believe and know… (IT GETS BETTER)

If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning. — Mahatma Gandhi

That is certainly how recovering from the heinousness of the iatrogenic injury of psychiatric drug withdrawal syndrome has worked for me!! — my unrelenting determination to find a way through the maze of autonomic nervous system chaos has, indeed, brought me many gifts and continued healing…and it’s not done yet!

Certainly I’ve not believed that in every moment and in fact have at times experienced great despair when the illness had me bedbound and unable to speak, unable to even brush my teeth and experiencing acute pains and insanely strong and difficult sensations that don’t seem to properly belong in the experience of being human. And yet, something — some small thread of knowing — kept me going, always.

If you find yourself in such a hellish place know that there are many like us…making our way through. Healing and growing and learning. Keep on going. All things change. All things pass. All is transient.

In general I say I do not believe anything and really that remains true. Still because of the poverty of language the word belief works here and I don’t know how to not use it and make myself clear. So please find it in your being to understand how one might not believe and believe at the same time 🙂

I’ve found that holding contradictory “truths” is often the way forward actually.

Peace and love to all my fellow comrades who’ve found themselves in protracted psychiatric drug withdrawal syndrome.

the above part of this post is now on Mad in America too. You can join discussion and comments there if you like.

I’m cutting and pasting my chronic illness info page below. Learning to move through protracted withdrawal has been a long process. Now it’s one I largely can appreciate in ways I certainly could not when I was suffering at its height.

Information and inspiration for the chronically ill

I added another tab for the navigation menu. Thought I’d call attention to it. This one is for folks living with chronic illnesses of all kinds. I was struck physically ill from the brain-injury and systemic insult incurred by long-term  and excessive (prescribed) psychiatric drug use  and the subsequent withdrawal from the drugs (iatrogenesis). Many of my symptoms are like that of all sorts of auto-immune and other long-term chronic illness. (CFS, fibromyalgia, etc) — because in fact the drugs exacerbate or encourage such manifestation.

These are articles about learning to cope with being seriously ill and also learning to heal from such illness.

This is general information and/or personal information that has been helpful to me and may or may not apply at all to any particular given individual with whatever illness you may be coping with.

The tab and the drop down menu will be permanently at the top of the page, but for ease of use for the reader I share it below as well. The drop down menu is also a good place to find many different suggestions for healing modalities. Don’t limit yourself to this page!

These two pieces are new and link a lot of everything else together in many ways although not explicitly

This page will be updated when appropriate posts are published on the blog.

Chronic Illness

●  Protracted psychiatric drug withdrawal syndrome, chronic illness, CFS, Fibromyalgia. Yeah, they all have things in common.(NEW)

●   Living well while being sick

●   Adventures in natural pain relief 

●  Life as a meditation: my contemplative adventure

●  Toolbox: coping with withdrawal syndrome & chronic illness…a collection of suggestions and links

●  Yoga for rehab – see the YOGA category too

●  Multiple drug sensitivity

●  Coping with and healing body pain of withdrawal & withdrawal syndromes

●  Isolation when ill: collection of links and commentary dealing with the distinctive loneliness and feelings of abandonment one experiences when ill

●  This is what it’s like

●  What does it mean to heal?

●  Karma and chronic illness

●  The descent experience: metaphor for serious illness

●  Challenges of Living with Invisible Pain or Illness

●  Asking for help when you’re ill

●  Reality is the full spectrum

●  Can’t get no satisfaction

●  Medical compliance? Adherence? Screw that. My MDs are my PARTNERS

●  More info that may pertain to the chronically ill (diet and nutrition)

●  Vulnerability and the Illusion of Control

●   Encouraging people to make healthy life supporting choices is not the same as blaming them for illness

●  Yoga victory: recovery continues

see also: This is what it’s like to be chronically ill: Ken Wilber shares his experience

Lately herbs have been incredibly helpful and I’ve been getting better!

• My Healing Protocol Detailed

• My growing herb list: healing with plants – additional link about my adventures with herbs at the bottom of the post

• See also:

• Limbic Kindling — hardwiring the brain for hypersensitivity

• “I wrote a new story for my nervous system” — neurosculpting, neuroplasticity

• Body-Centered Inquiry

• Inhabiting our bodies in meditation

Being seriously physically ill can also incur trauma and lead to PTSD like issues. Having been traumatized can also make someone more likely to develop chronic illness. If you scroll down on this page the following link you will find a section on trauma and the body: Trauma infographic and links to more info too 

These are additional articles that may be helpful to people with various chronic illnesses. This is general information that has been helpful to me and may or may not apply at all to any particular given individual.

• New study from John Hopkins showing gluten sensitivity in people labeled with schizophrenia (and how gluten can effect a lot of us)
• Are You At Risk For Diabetes and Obesity? If you’ve taken or take psychiatric drugs the answer is YES
• My cat, real food and the abject stupidity of the human race
• Info on food allergies — they can affect body and mind both
• Nutrition and gut health – important for total well-being (body/mind/spirit)
• Minding Your Mitochondria: heal chronic illness with diet

I will add to this list of articles as appropriate. Check back from time to time.

These are all permanently accessible from the drop-down navigation menu above under the heading“Chronic Illness”

Please do not attempt to discontinue psych drugs without first very carefully educating yourself on the risks involved so that you might minimize the chances of developing grave iatrogenic illness if you decide to withdraw: Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal and Protracted Withdrawal Syndrome Round-Up

See also: The anniversary posts: the 5 years off psychiatric drugs documented