Last week I shared three strategies for coping with hearing voices: detachment, acceptance, and self-restraint. In this the second part of a series of three I discuss three more strategies I employ to cope with hearing voices.
4. Support Network. Having people who I trust and respect to talk too about what goes on inside with the voices and other matters is a more recent strategy. After some failed attempts to communicate my experiences to professionals and some friends leading up too 1994 and beyond, because of the negative responses I learned to keep my troubles to myself. However, in recent years I have discovered, or rediscovered, a psychological benefit in being able to enter into open discussions with select trusted peoples I can create an environment of emotional safety and support where I am not judged, medicated, or ‘fixed.’ When the voices are at their worst I find a release in talking with trusted people instead of bottling it up inside and becoming overwhelmed. I attend a weekly men’s support group and have a small group of trusted confidants of which one is a licensed therapist. These exchanges help me stay grounded and keep life in perspective, which lessens the impact of the voices. As well, I keep in regular contact with friends and family on a daily basis, which helps me avoid becoming isolated with the voices and my issues. In my experience, psychiatrists have proven untrustworthy and my exchanges with them have been largely unproductive if not injurious. Beyond writing prescriptions they seem to have little else to offer. Besides target practice I have little use for them. I use a General Practitioner to prescribe any medications I might need and help me manage the condition from a medical perspective. At present, there are no psychiatrists in my support network and I figure that I do just fine without them.
5. I attend to my emotional health on an ongoing basis. There is support out there among the professional community for the contention that schizophrenia is not a chemical imbalance in the brain to be treated with medication as contended by main stream psychiatry, but rather it is an emotional disorder. This has always been my personal belief. Further, according to my current therapist, schizophrenic symptoms and schizophrenia can be induced by trauma and abuse. I have trauma and emotional and sexual abuse in my history. Therefore, in an effort to cure my condition and manage or silence the voices, I make it a point to actively engage in emotional healing. As mentioned above I attend a weekly men’s peer support group for survivors of child sexual abuse and I have a therapist whom I visit on a regular basis whom guides me in my healing. I am also currently enrolled in a course that teaches a form of compassionate communication, known as Non-Violent Communication, which is based on empathy and a compassionate language of feelings and needs that includes a component on self-compassion. It is hoped that as I become more fluent in this compassionate language of feelings and needs my emotional health and personal relationships will improve and become more rewarding, thereby contributing to the improvement of my condition and lessening the voices. To protect my emotional well being I have made it a point to eliminate all contact with toxic personalities and keep in my life people who are also on the healing path. Finally, because of my mixed at best and, with exception, predominately negative experiences with clinicians, I have learned to embrace peer support, which I define as survivors supporting fellow survivors, as a means of support and healing. I find I can tolerate the voices easier and they are less active when I am tending to my emotional well being and taking good care of myself.
6. Managing stress. I find the voices can be more active when I am stressed. My reading also tells me that schizophrenic episodes can be triggered by stress, and so I take measures to manage my stress levels. There are five techniques that I use regularly to manage stress. First, I visit the hot tub at the gym 4-6 times a week. I find alternating between soaking in the hot tub and the pool melts away the tension in my body and relaxes me lowering my stress levels. Second, I try to get regular exercise. In the spring, summer, and fall I hike two or three times a week for 1-2 hours. I find the exercise to be de-stressing and being in nature rejuvenating. Third, I regularly meditate, which I find calms my mind and relaxes me. Fourthly, I also experience stress when I am confronted by problems, especially when I am juggling numerous problems at once. Consequently, I make an effort to solve problems as they arise and seek advice from members of my support network when I cannot solve a problem on my own. Tackling problems as they occur reduces stress and also avoids problems piling up and becoming overwhelming emotionally and inducing additional stress. Lastly, I try to keep my life simple to lessen the number problems and financial surprises. One thing I have done to simplify my life and limit unexpected expenses is to sell my 130 year old duplex and buy a newer condo. I no longer have to deal with renters and the unending surprise expenses of an old building. Additionally, about fours years ago, I abandoned the strategy of buying three year old used cars for a new car with a five year factory warranty. I spend less time in the shop and less time freaking and peaking over unexpected repair bills. By keeping stress at manageable levels I find have more inner resources for day-to-day challenges and have a greater ability to quiet or tolerate the voices while lessening the chances of an episode/relapse.
Next week I’ll be back with a few final strategies I use to live with voices. Until then take care.