense inner world I've been experiencing since childhood. It also seems to make sense to quite a few others I’ve shared it with.<br />
<br />
<h2>
I. Preliminary Question: What biology are we actually seeing in DSM ("mental illness")diagnoses? </h2>
The basic premise is this:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>We can potentially explain the nearly the entire medical model/ DSM just based on the human stress (survival) response. </li>
<li>In a word, it’s just the human condition.</li>
</ol>
<br />
<h2>
II. The Role of Biology in Troubled/ Troubling States </h2>
<h3>
Concept A: Dual Threat/ Opportunity Stress Response Activation</h3>
<h3>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
The human stress / survival response (largely the sympathetic nervous system, ‘fight-flight-freeze’) developed to help us survive - both as individuals and as a species. It is activated both by threats and opportunities, as both have important survival implications. I.e., it might be more fun to be predator than prey, but there are stress and survival implications for both. Thus, the stress response is not just about avoiding getting eaten. Even if you’re a predator, and even if you enjoy hunting, it is still stressful to need to eat and find ways to feed yourself. So the survival system is there for you, to satisfy animal appetites – as much as it is for your potential meal-mates lower on the food chain.<br />
<br />
Here's how it works:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKkyCj0Y8-wSNvLXvA27uvSMYLgLeCH0lHlTTgSVbdlRMMBw1RQGsEsyHQcoxvXW_UY-BEaWKuLQTk7UQthF2_lA2wCA7ij8NJ4KJCUmteyXKNS4Z1g1JSgl05YpMyx6zCzlOEVatE6Bk/s1600/appetitive+diagram+schupp.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1048" data-original-width="1067" height="627" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKkyCj0Y8-wSNvLXvA27uvSMYLgLeCH0lHlTTgSVbdlRMMBw1RQGsEsyHQcoxvXW_UY-BEaWKuLQTk7UQthF2_lA2wCA7ij8NJ4KJCUmteyXKNS4Z1g1JSgl05YpMyx6zCzlOEVatE6Bk/s640/appetitive+diagram+schupp.png" width="640" /></a><br />
<br /></div>
</h3>
Another way to think of the stress/ survival response is that it is about power. It helps us power up, marshall our resources and exert power in ways that protect the needs and values we care about the most. There are 4 archetypal (autonomic) power roles crucial to animal survival:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Predator – you exert power to expand the scope of your territory</li>
<li>Prey – you exert power to protect yourself from intrusion</li>
<li>Protector – you exert power to protect others. Can be motivated by self-interest (shepherd), altruism (Jesus), or both (most family relationships)</li>
<li>Protected - you don't have to exert power. You feel safe, protected and free to appreciate existence just as you are.</li>
</ol>
The different power roles have some significant differences in the way they use the stress response. Here's an overly simplistic model for their different physical and mental experiences. The information about specific hormones and how they function is based on Sapolsky reference, infra.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Predator (fight)</h4>
This is the way the business world and most of the modern culture operates<br />
<br />
Profile:<br />
<ol>
<li>Mental = power up with intention of destroying all resistance. </li>
<li>Physical = sympathetic: adrenaline (power and control) + dopamine (hope/ optimism, activates to helps us chase our goals). </li>
</ol>
The Predator profile supports active chasing/ aggressive behavior. It potentially explains ‘symptoms’ related to excitement, activation, hyper-focus, high energy, obsession, dominance, grandiosity and the like. It is behind the predatory, expansive or appetitive ‘disorders’ like 'mania' addiction, violence, sexual predation, some kinds of spirituality.<br />
<br />
The Predator response can stand alone, e.g., I like feeling powerful so I'll make you vulnerable (much of sadism). It can also be compensatory, e.g., I feel vulnerable and scared and I need something to feel better - what can I chase or catch that will do that? (Much of addiction). Often, I experience some of both. (E.g., the boss threatened to fire me, so now I’m picking a fight with you to feel more powerful.)<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Prey (flight, freeze)</h4>
This is what it feels like to me as a small cogs in the big and grinding wheel of modern culture.<br />
<br />
Flight profile:<br />
<ol>
<li>Mental = power up with intention of escaping destruction</li>
<li>Physical = sympathetic + adrenaline (power and control)</li>
</ol>
Notice here that the prey profile has no dopamine. In other words, there is no anticipation of reward -- only the stress of being chased and deterred from enjoying more meaningful activities. This is hallmark trait of pure anxiety - heart and lungs pumping, blood pressure through the roof; muscles tense, shaking, jumpy); digestive system shutting down (lump in throat, nauseous, gut cramping, bowels loose, weak bladder); hair trigger reactivity; mind blank or racing). For me, it explains most of the anxiety-related 'disorders / symptoms' in the DSM.<br />
<br />
Freeze profile:<br />
<ol>
<li>Mental= power off with intention of escaping detection</li>
<li>Physical (most commonly) = sympathetic (readiness) + parasympathetic brake (holding you back or still) </li>
</ol>
<br />
Freeze often looks like a uniform phenomena to outside observers. But it serves a variety of functions. Freeze itself is posited to have several unique stress profiles of its own:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>freeze to appraise</li>
<li>freeze to play dead</li>
<li>freeze to become unconscious</li>
<li>freeze to heal</li>
</ol>
The freeze response potentially explains a variety of disorders and related symptoms. It is what anxiety, depression, and dissociative and/ or altered perceptual states feel like to me. Common features include: indecision, immobility, paralysis, black and brown outs; leaden limbs, waxy flexibility, attention that is either riveted or totally out of it, low blood pressure, low heart rate, locked muscles).<br />
<br />
<h4>
Protector (tend and befriend) </h4>
It is the archetypal ideal of family where others have your back when you're in trouble.<br />
<br />
Profile: Tend/ Befriend<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Mental = power up with intention of creating safety</li>
<li>Physical = sympathetic -> parasympathetic: adrenaline (power and control) + oxytocin (relational bonding) + dopamine (hope and reward) </li>
</ol>
The Protector profile energizes and gives meaning to human connection and bonding. It's the relatively pleasurable physical state that gets created when human beings use our power to walk each other to safety. I suspect that the pleasurable nature of the oxytocin at least partly contributes to the data on relationships as a protective factor in resilience.<br />
<br />
The Protector archetype points to the healing potential of both natural and service relationships - families, friends, neighbors, mutual aid, volunteering, professional helpers. It's probably behind the healing power that many of us experience with really good 'therapeutic alliance.' It likely explains the popularity and success of modern peer support movements.<br />
<br />
Notably, data from addiction recovery is that cocaine spurs a 1000-FOLD increase in the release of dopamine. So, if humans were only about self-interest or euphoric experiences, there would be no hope for recovery following initial exposure. Our fight response would have all of us, invariably, chasing drug-driven dopamine discharge until we die. But, every day, people overcome this largely though the power of peer support relationships. Something in the chemical mix of the human bonding experience apparently is more rewarding than cocaine. (See Hari reference, inpra.)<br />
<br />
I suspect Twelve Step programs capitalize on this. For myself, it's been a useful way to combat addictive cravings. My initial tendency under starts is to go with the 'fight response' but that often has me chasing stuff that is harmful in the long run. Instead, if I'm able to connect with another person, even if it involves doing something for them instead of me, I start to feel a little better. I'm guessing this the the power of oxytocin rising up to aid the human bonding experience and moving both of us to parasympathetic safety.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<h4>
Protected (rest/ refresh) </h4>
<br />
This is the Archetypal ideal of unity/ oneness/ 'all is well.'<br />
<br />
Profile: Rest/ Refresh<br />
<ol>
<li>Mental = natural easeful experience, no added power needed</li>
<li>Profile = totally parasympathetic</li>
</ol>
Essentially, this is the parasympathetic nervous system taking care of us. It is about trust and connection with ourselves, others and possibly beyond. I suspect it's the place in human beings that longs for (and possibly facilitates) contact with something greater than ourselves. It is what spirituality and unconditional well-being feel like to me. In this state, generosity of spirit and appreciation of things as they are seems to flow naturally. <br />
<br />
<h3>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
<h4>
REFERENCES:</h4>
</div>
</h3>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
Bradley, M. M., Codispoti, M., Cuthbert, B. N., & Lang, P. J. (2001). Emotion and motivation I: Defensive and appetitive reactions in picture processing. Emotion, 1(3), 276-298. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.1.3.276, https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/cd1a/a512069ea32d00bba9e2d9e62f172304652f.pdf.</div>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
Bradley, M. M. & Lang, P. J. (in press). Motivation and emotion. In J.T. Cacioppo, L. G. Tassinary, and G. Berntson (Eds.), http://brain-mind.med.uoc.gr/sites/default/files/aaaaEmotion_0.pdf, Handbook of Psychophysiology (2rd Edition). New York: Cambridge University</div>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
Press, <a href="https://www.hse.ru/data/2011/06/29/1216147786/Handbook%20of%20Psychophysiology.pdf">https://www.hse.ru/data/2011/06/29/1216147786/Handbook%20of%20Psychophysiology.pdf</a> </div>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
Hari, J. (2015). Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs. Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-620-408902.</div>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
Lang, P. J., & Bradley, M. M. (2013). Appetitive and Defensive Motivation: Goal-Directed or Goal-Determined? Emotion Review : Journal of the International Society for Research on Emotion, 5(3), 230–234. http://doi.org/10.1177/175407391347751, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3784012/pdf/nihms452994.pdf">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3784012/pdf/nihms452994.pdf</a></div>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
Lang, P. J., & Bradley, M. M. (2010). Emotion and the motivational brain. Biological Psychology, 84(3), 437–450. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2009.10.007, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3612949/pdf/nihms-164194.pdf">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3612949/pdf/nihms-164194.pdf</a></div>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
Sapolsky, R. Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, 3rd Edition, <a href="https://www.mta.ca/pshl/docs/zebras.pdf">https://www.mta.ca/pshl/docs/zebras.pdf</a>. </div>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Schupp, H., Cuthbert, B., et al. (2010). Brain processes in emotional perception: Motivated attention, Cognition and Emotion, 18:5, 593-611,DOI: 10.1080/02699930341000239, <a href="http://wwwtest.kch.uiuc.edu/Research/Labs/neurocognitive-kinesiology/files/Articles/Brain_processes_in_emotional_perception_Motivated_attention.pdf">http://wwwtest.kch.uiuc.edu/Research/Labs/neurocognitive-kinesiology/files/Articles/Brain_processes_in_emotional_perception_Motivated_attention.pdf</a></div>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
<br /></div>
<h3>
Concept B: The Defense Cascade.</h3>
<br />
This is where the research is heading in trauma-informed care:<br />
<br />
The fight-flight-freeze model is becoming increasingly elaborated. Many nuances are now understood. While sympathetic activation tends to dominate, the parasympathetic system collaborates with it at crucial junctures. Here is the general idea:<br />
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As you can see from the diagram (reference below), higher levels of threat lead to increasingly extreme stress response activation. Different appraisals (meanings) of threat result in different 'stress signatures.' The particular stress signature is closely related to subjective appraisal (meaning) and self-assessment of relative power. In other words, if something has the power to hurt me and might use it, then it is threatening.<br />
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Here is how this plays out:<br />
<br />
(1) Freeze<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>The first step in activating the defense cascade</li>
<li>Attentive immobility</li>
<li>An orienting response </li>
<li>The parasympathetic nervous system acts as a brake and puts the flight-or-fight response put on hold.</li>
<li>This keeps you perfectly still (and hopefully imperceptible) while allowing time to assess your next move</li>
</ul>
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(2) Flight<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Active defense response for dealing with threat</li>
<li>Response of choice for most people</li>
<li>Hope is to get away unscathed (and possibly unnoticed)</li>
<li>Some of us don't run. We skip directly to fight</li>
</ul>
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<ul></ul>
<br />
<div>
(3) Fight</div>
<ul>
<li>Active defense response for dealing with threat</li>
<li>Almost never arises without some level of pre-existing fear. </li>
<li>Used when cornered or being attacked seems relatively certain</li>
<li>Response of choice for about 1/3 of us</li>
<li>Hope is to put an end to the threat - once and for all.</li>
</ul>
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(4) Fright<br />
<ul>
<li>A response to inescapable threat</li>
<li>Tonic Immobility </li>
<li>A strategy of last resort when active defenses are futile</li>
<li>Parasympathetic system puts 'brake' on heart rate, breathing and muscles</li>
<li>Fully conscious and alert but physically paralyzed and unable to respond voluntarily</li>
<li>'Involuntary' (sympathetic) capacity to respond is maintained. (Just release the parasympathetic brake!)</li>
<li>Appear dead so predator may lose interest or loosen grip</li>
<li>Muscle tone is maintained, making a quick get away possible (release brake!) if escape opportunity presents itself</li>
<li>Frequent irregular heartbeat because parasympathetic and sympathetic systems are both active</li>
<li>High chance of heart attack for same reason</li>
</ul>
(5) Flag<br />
<ul>
<li>A response to extended captiviy</li>
<li>Collapsed immobility</li>
<li>Heart and breathing remain slowed for extended period</li>
<li>Brain doesn't get much oxygen</li>
<li>Consciousness is often lost</li>
<li>Muscle tone is then lost (waxy flexibility)</li>
<li>No ability to respond either voluntarily or involuntarily </li>
<li>Effs with memory</li>
</ul>
(6) Faint<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Result of body's natural disgust response</li>
<li>Turned on by exposure to contaminants like bodily fluids</li>
<li>Frequent response to rape.</li>
<li>Effs with memory</li>
</ul>
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(7) Quiescent immobility<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>A state of quiescence that promotes rest and healing. </li>
<li><br /></li>
</ul>
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coordination are recognized and understood. Additional stages (-fright-flag-faint) have been added. They are hypothesized to progressively express overwhelming levels of distress/ intensity that trigger dissociative bodily states.<br />
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The research in the prior section (on human motivation) suggests that the same basic physical capacities should be available to aid us in pursuing our appetites not just in escaping our fears. the more dangerous the threat or valuable the opportunity, the more I tend to exert my power to ensure that things turn out okay for me.<br />
<div>
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Here’s the basic outline of how it works:<br />
<br />
<h4>
Level 1: NO CHALLENGE </h4>
<h4>
Societal archetype: Rest</h4>
Appraisal: No threat, no critical opportunities.<br />
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Signature: Parasympathetic activation.<br />
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What it looks and feels like: Good ole R & R (rest & relaxation)<br />
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Practical outcomes ('symptoms'): optimal digestion, immunity, healing, sleep, sex<br />
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<br />
<h4>
Level 2: MILD CHALLENGE</h4>
Societal achetype: <b>Play</b><br />
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Appraisal: “I got this. This is gonna be fun.”<br />
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Stress signature: Optimal sympathetic activation<br />
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What it looks and feels like: Fun! Flow, Happiness, "High Functioning"<br />
<ul>
<li>activity is engaging and rewarding in itself</li>
<li>experience is voluntarily sought out</li>
</ul>
Practical outcomes ('symptoms'):<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Naturally rewarding experience leads to:</blockquote>
<br />
<ul>
<li>optimal attention, energy, learning</li>
<li>natural desire to repeat experience </li>
<li>increases in learning and competence over time </li>
</ul>
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<b>Level 3: MODERATE CHALLENGE</b><br />
<b><br /></b>Societal archetype: <b>Work</b><br />
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Appraisal: “This takes more effort than I would like. It's not my preferred way to spend my time.<br />
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But it's necessary in order to have the life I want to have.”<br />
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Stress signature: Moderate sympathetic activation<br />
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What it looks and feels like: Effort<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Requires self-control to stay on task and keep good attitude</li>
<li>Activity is not rewarding in itself</li>
<li>Motivation comes from secure expectation of rewards</li>
</ul>
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Practical outcomes ('symptoms'):<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Repeated task-relevant expenditures of effort and energy result in:</blockquote>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Objectively valued productivity </li>
<li>Reliable rewards</li>
<li>Need for physical and mental restoration</li>
<li>Increasing levels of competence</li>
</ul>
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<b><br /></b>
<b>Level 4: MAJOR CHALLENGE </b><br />
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rchetype: <b>Trauma/</b> "<b>Rite of Passage"</b><br />
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Appraisal: “This is really hard. I'd give anything to escape it. But I don't have a choice.”<br />
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Stress signature: High level sympathetic activation<br />
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What it looks and feels like: learning to build the airplane while you're flying it<br />
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<ul>
<li>high pressure, stressful, challenging, </li>
<li>frustrating due to numerous setbacks, </li>
<li>emotional rollercoaster due to one step-forward ('growth opportunity!') two steps backwards (punished by god)),</li>
<li>physically and emotionally exhausting due to massively steep learning curve </li>
</ul>
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Practical outcomes ('symptoms'):<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Due to steep learning curve and massive investment of energy, attention and effort required:</blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Intense feelings, psychomotor activation, digestive shutdown, limited sleep</li>
<li>One track mind, tunnel vision, tunnel hearing, 'obsessed' </li>
<li>High alert and hair trigger for danger/ opportunity/ relief</li>
<li>Intense perceptual sensitivity (skin sensitivity, noise, smells, light)</li>
<li>Cold hands & feet - or sweating</li>
<li>Foreshortened future - all that matters is now!</li>
<li>Impatience, intolerance, trying to force resolution</li>
<li>Analgesia (don't feel pain) or hyperalgesia (feel pain intensely)</li>
<li>Big picture and long-term needs sacrificed</li>
<li>Fast foods, sugar and drugs used to sustain energy</li>
<li>Stress valves (addictions, compulsions, anger, crying) used to prevent shutdown from overwhelm (see level 5).</li>
</ul>
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<b>Level 5: OVERWHELMING CHALLENGE (</b>Overwhelming threat/ Unattainable opportunity).<br />
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Archetypes: <b> Grief/ </b><b>Breakdown/ </b><b>Death</b><br />
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Appraisal: ‘There’s no hope. I can’t do this. It’s all over. I’m a failure. I lose. I might as well quit and turn in the towel right now.”<br />
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Stress signature: Parasympathetic responses override sympathetic activation resulting in mental and physical shutdown.<br />
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What it looks and feels like: Total systems failure, abort mission<br />
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Practical outcomes ("symptoms"):<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Variable sympathetic and parasympathetic activation lead to extreme, erratic or collapsed presentations, including: </blockquote>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Psychomotor shut down/ frozen or leaden limbs, waxy flexibility, catatonia</li>
<li>Digestive shutdown (anorexia, incontinence, nausea, cramping)</li>
<li>Altered perceptions, perceptual shutdown, paralyzed perceptions where you can see and hear everything but can't do anything about it</li>
<li>Hypersomnia, unconsciousness, blank or frozen consciousness, waking dream state, out of body experience</li>
<li>Low blood pressure, heart rate, respiration, fainting</li>
<li>Analgesia (don't feel pain) or hyperalgesia (feel pain intensely)</li>
</ul>
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7)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Notably, these various stages – and their hypothesized psychological meanings - have a huge overlap with the symptoms of what are considered diagnoses of ‘severe mental illness’ in the DSM. For example, freeze, fight and flight (stages 1, 2 and 3) seem to coincide with ‘acceptable mental illness’ (anxiety, phobias, bipolar II, dysthymia, cyclothymia, mild ptsd, milder addictions/ obsessions/ compulsions). They lead to the kind and level of symptoms that are typically seen as treatable on an outpatient basis without neuroleptics or shock. The higher stages (fright, flag and faint - stages 4, 5, 6) seem to overlap with the symptoms of ‘severe mental illness’ – major depression, bipolar I, dissociative and psychotic experiences and chronic treatment resistant everything else.<br />
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8)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A large part of someone’s personal ‘stress signature’ is dependent upon an autonomic (instinctive/ reactive) appraisal of what the most successful strategy in the repertoire is likely to be for the threat or opportunity in question.<br />
9)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The relevant autonomic appraisal is highly affected by past experiences with this kind of threat/ opportunity. Thus, a war veteran or assault survivor will respond differently than a bull rider in her first rodeo.<br />
10)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Also, if the first exposure is traumatic enough, there is a high likelihood that the person will do what they did the last time they were in a similar situation (or what they saw someone else do at home or on tv). This is because:<br />
a)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span> The autonomic nervous system is rapidly recalling our past emotionally relevant experience and how it was survived. (Thereby explaining why I hear my mother’s words coming out of my mouth in times of stress even though, as a kid, I couldn’t imagine anything lamer to say. Or why my first thought when facing intellectual challenge is always to secure a ready supply of chocolate – even when I’m fully aware that sugar is bad for me or I need to lose a few pounds.)<br />
b)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>At high enough levels of distress/ intensity the autonomic system bypasses the frontal cortex and simply proceeds to action. Here, the system is basically saying: “There’s no time to waste. We barely got out of here alive last time. We know what worked then. Just do it.” As a result, there is little conscious awareness of the response – or even the stressor that prompted the responding. (Ergo, ‘autopilot’, unconscious behavior, black outs, brown outs, fragmented memories, …)<br />
c)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The automaticity inherent in this way of responding wreaks havoc on subsequent efforts to recall experiences and responses or make sense of them.<br />
REFERENCES<br />
Kozlowska, K., Walker, P., McLean, L., & Carrive, P. (2015). Fear and the Defense Cascade: Clinical Implications and Management. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 23(4), 263–287. http://doi.org/10.1097/HRP.0000000000000065, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4495877/<br />
Roelofs, K. (2017). Freeze for action: neurobiological mechanisms in animal and dhuman freezing. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 372(1718), 20160206. http://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2016.0206, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5332864/pdf/rstb20160206.pdf<br />
Sapolsky, R. Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, 3rd Edition, https://www.mta.ca/pshl/docs/zebras.pdf.<br />
Schauer, M., & Elbert, T. (2010). Dissociation following traumatic stress: Etiology and treatment. Zeitschrift für Psychologie/Journal of Psychology, 218(2), 109-127, http://dx.doi.org/10.1027/0044-3409/a000018, http://mandaladesign.com.au/startts/winter2011/schauer-elbert-dissociation.pdf<br />
Generic research on the human stress response:<br />
I’ve found the following book by Stanford researcher Robert Sapolsky incredibly helpful in trying to understand how the human stress response potentially translates into biological impacts that the DSM is labeling ‘mental illness. (I think his stuff on depression is overly influenced by the medical model, but most everything else he says about how the human body functions has been tremendously helpful to me in deconstructing various DSM diagnosis/ symptoms I've experienced and translating them into their underlying biological correlates.)<br />
<br />
REFERENCE<br />
<br />
Sapolsky, R. Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, 3rd Edition, https://www.mta.ca/pshl/docs/zebras.pdf.<br />
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What the book covers:<br />
“There has been a revolution in medicine concerning how we think about the diseases that now afflict us. It involves recognizing the interactions between the body and the mind, the ways in which emotions and personality can have a tremendous impact on the functioning and health of virtually every cell in the body. It is about the role of stress in making some of us more vulnerable to disease, the ways in which some of us cope with stressors, and the critical notion that you cannot really understand a disease in vacuo, but rather only in the context of the person suffering from that disease.<br />
This is the subject of my book. I begin by trying to clarify the meaning of the nebulous concept of stress and to teach, with a minimum of pain, how various hormones and parts of the brain are mobilized in response to stress. I then focus on the links between stress and increased risk for certain types of disease, going, chapter by chapter, through the effects of stress on the circulatory system, on energy storage, on growth, reproduction, the immune system, and so on.<br />
Next I describe how the aging process may be influenced by the amount of stress experienced over a lifetime. I then examine the link between stress and the most common and arguably most crippling of psychiatric disorders, major depression. As part of updating the material for this third edition, I have added two new chapters: one on the interactions between stress and sleep, and one on what stress has to do with addiction.”<br />
What Sapolsky says (in a nutshell):<br />
1)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The subjective meaning of various life events have everything to do with how human beings respond.<br />
2)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The stress response activates in a broad variety of contexts depending on the meaning they have for human beings.<br />
3)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The short and long term consequences of real life events, their subjective meanings and the autonomic responses they evoke affect every aspect of human functioning - attention, memory, capacity to learn, energy, outlook, sleep, health, digestion, breathing, heart rate, high blood pressure, life expectancy.<br />
4)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Human beings have created a society that is intensely stressful for those who are low on the totem pole. Plus we have taken intentional othering to a level previously unknown in the animal kingdom. Such uses of social power are profoundly affecting the health of all concerned – both haves and have nots.<br />
RELATED REFERENCE:<br />
Sapolsky, R. (2017). Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst. By Robert M. Sapolsky. New York: Penguin Press.<br />
Inferences from Sapolsky’s work:<br />
Concept C: The more activation the worse the ‘symptoms’<br />
1)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The higher the level of stress response activation the more urgency there is to get immediate results. The sympathetic system is basically spending energy on credit. The needs of most cells in the body are being put on hold while the ‘hero’ functions (muscles, circulatory system) get the lion’s share of attention and resources. This includes the prefrontal cortex which loses about 20% of its normal blood supply.<br />
2)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Suffice it to say, the system is not sustainable, leading to a lot of physical discomfort with attendant pressure to act, get it over with, act now think later. – Plus, you have an under-resourced cortex that basically just goes along for the ride. This potentially explains a lot of the impulsiveness and ‘poor’ judgment associated with ‘mental illness’ – especially the more appetitive ‘disorders’ – like those involving drugs, sex, ‘mania’, food, dominance, addiction. In a word, once the fight response activates and the dopamine reward system start fueling the chase, the anticipation of reward itself becomes a reward. This can create a vicious upward spiral as increasingly high ambitions are set to release increasingly more dopamine – ending only when utter physical depletion or some external catastrophe shuts it down.<br />
Concept D: High level stress activation potentially explains differing perceptions of reality<br />
1)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>As noted above, the stress response is turned on by the perception that something is threatening (or exciting). Perception can become primed by past experience leaving parts of the autonomic nervous system perpetually on high alert (amygdala pathways). Essentially, we end up with autonomic antennae that are constantly on the lookout for anything that might resemble important prior experiences.<br />
2)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>According to Sapolsky, these antennae are 'fast but faulty.' Also, if activation is high enough, they can trigger reactions that bypass the parts of our biology (frontal cortex) that are 'accurate but slow.' – This leads to situations where people react first and think later.<br />
3)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Although automated responses can be changed, they actually have to be ‘unlearned.’ In other words, new learning has to occur where you actually experience the feared input as not dangerous.<br />
4)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This, potentially explains individual responses that look ‘crazy’ to others: Something resembles a serious past threat that I experienced – but no one else in the room has. My antenna pick up the potential threat and I react before my frontal cortex has a chance to separate wheat from chaff. No one else sees anything threatening. Plus, their cortexes have plenty of time to carefully assess incoming data. Next thing I know, I’m ‘sure’ I saw something deadly, while everyone else is sure I didn’t – and also sure I’m crazy.<br />
5)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This also potentially explains why these responses are so difficult to change: Suppose I’m walking on a path and mistake a stick for a snake. After I jump to safety, I can look back and see if it was a stick or a snake. If I do that, I can potentially get better at distinguishing sticks from snakes. I also get the opportunity to recognize that sometimes my first impulse is wrong and I actually mistake sticks for snakes. On the other hand, if I’m sufficiently terrified of snakes, then there’s a high likelihood that I may not even go back to see if it was a snake. Instead, I keep running from sticks, so my perception stays inaccurate. Also, it may never occur to me that my perception could be inaccurate. I might just go about life thinking about how unfortunate I am to see so many snakes – or how great I am at not getting bitten by the zillions I see everyday.<br />
6)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Also, if I keep running these same brain circuits, I make them more alive and increasingly attuned to looking for things that resemble snakes. The more ‘practice’ these brain circuits get at looking for potential snakes, the more I end up seeing signs of snakes everywhere. Eventually, tons of things -- pencils, dental floss, string, power cords -- all put my autonomic ‘early warning’ system into high alert.<br />
7)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>As Sapolsky notes, however, if I’ve been sufficiently traumatized by my first encounter with snakes, much of this autonomically detected information never reaches my prefrontal cortex. It bypasses that stop on the route, and goes straight to threat activation. The result is I’m repeatedly setting off sympathetic reactivity (and potentially in a continual state of fear and panic) with very little conscious awareness of why that just happened. This is a possible explanation for how some kinds of panic, anxiety, phobic responses get so entrenched and hard to change.<br />
8)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Just as important: most important life events happen in real time. They are not on camera, and there is no instant replay. So I rarely get to see when my intuition is right and when it’s wrong. The best I can do is try to reconstruct what happened with the help of others.<br />
9)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This highlights the importance of trusting and trustworthy relationships. In other words, if I trust you, this social reconstruction can often be helpful in establishing a consensual reality. Alternatively, it can raising flags for both of us that something outside of our shared awareness just occurred that we need to pay attention to. Then maybe the next time something similar happens, we can pay more attention and have more to work with in figuring out why our perceptions disagreed.<br />
10)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>But, if we don’t trust each other, this can’t happen. I don’t believe you, you don’t believe me. In this case, usually, the ‘reality’ with the most social power behind it wins.<br />
11)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This exacerbates the distrust and entrenches us both in our positions. It makes our interactions increasingly ‘high stakes’ (stress charged). This, in turn, decreases the likelihood that either of us will learn anything useful from our differing perceptions.<br />
Concept E: The ‘otherness’ of intrusive experiences (voices, visions, thoughts) is potentially explained by the independent functioning of the autonomic system<br />
1)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Sapolsky argues that ‘surprise’ is a key factor in feeling like something is coming from self or others. It’s basically why you can't tickle yourself - you’re not surprised.<br />
2)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>But, there is an exception to the ‘can’t tickle yourself’ rule. You can tickle yourself IF you devise a tickle machine that delays 3 seconds before it executes your command to tickle. It turns out that a delay of about 3 seconds from conscious awareness is all it takes for something to seem like it's coming from outside of us instead of inside.<br />
3)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The autonomic nervous system functions independent of conscious awareness and largely outside of our conscious awareness and control. It therefore possesses the power to 'surprise' our conscious brain.<br />
4)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This element of surprise potentially could explain at least some of the mysteries of the voice hearing experience. This includes the sensation that perceptions are coming from outside the body. Also: why voices seem foreign to us but also seem to know all about us.<br />
5)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Important to note:<br />
a)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This ‘autonomic surprise’ theory doesn’t rule out spiritual, ESP or other explanations for the voice hearing experience.<br />
b)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It merely suggests a possible explanation for these phenomena.<br />
c)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The fact is, the autonomic system IS operating outside largely of our conscious awareness and control.<br />
d)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>So potentially there are zillions of phenomena that the autonomic system is aware of and managing behind the scenes without our conscious knowledge.<br />
e)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>To get a sense of how potentially wise the autonomic system is:<br />
i)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This system co-ordinates the activity of 300 trillion cells that support our lives.<br />
ii)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It keeps them hydrated, nourished, temperature controlled, in good repair, defended from external threats – AND working in a collaborative, coordinated fashion to sustain our lives.<br />
iii)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It has been with us since the womb and knows us better than anyone could.<br />
iv)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It literally does brain surgery and sophisticated healing processes on us every night while we sleep to heal the damage of the day.<br />
v)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Thus, in a very real way, the ‘dumbest’ person on the planet has an autonomic nervous system that is smarter that any neuroscientist who ever lived. If that weren’t the case, we couldn’t be alive right now.<br />
f)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This suggest the wisdom of trying to listen and make sense of autonomic phenomena, even if they are painful or distracting.<br />
g)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It also points to the potential danger of drugging, shocking or finding other ways to merely override this system for the sake of shutting it up. We may be, literally, killing the messenger.<br />
Following are some ideas that makes sense to me based on my own experience of my own mental and physical responding:<br />
Concept F: My ‘high stakes’ are diverse, habitual and based on my greatest gifts<br />
1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>When the stakes are really high, I find it incredibly hard to use – or even recall – that really constructive strategy sounded so great when I talked about it in therapy. I think this is because the stress response (especially at high levels) is about survival. So, in the metaphoric equivalent of a Superbowl or Worldcup, my autonomic ‘coach’ isn’t going to let me put in the “B’’team. It just goes with the tried and true strategy of doing what I’ve always done (e.g., losing my temper, or eating more brownies). After all, that’s kept me alive up until now. Thus, my past experiences with a given challenge heavily influence my current autonomic responding.<br />
2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In deciding what strategies to use, my autonomic ‘coach’ looks at my gifts, strengths and available resources, including what comes most naturally and reliably to me in the moment. It’s a highly individual assessment that varies from individual to individual. Thus, if I’m strong, I amp up physically. If I’m smart, I amp up mentally. If I’m loud, I amp up my volume. If I’m social, I amp up my relationships. If I’m rich, I throw money at it. If I ‘know somebody’, I ask for information or a favor.<br />
3.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This explains some of the diversity in the way that ‘mental illness’ is expressed. We are literally taking the stuff we, personally, know the best or are the best at, and amping that up as high as we need to to survive whatever is stressing us out.<br />
4.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This also highlights the damage of many medical interventions like drugs and shock. All too often, our gifts and strengths are the so-called ‘symptoms’ that they target for eradication.<br />
Concept G:“Safety” and/or “trust” turn off the stress response.<br />
1)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>High stakes activation turns on because something important to survival feels at risk. Maybe a lion or the tax collector is chasing me. Maybe there’s an incredible bargain, meal, or cosmic secret that I can’t afford to miss out on. Either way, it’s hard to rest or give up the chase unless the situation is resolved.<br />
2)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Resolution, for me, usually means that what I care about most feels safe and/or that I trust that the ultimate outcome is in good hands.<br />
3)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>If the situation is resolved:<br />
4)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Once I feel relatively safe or trusting, then I can relax.<br />
5)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>At this point, the sympathetic system starts to dampen down and restorative functions of the parasympathetic system naturally and progressively return.<br />
6)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This takes a while – often 10-20 minutes, sometimes more. As Sapolsky points out, the transition from sympathetic activation to parasympathetic restoration is a delicate one. It’s bad for the body to have both systems firing at the same time (like heart attack bad). Also, it takes awhile to clear one set of hormones from the bloodstream and introduce new ones.<br />
7)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Waiting out this transition can feel really uncomfortable. It may explain the popularity of the Twelve Step slogan: ‘Don’t quit before the miracle.”<br />
8)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>If I’m able to keep trusting in the process (instead of panic and ratchet myself back into stress reactivity), my body gets progressively more comfortable. My muscles relax as my cardiovascular and endocrine systems stop pumping and priming them for action. The circulatory system starts re-routing oxygen and glucose to my stomach, intestines, pancreas, kidneys and prefrontal cortex. Nausea and gut cramping dissolve as my digestive system reboots. Rational capacities return, and big picture perspective and judgment radically improve as my brain has increasingly more to work with.<br />
9)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The end result is that I become progressively interested in – and capable of enjoying – rest, relaxation, sleep, healthy food, recreation, mundane social interactions and life management tasks. My body repairs and restores. Eventually I feel human again. (It actually really works, if I’m willing to let it.)<br />
10)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>All good!<br />
Concept H: Non-resolution leads to prolonged stress response activation and subsequent breakdown.<br />
1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>If the challenge remains unresolved (unsafe) and I can’t find a way to trust that all will turn out ok in the end, I tend to stay in a state of high alert (vigilance, anxiety, intensity, ‘hypomania’, hyperfocus, obsession, compulsion, insomnia, impatience, irritability, high sugar and caffeine consumption,… ). This continues until I physically can’t keep it up any more. Or I cycle in and out of high alert -- hope, fear, hope, fear, hope, fear… (‘rapid cycling’, ‘labile’, unstable, ‘cyclothymia’, ‘bipolar’).<br />
2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>During such times, the tunnel vision and tunnel hearing of sympathetic activation remain in full force. Thus, I’m typically pretty obsessed with the little picture of fixing what I see as the problem. I therefore tend to miss the big picture (and often possible solutions). Essentially, it’s a stress-induced war of attrition.<br />
3.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>If the lack of resolution goes on long enough for a given significant stressor, I eventually find myself experiencing a state of break down / collapse. For me, the effects of this state are indistinguishable from classic ‘symptoms’ of ‘depression’ – no motivation, no energy, no enjoyment, no hope, no memory, no focus, no ability to learn, agitation, digestive and eating issues, leaden limbs, sleep issues …<br />
4.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The exhaustion and lack of resolution take their toll on my self-worth and self-esteem. I feel like a failure, start wondering what’s wrong with me that I can’t fix it, or why this is happening to me, or if the universe is out to get me...<br />
5.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It’s also not a very long step for me from here to ‘suicidal ideation’, ‘addiction’, ‘dissociation’, ‘delusions’, certain kinds of ‘psychosis.’ Suffice it to say, at this point, I’m keenly motivated to escape or find relief – and all of the above work on some level. So suicide, ‘forgetting’, ‘spacing out’ and addictive consolation all become highly appealing.<br />
6.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Occasionally, there are rare bursts of energy, where I try to blast or demand my way out (over-power my circumstances). A lot of time this looks like ‘manic symptoms’ - frenetic activity, high intensity, impatience, ‘irrational’ optimism, rage, dominance, ‘grandiosity’.<br />
III. A Potential Solution<br />
For me, the theory points to its own solution.<br />
Concept I: For a multitude of reasons, many of us habitually use high levels of stress activation to navigate garden variety life issues.<br />
1)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The sympathetic system (and thus my ‘symptoms’) turns on when something important feels unsafe to me. It turns off when the things I care about feel safe or in good hands.<br />
2)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I’ve spent my life with a lot of stuff feeling unsafe to me a lot of the time. I’ve also felt on my own to protect many of the things I care about the most.<br />
3)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Not surprisingly then, I’m pretty accustomed to living life with my stress response in high gear. I can go from zero to 100 in no time. For as long as I can remember, this pretty much has been my go-to strategy for dealing my life. (My family called me the “little engine that could.”)<br />
4)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>As a kid, this level of ambition was seen as an asset. I was a go-getter who ‘exceeded expectations.’ Over the years, however, my body tired of this perpetual deficit spending. I started to exhaust myself and burn out – first in my late teens, then again in my early 30s. This was interpreted as dysthymia and anxiety by the medical profession. SSRI’s boosted my mood and allowed me to abuse my body for several more years, until the fatigue broke through again – this time with unimagined vengeance. It happened in my late 30s with the onset of a ‘cant get out of bed, praying to die’ kind of break down. It lasted 4 years, and was the first of many.<br />
5)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>From that point forward, I had a new mind and a new body. I was no longer able to bounce back from set backs or proactively plan my future. Anxiety and overwhelm became persistent and unbearable. Motivation and concentration degraded. Withdrawal and collapse become every day occurrences.<br />
6)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>My personal belief is that this huge shift might never have occurred but for the anti-depressants that allowed my to keep ignoring the warning signs my body was trying to give me. As Sapolsky notes, human bodies were not designed to use the stress response in the way I was using it. This way of living is simply not sustainable.<br />
7)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>If I could do it all over again, I would vastly prefer to have found a healthcare providers who was aware of this dynamic. I also would have appreciated active help understanding what was happening in my body (where all these ‘symptoms’ were coming from), as well as help to change my relationships with my mind, body, and relevant community so that the operative dynamics were more workable and sustainable for all concerned. Instead, I spent thousands of dollars on conventional mental health services, $70,000 on mental health graduate school. There were many kind people who encouraged me and helped me keep going. But the reality is that I still had to connect the multidisciplinary dots that led to a solution on my own.<br />
Concept J: Parasympathetic ‘contact’ can make a big difference.<br />
1)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I tried to work with my broken-down mind and body in countless ways for decades. There were brief periods of hope, but nothing really helped in a permanent sort of way. The long-term trajectory was consistently downward.<br />
2)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In the fall of 2016, I reached a new low point that I thought I would never recover from. It was then that I landed on the idea of working actively and daily to shift the sympathetic-parasympathetic balance of activity in my mind and body.<br />
3)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>There was very little downside to trying this because most of my modern life involves mental and social threats/ opportunities rather than physical ones. (I have to escape paperwork disasters, not cougars. I chase ‘likes’ on facebook, not my dinner.) Thus, as Sapolsky points out, there is almost no situation in my life the stress response is going to improve – as well as tons of potential for it to make many things worse.<br />
4)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I attended a boatload of Twelve Step meetings to complement this process. Initially, the reason was that I was unemployed and isolated. I remembered that, in the past, I had managed to pull myself out of several very deep mood holes by returning to work, where I could feel like a meaningful part of other people’s lives (the oxytocin effect). Since I could no longer work this wasn’t an option. But there was a Twelve Step meeting that met daily just down the street. It was my best option, so I went for it.<br />
5)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The more I study Twelve Step recovery, the more it confirms for me that there is something to the ‘parasympathetic contact’ concept. The talk of ‘surrender’, ‘turning it over’, ‘easy does it’, finding a ‘power greater than ourselves’, and advice to ‘cease fighting anything or anyone” all seem directed at cultivating our capacity to increasingly access parasympathetic well being. The same is true of the emphasis placed on putting serenity first to the point where you can find and maintain it no matter what the external circumstances. In contrast, the effects of sympathetic activation (impatience, urgency, need for quick relief, motor activation, prefrontal cortex off-line) are basically a recipe for literal or emotional relapse.<br />
6)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>There’s also a huge overlap with the experience of making parasympathetic contact and the teachings of major religions. Take Buddhism, for example. The problem is suffering which is caused by attachment (sympathetic activation). The solution is to let go of attachments (thereby removing all barriers to parasympathetic well being), leading to a perpetual feeling that all is well, aka nirvana. And, if you can’t do that by yourself, there’s also mahayana buddhism, where you vow keep being reborn until every being gets enlightened (oxytocin/ tend-befriend leading to parasympathetic well-being). Or Christianity: 1. Trust and love god above all else (total reliance on the parasympathetic system); and 2. Love your neighbor as yourself (transitional oxytocin). Also compare the effects of high-stress activation to the seven deadly sins (pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth) and the natural effects of parasympathetic well being with the seven virtues: prudence, justice, temperance, courage, faith, hope and charity. It’s a pretty close match.<br />
7)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I’m not trying to be religious here. What I’m trying to say is that, in my experience, there a human biology that supports connection and well-being – and a human biology that is really hard on it. Essentially, we have two different bodies. People throughout the ages have known this: Nirvana-Suffering, Old Man-New Man, Jeckyl-Hyde, Serenity-‘Dry Drunk’. Certain ways of living and relating to ourselves and others simply aren’t sustainable. DSM diagnosis (Normal-Mentally Ill) is just another way of targeting the stuff that mostly doesn’t work in human interactions.<br />
8)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>My personal belief is this: As individuals, families, communities, a world – we have to decide ‘which wolf we want to feed.’ For me that means actively choosing which body we want human beings to live in. If you map out the consequences of continuing to perpetuate a social order that puts massive numbers of us continually in high levels of stress reactivity, it’s devastating. It’s only a matter of time before we destroy ourselves and our world. -- Which would be a shame because the body of peace is just as accessible to us, and just as much a part of us, as the body of fear, conflict and greed.<br />
Concept K: Making conscious contact with parasympathetic well-being<br />
1)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>There’s a bit of a trick to making conscious contact with parasympathetic well-being. I can’t access this part of me by trying. This parallels the wisdom of most religions and also Alcoholics Anonymous. The more I try (exert power), the more my sympathetic system revs up. Parasympathetic well-being turns on by trusting. So, I need to actively cultivate my capacity to trust.<br />
2)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>As someone with a boatload of social trauma, and a really bad relationship with my body historically, making this shift this has not come easily. Nevertheless, I’ve found it possible with practice. This, in turn, has greatly lessened my anxiety, fear, bitterness, rage, and massively improved my ability to listen, think, self-reflect and care about for myself and other human beings.<br />
3)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In trying to lessen the amount of time I spend in sympathetic reactivity, it helps to learn to recognize the signs of amping up. I can then use that ‘biofeedback’ as a mindfulness bell to return to parasympathetic well being.<br />
4)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Once back in a state of relative well being, I can begin to gently inquire into what is scaring me and allow possibilities for addressing it to bubble up.<br />
5)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The long and the short of it is that there’s a zillion ways to feel scared, but also a zillion resources for feeling safer. There’s also a zillion options for finding something or someone I can potentially put my trust in. That’s where the diversity of life and experience on planet earth is a huge asset.<br />
6)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It can also help to do things that physically reassure my body and the cells in me that we are not in crisis. I try to find ways to be with myself that are totally different from how my body would act if I were running from a bear. This includes moving slowly and intentionally, activating my curiosity about small things, doing stuff that takes fine motor coordination instead of large muscle groups, making tiny gentle touching movements one finger at a time, wiggling my toes one toe at a time, doing something familiar and easy like making my bed or washing a dish, playing my guitar… The possibilities are endless.<br />
7)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It’s important to be patient, because, as mentioned above, the body needs to time to make a safe transition from sympathetic activation to parasympathetic well being.<br />
8)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>There’s other stuff I could say about this, but this is probably far more than you were hoping for so I’ll stop here.<br />
IV. Research Directions<br />
One benefit of the stress / human condition model is that there are established biomarkers for determining when the stress response is activated and how strongly. Thus, it is now theoretically possible to prove that models like PTM and the defense cascade are scientifically more valid ways to understand what is happening than the 'mental illness'/ 'symptom' formulations of the DSM. The vast majority of symptoms in the DSM have potential observable biological correlates with the stress response. This includes things like digestion, attention, focus, level of physical activation, energy, memory, appetite, sleep. There are other correlates of sympathetic activation that can be measured as well - like blood pressure, blood/ saliva hormone levels, heart rate, skin conductivity, muscle tension, urinary volume/ frequency/ bowel motility, etc.<br />
A possible research design is this: You take a bunch of people who come fresh into the ER in activated states and get labeled by psychiatry as 'depressed' or 'manic' or 'psychotic' or whatever. Then you take the assessment a step further and do a reading on the stress response correlates. If the research shows a match between so-called 'disorders' and indicators of stress response activation to p<.05 , then you have evidence that strongly favors PTM/ human condition/ stress-related interpretations of phenomena that are currently being labeled and treated as “mental illness”.<br />
In suggesting using biomarkers to validate this new model, I'm not meaning in any way to diminish the importance of the social and subjective meanings the PTM model articulates. For me these are crucial in understanding the behavioral responses and why they are happening. Also, behavior IS communication - as are the bodily responses that underly stress response activation. This seems especially true in the survival context where words so often fail us. Or in contexts where words take a second seat to other types of communication - such as the way we express ourselves and the feelings that evokes in others - moreso than the particular verbiage used.<br />
ADDITIONAL REFERENCES (MY OWN STUFF)<br />
Einstein, Social Justice and the New Relativity, https://www.madinamerica.com/2016/02/einstein-social-justice-new-relativity/<br />
Not Broken Biology: Getting Beyond the Disease Model Paradigm of 'Mental Illness', https://peerlyhuman.blogspot.com/2017/03/not-broken-biology-getting-beyond.html.<br />
Lived Experience Survey: A Survey To Assess the Impact of Trauma, Human Needs and Community Response on Mental/ Behavioral Health, https://www.facebook.com/groups/WellnessRecoveryRights/permalink/923647694390461/.<br />
“Human Rights Theory of Mental and Social Wellbeing”, https://www.facebook.com/groups/159307817434833/permalink/1003056879726585/. (an earlier version of this work, similar to PTM, which proposes some ways to understand, assess and diagnose these issues from a social justice perspective.<br />
<br />Sarah Knutsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290844872665327137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572480303268518836.post-60363937636202199152018-01-01T19:24:00.002-05:002020-09-27T18:10:47.871-04:00New Year's Revolution<span style="font-size: large;">New Year's Revolution</span><br />
<br />
Higher Heart,<br />
<br />
I lend my heart<br />
to learn with you<br />
<br />
To listen, hear<br />
To look and see<br />
<br />
Is there a universal pulse...?<br />
<br />
Can we beat in unity...?<br />
<br />
More than just our hearts<br />
die if we say 'no',<br />
every cell<br />
that lines the banks<br />
all being<br />
where<br />
our rivers flow<br />
<br />
We reach to them<br />
and they to us<br />
give,<br />
receive,<br />
exchange --<br />
<br />
the care baskets<br />
the thank you notes<br />
a thousand times every day<br />
millions offered every year<br />
til all are known<br />
by name<br />
<br />
<br />
Higher Heart,<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
I lend my heart<br />
to learn with you<br />
<br />
To listen, hear<br />
to look and see<br />
<br />
To discover<br />
each other<br />
<br />
To be helped<br />
and held<br />
and healed<br />
<br />
To persist<br />
to wait<br />
for more to be revealed<br />
<br />
To let go<br />
until it is possible<br />
and possible to know<br />
<br />
<br />
Higher Heart,<br />
<br />
Win us over to the power of love<br />
Relieve our fear that love is not enough<br />
<br />
Whether or not we know how<br />
May we learn to trust in love<br />
<div>
Starting now</div>
<br />
<br />Sarah Knutsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290844872665327137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572480303268518836.post-15945477715919034532017-12-01T20:40:00.005-05:002020-09-27T18:11:34.095-04:00Virtually Mad Cafe - Fridays 8-9:30 PM EST (Group Format)Hi there! Glad you found us! Our group call format is in transition. If you need peer support, want to offer it, or want to learn more about either or both, please contact us:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="mailto:peerlyhuman@gmail.com">peerlyhuman@gmail.com</a> </li>
<li>call Sarah at 802-279-3876.</li>
</ul>
<br />
Our basic approach to people helping people ('peer support') is summarized below, as well as a flavor of what we've offered in the past:<br />
<br />
<h2>
Virtually Mad Cafe</h2>
<div>
<br /></div>
Welcome to the Virtually Mad Cafe. We meet Fridays from 8-9:30 PM Eastern Standard Time. <br />
<br />
We are a community that shares a love of mad people and our experiences, ideas and culture. We get together on Friday nights for the same reasons that a lot of other people do:<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>To mark the end of a long week</li>
<li>To meet new people</li>
<li>To connect with others who share similar experiences and values</li>
<li>To share what's going on for us - the good, the bad, the lovely and the ugly</li>
<li>To keep up other callers we come to care about</li>
<li>To hear the latest political gossip</li>
<li>To shake our heads over the state of the world </li>
<li>To get exposed to information and perspectives that are new to us. </li>
</ul>
<div>
There are probably a lot of other reasons, but these are some of the common ones.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<h2>
Not Therapy or Treatment</h2>
<br />
<div>
We are not a therapy or treatment group. We think of ourselves as a community rather than a support group. We don't relate to each other as sick or ill. Our goal is not to make each other better or well. Rather our primary purpose is to connect with others who own madness as their personal experience and to create conversations that everyone present can participate in and enjoy.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Shared Values</h2>
<br />
1. No Pros, No cops, No 911. Above all else, we agree not to police each other, therapize each other, or take over each other's emergencies.<br />
<br />
2. Share from the heart & make space for others to do the same<br />
<br />
3. Hold each other’s truths with dignity, respect, interest and willingness to learn<br />
<br />
4. Maintain a heavy dose of humility for the things we don't yet know or understand<br />
<br />
5. Respect each person’s conscience and right to decide for themselves<br />
<br />
6. Create a community, rather than a support group<br />
<br />
7. Change the world in ways that make it liveable for all human beings<br />
<br />
8. Support each other’s human rights, including the right to be left alone<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Helpful hints</h2>
<ol>
<li><b>Getting Started</b>: Calls are member-run. Anyone can use this format and get the call started.</li>
<li><b>Share the Work:</b> Each of these hints is a role that can be filled by someone on the call. This is a way to share power and responsibility and gives everyone a chance to help out. We all learn together about how the call works. We each play an active role in creating a call culture that we enjoy and believe in. </li>
<li><b>Warm Welcome: </b> At the beginning, we welcome each other to the call. There's a bell that (usually) lets you know when someone joins or leaves. You can also see this on the internet console: uberconference.com/peerlyhuman</li>
<li><b>Introductions:</b> We usually go around and do introductions near the beginning of the call. We ask everyone to say a name (even a fake one) - but beyond that it's fine if you just want to listen. Alternatively, you can type a name on the console if you are joining us online. </li>
<li><b>New Arrivals:</b> If there's an ongoing conversation, keep a look out for new arrivals. Say 'hello,' and invite them to introduce themselves and join in as they feel ready. </li>
<li><b>Create Community:</b> It's a community - not a support group or therapy session. Share the air. Hold space for each other. Invite participation, topics, check-ins, feedback and reflection. </li>
<li><b>Respect Diversity</b>: Speak for yourself, not for others. Tell your story, listen to others. Work on your own issues, not on other people. Share your own struggles instead of judging or giving advice.</li>
<li><b>Build a Conversation</b>: Be kind to your audience. Conversations are interesting when a variety of people talk and no one person talks too often or for too long. Generally, 3-5 minutes is a good time to shift to a new speaker. If you're the quiet type, this is your time to step in. If you're more talkative, remember that you can always come back and share more after others have been heard.</li>
<li><b>Broaden Participation:</b> Be mindful of 'two-somes.' It can be easy to forget that there are several people on the call. If you find yourself saying something after every person talks, it might be time to step back or ask others to join in.</li>
<li><b>Ask for Help</b>: Sometimes strong feelings come up on these calls. Not everyone agrees with each other. It's ok to ask the group for space or help to work it out. It's also fine to hang up if you need to. But, we hope you'll tell us sooner than later what's going on. You're probably picking up on something that isn't working for others too. (It's not just you 😏) </li>
<li><b>Make Time for Feedback</b>: Its great to make time for feedback about 10 minutes before the end of the call. It helps to know what worked for you. Just as important, it helps to know what didn't work so well for you - and how you'd like the group to help you get what you need next time. This is how we learn. </li>
<li><b>End the Call - sort of: </b> We end the call at the stated time. However, people are welcome to keep talking after the call for as long as they like - or until there's another scheduled call. </li>
</ol>
<br />
<br />
Suggested reading:<br />
<br />
<br />
Reverse Psychology: Why We Say "No Pros, No Cops, No 911", http://peerlyhuman.blogspot.com/2017/03/reverse-psychology-why-we-say-no-pros.html</div>
</div>
</div>
Sarah Knutsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290844872665327137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572480303268518836.post-40979445709104085642017-11-28T22:43:00.001-05:002020-09-27T18:03:50.540-04:00Another Week, Still Here - Tuesdays 8-9:30 PM EST (Group Format)Hi there! Glad you found us! Our group call format is in transition. If you need peer support, want to offer it, or want to learn more about either or both, please contact us:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="mailto:peerlyhuman@gmail.com">peerlyhuman@gmail.com</a> </li>
<li>call Sarah at 802-279-3876.</li>
</ul>
<br />
Our basic approach to people helping people ('peer support') is summarized below, as well as a flavor of what we've offered in the past:<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Another Week, Still Here</h2>
<div>
<br />
Welcome to <b><i>Another Week, Still Here</i>.</b> We meet Tuesdays 8-9:30 PM Eastern Standard Time. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We are a community that shares our lived experience of seriously contemplating suicide. For many of us, modern society has created a world that we do not want to live in. Many of us are in pain and can't imagine this ever changing. We sincerely ask if life is worth the effort.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Others of us have had such experiences in the past. We come here to be in the company of others who 'get it.' We may enjoy sharing experiences, learning from others, and being inspired by their courage on the journey. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h2>
Not About Suicide Prevention</h2>
<br />
We are not a suicide prevention group. We used to call ourselves 'Alternatives to Suicide.' Then we realized that people might get the wrong idea.<br />
<br />
Our goal is <i><b>not</b></i> to convince each other to stay alive no matter what. People of conscience make difficult decisions of life and death every day in this world. That is a fact.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Our aims are much humbler. Our primary purpose is to support each other to listen to the Truth of our own conscience - whatever that is. No one should face difficult decisions of life and death alone. This is a space to have a respectful conversation about serious issues that seriously matter.<br />
<br />
We are human beings, not gods. We cannot see into anyone else's heart or mind except our own. Beyond that, we can honestly share our feelings and experiences, listen deeply to experience of others, and make principled decisions about our own lives.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Shared Values</h2>
<br />
1. No Pros, No cops, No 911. Above all else, we agree not to police each other, therapize each other, or take over each other's emergencies.<br />
<br />
2. Share from the heart & make space for others to do the same<br />
<br />
3. Hold each other’s truths with dignity, respect, interest and willingness to learn<br />
<br />
4. Maintain a heavy dose of humility for the things we don't yet know or understand<br />
<br />
5. Respect each person’s conscience and right to decide for themselves<br />
<br />
6. Create a community, rather than a support group<br />
<br />
7. Change the world in ways that make it liveable for all human beings<br />
<br />
8. Support each other’s human rights, including the right to be left alone<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Helpful hints</h2>
<div>
<br /></div>
<ol>
<li><b>Getting Started:</b> Calls are member-run. Anyone can use this format and get the call started.</li>
<li><b>Share the Work: </b> Each of these hints is a role that can be filled by someone on the call. This is a way to share power and responsibility and gives everyone a chance to help out. We all learn together about how the call works. We each play an active role in creating a call culture that we enjoy and believe in. </li>
<li><b>Warm Welcome:</b> At the beginning, we welcome each other to the call. There's a bell that (usually) lets you know when someone joins or leaves. You can also see this on the internet console: <a href="http://uberconference.com/peerlyhuman">uberconference.com/peerlyhuman</a></li>
<li><b>Introductions:</b> We usually go around and do introductions near the beginning of the call. We ask everyone to say a name (even a fake one) - but beyond that it's fine if you just want to listen. Alternatively, you can type a name on the console if you are joining us online. </li>
<li><b>New Arrivals:</b> If there's an ongoing conversation, keep a look out for new arrivals. Say 'hello,' and invite them to introduce themselves and join in as they feel ready. </li>
<li><b>Create Community:</b> It's a community - not a support group or therapy session. Share the air. Hold space for each other. Invite participation, topics, check-ins, feedback and reflection. </li>
<li><b>Respect Diversity</b><b style="font-weight: bold;">:</b> Speak for yourself, not for others. Tell your story, listen to others. Work on your own issues, not on other people. Share your own struggles instead of judging or giving advice.</li>
<li> <b>Build a Conversation:</b> Be kind to your audience. Conversations are interesting when a variety of people talk and no one person talks too often or for too long. Generally, 3-5 minutes is a good time to shift to a new speaker. If you're the quiet type, this is your time to step in. If you're more talkative, remember that you can always come back and share more after others have been heard.</li>
<li><b>Broaden Participation:</b> Be mindful of 'two-somes.' It can be easy to forget that there are several people on the call. If you find yourself saying something after every person talks, it might be time to step back or ask others to join in.</li>
<li><b>Ask for Help:</b> Sometimes strong feelings come up on these calls. Not everyone agrees with each other. It's ok to ask the group for space or help to work it out. It's also fine to hang up if you need to. But, we hope you'll tell us sooner than later what's going on. You're probably picking up on something that isn't working for others too. (It's not just you 😏) </li>
<li><b>Make Time for Feedback:</b> Its great to make time for feedback about 10 minutes before the end of the call. It helps to know what worked for you. Just as important, it helps to know what didn't work so well for you - and how you'd like the group to help you get what you need next time. This is how we learn. </li>
<li><b>End the Call - sort of: </b>We end the call at the stated time. However, people are welcome to keep talking after the call for as long as they like - or until there's another scheduled call. </li>
</ol>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h2>
Suggested reading:</h2>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Reverse Psychology: Why We Say "No Pros, No Cops, No 911", </b><a href="http://peerlyhuman.blogspot.com/2017/03/reverse-psychology-why-we-say-no-pros.html">http://peerlyhuman.blogspot.com/2017/03/reverse-psychology-why-we-say-no-pros.html</a></div>
<br />
<br />Sarah Knutsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290844872665327137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572480303268518836.post-76124498505443277892017-10-10T13:56:00.001-04:002020-09-27T18:03:27.209-04:00"Why I Oppose World Mental Health Day" - by the Borderline Academic<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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According to physician and best-selling author Dr. Gabor Maté, every human being has two complementary needs: attachment, or connection with others, and authenticity, or the ability to fully be ourselves.<br />
<br />
In my opinion, it is impossible to have the former need met without the latter. When we are unable to express who we truly are, how we are feeling, how we process and make sense of the world around us, and our deepest fears and dreams, we cannot fully connect with anyone else.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">What does this have to do with World Mental Health Day?</span></i></div>
<br />
We live in a world that constantly and relentlessly punishes us for expressing ourselves authentically. Our society often views emotion as a sign of weakness, alternative realities as indications of impaired judgment, difference as a form of illness that needs to be cured, and distress as a result of irrational thinking. We are taught to be afraid of this kind of authenticity in both ourselves and others – to be ashamed of who we are and how we feel, and to be embarrassed of others’ raw expressions of themselves.<br />
<br />
To me, no system of thought reflects this cultural tendency better than the notion of 'mental health.' The ideology of mental health, or, as neurodiversity scholar Nick Walker likes to put it, the pathology paradigm, posits that there is only one correct, healthy way of being, and any sort of divergence from that way of being is illness or disorder. Any level of emotion that surpasses the DSM’s arbitrary cutoff for what constitutes a healthy amount of feeling, any belief or viewpoint that strays from the bounds of what doctors have decided is normal, any desire or wish that has been deemed unrealistic or irrational – these are all just a few examples of authentic expressions that are deemed by mental health professionals as in need of treatment.<br />
<br />
The pathology paradigm is the foundation of a system in which people are punished violently for these kinds of expressions. Words cannot quite capture what it feels like to not own the rights to your own body; nothing fully describes the horrific realization that you do not have the right to say “no.”<br />
<br />
Involuntary civil commitment and forced treatment mean so many things to me: the terror of being locked in a closet-sized room with glass windows, unsure of when I would be released; the panic I felt when I was ordered to take off my clothes for a strip search and knew what would happen if I disobeyed; the apprehension that I would slip up and falter from my “model patient” persona for even a second and be held longer; the restlessness and emptiness of waiting to be released, each minute feeling like an hour; the shame and regret I still feel over not attending my own college graduation due to being locked up instead.<br />
<br />
To some of my friends, co-workers, and comrades, forced treatment has meant being electroshocked with and without anesthesia, being injected with powerful antipsychotics, and being subjected to behavior therapies and efforts to reprogram who they are through rewards and sometimes physical punishments.<br />
<br />
And for all of this, we are told we should be grateful. One could argue that even the notion of “forced treatment” is the ultimate form of victim-blaming – survivors are constantly told that because the ways we were expressing ourselves were symptoms of an illness in need of “treatment,” the use of force was justified. <i>“You should be glad someone cared enough to get you the help you needed,” </i>I hear regularly.<br />
<br />
It is not just the use of state-sanctioned force and violence that limits our ability to be ourselves. It is also social coercion – the social and environmental factors that make life very difficult for people seen as different. Every day, people face discrimination and prejudice for expressing thoughts and feelings that we have been trained to see as abnormal. Of course, the mental health industry exploits and perpetuates this prejudice.<br />
<br />
In a world where these are the potential consequences of just expressing certain thoughts, feelings, and actions, how can we expect anyone to be themselves? And if no one can be themselves, how can anyone connect?<br />
<br />
As humans, we are all so incredibly different from one another. We have vastly different ways of experiencing, processing, and responding to the world around us. And that is a beautiful thing – the world would be awfully boring if we were all the same! But sometimes, when one considers how different we all are, it is a mystery how we manage to connect and relate. It can feel very lonely and isolating to realize you are the only person in the world who possesses and fully understands your exact set of values, beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and personality.<br />
<br />
But while we have differences, there are universal experiences we all share. Real connection comes from those shared experiences. To be human is to feel pain, sadness, loss, anger, fear, joy, happiness, and hopefulness. To be human is to have strongly held values and beliefs that are shaped by our lives. We can all relate and empathize with these human experiences. In being forced to suppress them, what is there left to connect over?<br />
<br />
I believe there is nothing more powerful than the human connection that occurs when one person expresses a unique thought, feeling, or experience, and another person responds, “Me too.” It is in these moments that we begin to feel less alone.<br />
<br />
The mental health paradigm so often robs us of our potential to connect with one another.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>It is for this reason that today, instead of observing World Mental Health Day and validating a paradigm that views some people’s natural way of being and expressing themselves as ill or disordered, I plan to celebrate human connection. </li>
<li>Instead of advocating for more mental health treatment, I plan to do my best to support people in distress by validating their emotions and sharing their pain. </li>
<li>Instead of telling people to use coping skills to manage or curtail their emotions, I will view these emotions as a natural part of the range of the human experience. </li>
<li>And instead of raising awareness for “mental illness,” I will help spread the message that distress and crisis are a universal component of being human. </li>
</ul>
Only when we recognize this fact will our human needs be met.Sarah Knutsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290844872665327137noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572480303268518836.post-20369920342258867352017-10-02T16:19:00.001-04:002020-09-27T18:03:06.602-04:00The Violent, Vicious Cycle: Why we need to look at "Power Imbalances" instead of "Chemical Imbalances"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Have you ever considered how dangerous the medical model is?<br />
<br />
-- And not just to those of us with labels, but to everyone, everywhere who wants to live in a safer world?<br />
<br />
In reality, the conventional treatment industry is creating the very public health nightmare it says that it is 'treating.'<br />
<b style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-size: x-large;">A Recipe for Violence</b><br />
<br />
If you wanted to bring out the worst in humankind, here's a pretty sure shot:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Divide the world of human beings into two classes - those with personhood and those without it. </li>
<li>Create an entire class of people with nothing to live for</li>
<li>Create an entire class of people with nothing left to lose</li>
<li>Dismiss traumatic lived experiences as irrelevant</li>
<li>Ignore real life precipitants to actual human suffering</li>
<li>Use power, control and violence to resolve disagreements</li>
<li>Consistently make someone's life worse instead of better</li>
<li>Convince the entire known world that their truth is an 'illness'</li>
<li>Accuse everyone who disagrees of 'enabling their pathology'</li>
<li>Insist you are the answer and there is no hope apart from you</li>
</ol>
<div>
<br />
That's the medical model paradigm in a nutshell.<br />
<br />
If you wanted a to create recipe for alienation, desperation and retaliatory violence, you could hardly write a better one.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<b style="font-size: x-large;">A Literally Vicious Cycle</b></div>
<br />
It gets even worse than that when you look at the big picture. The simple fact is:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The more outsiders we create, the more unsafe we are.</span><br />
<br />
Let me say that again:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">The more outsiders we create, the more unsafe we are.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span>
This is not about broken biology or aberrant genes. It is the Catch 22 of the human condition.<br />
<br />
Here is the how and why of it:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>None of us likes to feel scared or threatened.</li>
<li>Feeling at odds with others is scary and threatening.</li>
<li>Feeling unable to meet basic needs is scary and threatening — and it often goes hand in hand with being a social outsider.</li>
<li>Human beings who feel threatened tend to resort to one of three responses: fight, flight or freeze.</li>
<li>When the stakes are high, flighters and freezers usually are not a problem. They run or hide, which doesn’t scare others too much.</li>
<li><b>Fighters are a totally different matter. We don’t run, we don’t hide. We go toward the stuff that scares us. And then we take it on and try to bring it down. The more afraid we are, the harder we attack. We don’t stop until the threat is dead or we are.</b></li>
<li>It’s also no sense trying to talk reason either. As long as the stakes stay high and we stay scared, the sympathetic nervous system will continue to do its job. It will create tunnel vision and tunnel hearing to keep distractions out. It will make sure our attention stays riveted until the threat is gone or we are.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
This isn’t going to change — not for a long time, probably not ever. The fight response has helped our species survive for thousands of years. There’s every reason to believe that it is genetically encoded. There’s every reason to believe that, for some of us, the fight response is a biological default. A species made up only of flighters and freezers wouldn’t last long. They would cede the turf with every new challenge. Humanity needs its fighters to ‘stick to their guns’ when the stakes are high.<br />
<br />
<br />
Therein lies our problem as human beings.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i><b>Think about it:</b></i><br />
<i><b><br /></b></i>
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>A certain percentage of the human species defaults to fight when threatened.</li>
<li>Being treated as ‘other’ scares people.</li>
<li>The more we ‘other’ each other the more scared more people are.</li>
<li>The more scared people we have and the more scared they feel, the more violence we are going to see.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<br />
This is not because marginalized people are violent. We’re not any more violent as a group than anyone else.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">But we are a whole lot more threatened. </span></i></div>
<br />
<br />
And the more of us who are threatened, and the worse we feel inside, the more fighters you will activate and the more violence you will see.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">It’s a simple matter of statistics, percentages</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"> and computing the odds.</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
As a case in point, look at the public health data on four groups that society loves to hate: mental illness, addictions, corrections and homelessness. There’s a common denominator staring us in the face.<br />
<br />
It’s not only ‘the mentally ill’ who have trauma. No, no, no. Widely-accepted government research suggests that roughly 90% of those who get caught in any of these systems are trauma survivors.<br />
<br />
In other words, there are a lot of marginalized and very scared, very desperate people out there.<br />
<br />
There was probably another one in the news this week. Possibly even today.<br />
<br />
No doubt the ‘mental illness’ treatment industry will use this to argue for more conventional services and more money to fund them.<br />
<br />
The outcome of this approach is fairly certain:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>We will alienate more people</i><br />
<i>Then we will see more violence.</i></blockquote>
<br />
The human rights framework gives us a far more viable option.<br />
<br />
Instead of creating social outsiders and killing hope, human rights connect us and repair our relationships.<br />
<br />
Here is how:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Human rights focus us on the things we have in common</li>
<li>Human rights reinforce that all of us have worth</li>
<li>Human rights resource us to get the things we need</li>
<li>Human rights treat all of us with dignity</li>
<li>Human rights make the space to honor all our voices</li>
<li>Human rights require us to hear each other out</li>
<li>Human rights respect those who disagree</li>
<li>Human rights seek out solutions that meet the needs of all of us</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
In a nutshell:<br />
<div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Human rights prevent violence before it ever starts. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">They ensure that <i>all</i> of us get treated </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">the way <i>every one</i> of us would like to be</span></div>
</div>
Sarah Knutsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290844872665327137noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572480303268518836.post-15496242440966037302017-10-02T14:48:00.002-04:002020-09-27T18:01:59.906-04:00Human Rights Competency #3-3: Facilitates Restorative Access<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisl3aiQiFYC0ptm_aL8-a4xK8NsLeWDRfd8cPk9sBY3SB47Pekw-Sf2Qs1V4GF37VxYN9OV_ikrMq8PGyaUeq0iPtkR1yCtnIEJwyWz5tPbj3fCTdeXTKe3Y3oNWxSbczvQKzYRIpBVS8/s1600/Slide13.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisl3aiQiFYC0ptm_aL8-a4xK8NsLeWDRfd8cPk9sBY3SB47Pekw-Sf2Qs1V4GF37VxYN9OV_ikrMq8PGyaUeq0iPtkR1yCtnIEJwyWz5tPbj3fCTdeXTKe3Y3oNWxSbczvQKzYRIpBVS8/s400/Slide13.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
The human rights paradigm is a roadmap for individual and social well being. <br />
<br />
The path to getting there is this:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Identify the core needs that people world wide agree on</li>
<li>Make sure everyone knows what they are</li>
<li>Help everyone to access what all of us need.</li>
</ol>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This is the universal route to universal well being.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
You'd be surprised at how many healthcare providers have never considered this. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
You'd be surprised how many of them claim to be experts on 'mental health.'</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It's time for that to change.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This question helps you to help your healthcare worker to do that. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Sarah Knutsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290844872665327137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572480303268518836.post-42016978621939608932017-10-02T13:48:00.002-04:002020-09-27T18:02:45.057-04:00Human Rights Competency #3-2: Assesses for Unmet Human Needs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdtf7JS16-J65sA9w6H4Dp14Xzr2TNew0Cv7SClPJcEetu-kAns-8P-n6AejMG7dv-HLm6_cdvjpxP67ct-iX26eGQdocmu-LdSFSHsxTapRrYADFOUix1pD-2RermMTnEfK4jE3mP6wc/s1600/Slide12.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdtf7JS16-J65sA9w6H4Dp14Xzr2TNew0Cv7SClPJcEetu-kAns-8P-n6AejMG7dv-HLm6_cdvjpxP67ct-iX26eGQdocmu-LdSFSHsxTapRrYADFOUix1pD-2RermMTnEfK4jE3mP6wc/s400/Slide12.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
Ok. Here's the point:<br />
<br />
'Mental Illness' portends to be about 'faulty thinking'<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>So how do you know if someone's thinking is faulty?</i></blockquote>
<br />
Well, first and foremost...<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;">You have to know why they are doing what they are doing</span></blockquote>
<br />
Here's the long and short of it:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Human needs are about human survival</li>
<li>Human rights are about the survival needs that human beings care about the most</li>
<li>If you can't access what you care about, it feels bad</li>
<li>If you have to chase what you care about, it takes a lot of energy</li>
<li>If you feel bad enough or chase long enough, eventually it shows.</li>
</ol>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
Here's the problem with the medical model:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>It never asks the questions that people care about the most.</i></blockquote>
<br />
It just:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Looks at what someone is doing</li>
<li>Compares it with a check list</li>
<li>And ticks off boxes...</li>
</ul>
<br /><ul>
</ul>
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Poof! - You are 'ill'.</span></blockquote>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
That is 'faulty thinking.' </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
By it's own standards, the medical model is 'mentally ill'</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
PS.<br />
<br />
Hopefully, the clinician you are seeing has higher standards.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This question helps you make your own assessment.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Sarah Knutsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290844872665327137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572480303268518836.post-91881650493447021392017-10-02T12:41:00.001-04:002020-09-27T18:02:28.514-04:00Human Rights Competency #3-1: Cares About My Basic Needs<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNGEmG8RfwLupsmY1upraB0Z952LmHzKa394mRb1SNCzOleduiF1gb97tPIayusVu233kzj0canYU6NM_A81-0ACT9Juqc42GOHRYh29ILkJzLdJP66womh5hNSkFfxZNJQoF5ww6nmac/s1600/Slide11.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNGEmG8RfwLupsmY1upraB0Z952LmHzKa394mRb1SNCzOleduiF1gb97tPIayusVu233kzj0canYU6NM_A81-0ACT9Juqc42GOHRYh29ILkJzLdJP66womh5hNSkFfxZNJQoF5ww6nmac/s400/Slide11.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both;">
Here's the down and dirty: </div>
<div class="" style="clear: both;">
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">No rights, no well being</span></div>
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Here's the deeper logic:</div>
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1. Healthcare is about well being</div>
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2. Being cared about:</div>
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<li>a basic need</li>
<li> essential to psychosocial well being</li>
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3. Meeting basic needs is:</div>
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<li>essential to individual and social well being</li>
<li>the foundation of freedom, justice and world peace </li>
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Therefore:</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Providers who</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-size: large;">claim to offer 'healthcare' ...</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">claim to care about 'public safety'...</span></li>
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<span style="font-size: large;">... need to care about the basic human needs of those they serve and whether those needs are being met. </span></blockquote>
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Sarah Knutsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02290844872665327137noreply@blogger.com1