Month: October 2013

Self-knowledge in relationship

Self-knowledge is not according to any formula. You may go to a psychologist or a psychoanalyst to find out about yourself, but that is not self-knowledge. Self-knowledge comes into being when we are aware of ourselves in relationship, which shows what we are from moment to moment. Relationship is a mirror in which to see ourselves as we actually are. But most of us are incapable of looking at ourselves as we are in relationship, because we immediately begin to condemn or justify what we see. We judge, we evaluate, we compare, we deny or accept, but we never observe actually ‘what is’, and for most people this seems to be the most difficult thing to do; yet this alone is the beginning of self-knowledge. … [click on title to read and view more]

Our thoughts act like dream glasses

"…look at other people and ask yourself if you are really seeing them or just your thoughts about them. Sometimes our thoughts act like dream glasses. When we have them on, we see dream children, dream husband, dream wife, dream job, dream colleagues, dream partners, dream friends. We can live in a dream present for a dream future. Without knowing it, we are coloring everything, putting our spin on it all. While things in the dream may change and give the illusion of being vivid and real, it is still a dream we are caught in. But if we take the glasses off, maybe, just maybe, we might see a little more accurately what is actually here" … [click on title to read and view more]

Effective family support — Krista MacKinnon on Madness Radio

How can family members help a relative in extreme crisis - instead of worsening the situation? Is there a way out of treatment power struggles and arguments about "insight"? And what do families need to change about themselves? Psychiatric survivor Krista MacKinnon, formerly at Toronto's Family Outreach and Response program and now Director of Practice Recovery, discusses practical methods for turning family relationships into tools for healing. … [click on title to read and view more]

Do antidepressants work? Respond to this important global survey. Let your voices be heard!

Please respond to the survey in the Guardian. It includes questions about withdrawal. We can let people know how gravely harmful these drugs are to so many people: LET OUR VOICES BE HEARD!! … [click on title to read and view more]

I’m beginning to hear the teachings of my blood pulsing within me

I have no right to call myself one who knows. I was one who seeks, and I still am, but I no longer seek in the stars or in books; I'm beginning to hear the teachings of my blood pulsing within me. My story isn't pleasant, it's not sweet and harmonious like the invented stories; it tastes of folly and bewilderment, of madness and dream, like the life of all people who no longer want to lie to themselves. … [click on title to read and view more]

We are all different

I got an email from someone today who thought they knew just how to save me. A psychiatric survivor who had decided that her experience could be generalized to everyone. She's doing very well...and that is a lovely thing. What is not lovely is writing me with unsolicited advice. I was familiar with everything she "prescribed" to fix me. Very familiar. If she'd actually read my blog she would have known that. None of it is appropriate for me or many others who've found themselves in protracted withdrawal. … [click on title to read and view more]

What’s wrong?

The best cartoon ever. I'm resurrecting this post today from the archives. ... [click on title for full view]

Learning to love…

Learning to love. We must learn to love, learn to be kind, and this from earliest youth; if education or chance gives us no opportunity to practice these feelings, our soul becomes dry and unsuited even to understanding the tender inventions of loving people. Likewise, hatred must be learned and nurtured, if one wishes to become a proficient hater; otherwise the germ for that, too, will gradually wither. … [click on title to read and view more]

To be nobody but yourself…

To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you everybody else, means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting. … [click on title to read and view more]

She’s Alive… Beautiful… Finite… Hurting… Worth Dying for

Our planet is dying. It's dangerous to be in any sort of denial about this. The most important question we can ask ourselves is "what am I doing to serve the planet, humanity and all of life?" I'll repeat what the person who passed this onto me said, "PLEASE take time to watch this and turn up your speakers. Allow it to soak into your soul." … [click on title to read and view more]

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