S.A. eLetter (11-9-11)
John P.
Greetings S.A. Family on the Internet,
Sorry that I wasn't able to get the S.A. eLetter out in the month of October. I had some other work activities that month that had higher priority. But I will try to get the eLetter out more reliably in the next couple of months. --J.P.
Here is more discussion of the S.A. program from the S.A. Blue Booklet.
Aspects of Recovery
What is recovery from schizophrenia? Perhaps the most obvious sign of recovery is the reduction and control of symptoms to the point of permitting one to have the ability to find and keep steady and structured activity.
More broadly, it might include living independently, forming meaningful relationships, being financially self-supporting, and not having to be re-hospitalized for psychiatric reasons. Many SA members and SA leaders have found rewarding employment through mental health consumer “drop-in centers” and psycho-social clubhouses. Some of our group leaders have used their experience in ongoing recovery to gain full time work as “peer-counselors,” patient’s rights advocates, and entry-level program specialist for community mental health treatment centers.
But can aspect of recovery exist at less high levels of functioning? Can a person be considered as “recovering” if he or she is unable to maintain employment or live independently? In SA, we believe that some level of recovery is achieved if the person is functioning at the person’s highest possible level. As victims of one of life’s most disruptive illnesses, SA’s cardinal goal is for each member to get well and stay well. But recovery-as in the severity of the illness-is always an individual matter.
Chronically ill members of SA often cannot risk losing their disability income and medical “safety net” of social benefits. Our members often found subsidized housing where rent is low; they don’t want to move. Others are being realistic to accept life in structured living settings like group homes or adult foster care. Some of us have assertive community treatment arrangements where trained counselors bring us our medication and provide transportation to doctor appointments. Many of us have friendships and activities sponsored by church groups and social clubs. Acceptance of the limits imposed by our illness within our society is only realistic.
To be “recovering” is to function to the maximum extent of individual capacity, within the limitations imposed by the severity of the illness, personal abilities and talents, and the environment. Another sign of recovery is the capacity to respond appropriately to the demands of an ever changing world. The ability to adapt to changes in everyday life and to display resiliency in surviving the stresses of daily living is necessary in successfully maintaining employment, living independently, or in any other measure of recovery.
Recovery from schizophrenia is a continuous process that can never be taken for granted. One must always make conscious efforts to interact appropriately and maintain contact with the surrounding environment. Efforts made towards recovery must never stop. Constant vigilance and reality-checking is a fact of life for people with schizophrenia and related illnesses. SA believes that each member should work toward the goals of achieving the objective measures of recovery: work, independent living, and the development of interpersonal relationships. However, we also believe that no member should be arbitrarily pushed beyond his or her current ability to achieve these goals. Put simply, our hope is that all members will eventually enjoy the fullest life possible.
SOURCE: S.A. Blue Booklet (program text, first published in 1989)
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--Stress Management, part #58
--Hans Selye's Work on Stress
The next three editions will have description of three major research scientists of the 20th century who had key impacts on the field of stress management. They are Hans Selye (1907-1982), Walter Cannon (1871-1945), and Herbert Benson (1935-present).
Hans Selye was born in Central Europe and did his groundbreaking work at McGill University in Montreal and at the University of Montreal. He was an endocrinologist in the field of biology, and was considered the first person to demonstrate the existence of biological stress. He did this with a research team of 40 assistants and laboratory work on 15,000 lab animals.
Selye developed the concept of the general adaptive syndrome and introduced the idea of stress within it--stress being a term used earlier in the field of engineering. What Selye saw in his lab animals was that when noxious agents were introduced, the animals began a syndrome of change--swelling of the adrenal cortex, atrophy of the thymus, and gastric ulcers. The animals eventually died under these continuous conditions. Selye called the noxious agents by the name of stressors. Also, Selye began looking at the biological data on human beings and concluded that this syndrome that existed in lab animals also applied to people.
In the general adaptive syndrome, the presence of stressors produce three steps in a row--the alarm state, the resistance state, and the exhaustion state. Selye called negative stressors "distress" and positive stressors "eustress." The body copes with stress through the HPA aixs--the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. A pathological state occurs when stress is unrelieved. These concepts were described by Selye in his research. He also worked on the idea of reservoirs of stress resistance and stress energy.
Hans Selye was nominated for the Nobel Prize and wrote two well-known popular books on his work: The Stress of Life (1956) and Stress without Distress (1974).
SOURCE: Encyclopedia Britannica online edition 2011 and Wikepedia
Stress Management Series Prior Editions
Below are links to the first 40 parts of the Stress Management Series to
date. The more recent parts are at the S.A. eLetter site at Google.
Stress Management Series I (Parts #1 to #16):
http://groups.google.com/group/choose-life-project/browse_thread/thread/584aa4af7b45c502
Stress Management Series II (Parts #17 to #29):
http://groups.google.com/group/choose-life-project/browse_thread/thread/f240f7bad9902a81#
Stress Management Series III (Parts #30 to #40):
http://groups.google.com/group/choose-life-project/browse_thread/thread/e0f98e3ce6dafc7f
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--Our Suffering in Perspective
The suffering of schizophrenia patients is real. And other people
suffer too. We wish to also recognize the struggles of other
suffering people. For instance:
Blizzards
This past week a non-seasonal snowstorm hit the northeastern part of the USA, leaving over one million people without electricity.
We do not suffer alone.
SOURCES: New York Times (10-30-11)
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--Website of the Week
Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic provides valuable information on the causes, symptoms, and treatment of schizophrenia.
Its website--
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/schizophrenia/DS00196
For other helpful links to websites related to mental illness, check out our SARDAA webpage at this address:
http://www.sardaa.org/resources/
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--Quote of the Week
"It's all right to tell a man to lift himself by his own bootstraps,
but it is a cruel just to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift
himself by his own bootstraps."
-Martin Luther King, Jr (1929-1968)., American civil-rights leader, Nobel Peace Prize laureate
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Bye for now, and everyone have a great couple of weeks.
--John P., member of S.A.
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For more information about
Schizophrenics Anonymous.:
The new S.A. website is at:
http://www.sardaa.org
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For the Google information group for S.A.:
http://groups.google.com/group/schizophrenics-anonymous
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For the Yahoo discussion group for S.A.:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/schizophrenics-anonymous
NOTE: Earlier editions of the S.A. eLettter and the Schizophrenia News
Links are posted at the Google information group for S.A. (link given
above). Also, the S.A. eLetter will come
to your e-mail inbox when published by signing up at the S.A.
Information Group at Google.
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Fact Sheet Information about Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective
Disorder--
* National Institute of Mental Health--description of schizophrenia:
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/schizophrenia/index.shtml
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* Mental Health America ( formerly the National Mental Health
Association):
--description of schizophrenia:
http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/go/schizophrenia
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* National Alliance for the Mentally Il
--description of schizophrenia:
http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=By_Illness&Template=/TaggedP...
--description of schizoaffective disorder:
http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=By_Illness&Template=/TaggedP...
(Organization now called National Alliance on Mental Illness)