For many people there is no chance of recovery from 'chronic' schizophrenia. Recovery is not offered to them as one of their options.
They are prescipted a lifetime of mood-stabalizing drugs, which generally suppress psychotic symtoms. This is enough for most professionals, and for the concerned families advocating medication. How much easier if the symptoms just went away! Who wants to waste time wondering about causes?
The people I work with are not in a recovery program. They are given medications which numb and exhaust them. I arrive in the morning and gather then all into the lounge, where everyone sleepily follows a simple yoga routine. I encourage them to breathe, but they find it difficult, R* says it makes her dizzy, and G* begins to feel panicky. G* takes two valiums a day to ward off his panic attacks. Nobody blinks an eye as day after day, year after year, he entrenches his drug habit.
The others think he's lucky to have a private doctor, and a family who will foot the bill for his expensive habits. Most of the residents are state patients, supplied with daily doses of antipsychotics by the government. They are beautiful people. Each of them have been through so much to arrive where they are at today, so much alienation and loss. They no longer have a place in our society, and what's worse, they have no prognosis of recovery!
I want to change my varsity major to psychology. 10 years from now I want to be a practising professional in this field. There is so much exciting work being done overseas at the moment, in terms of dealing successfully with schizophrenia. Dr. Al Siebert runs a website called successfulschizophrenia.org which offers many profound insights into the nature of schizophrenia, and the path through to the other side.
I am hoping that I will have the strength of heart to work with these people for the year that I have prescribed myself. It's heartbreaking yet also rewarding. I must honor them too, they have made the choice to stay alive and face the odds, and each one of then still has something unique to offer. I need to practise non-attachment in an environment that tweaks all my sore bits. It's tough. But it's good practice. If I want to do this professionally one day I need to be able to empathise without hurting.... don't I?
Anyway, I'll have lots of time to figure it out.
