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Author Topic: Mental Illness and Practice  (Read 3266 times)

HarpingHawke

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Mental Illness and Practice
« on: September 29, 2014, 02:08:54 pm »
I know there was another thread for this somewhere but it didn't feel quite right to resurrect it. Hence this thread.

For those of you with diagnosed mental illnesses, how do they affect your practice? Do you have work around them? Have they ever made you doubt your path and what you're doing in that path? Is there a part of your religious practice specifically dedicated to trying to get to a healthier place?

Apologies for all the questions. I'm just kinda stuck on this topic right now.
"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self." - Hemingway

Sisu

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Re: Mental Illness and Practice
« Reply #1 on: September 29, 2014, 07:03:26 pm »
Quote from: HarpingHawke;160664
I know there was another thread for this somewhere but it didn't feel quite right to resurrect it. Hence this thread.

For those of you with diagnosed mental illnesses, how do they affect your practice? Do you have work around them? Have they ever made you doubt your path and what you're doing in that path? Is there a part of your religious practice specifically dedicated to trying to get to a healthier place?

Apologies for all the questions. I'm just kinda stuck on this topic right now.

 
I was formally diagnosed with major depressive disorder and PTSD about 4 years ago but have struggled with them since I was about 7 or 8. Overall my practice helps keep me mentally healthy and is actually how I reconnected with paganism since I  originally wanted to try meditative techniques to help cope with the low periods as well as working through issues related to personal power / sovereignty via witchcraft.

Overall these illnesses don't interfere with my daily practice, but I do have to be careful about attempting certain forms of energy exercises or shadow work when I'm not feeling 100% mentally since it can exacerbate the negative thought process that crops up. I've also found that there are days that I cannot get remotely close to a meditative state if I'm too upset/agitated, and I just have to accept that limitation and move onto other activities instead of getting disappointed with myself.

I would say the growing relationship with the deity I've become involved with is quite tied with my efforts to live a healthier and more fulfilling life that accommodates the specific trauma I've experienced. I had not been interested in any sort of concept of deity/higher power for most of my life so it really came out of the blue and accompanied with a huge side of skepticism, but overall my devotions/meditations concerning that deity have proved to be a positive influence on my health and is the most recent path in my spirituality that I'm exploring.

DancesWithHorses

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Re: Mental Illness and Practice
« Reply #2 on: September 29, 2014, 09:13:14 pm »
Quote from: HarpingHawke;160664
I know there was another thread for this somewhere but it didn't feel quite right to resurrect it. Hence this thread.

For those of you with diagnosed mental illnesses, how do they affect your practice? Do you have work around them? Have they ever made you doubt your path and what you're doing in that path? Is there a part of your religious practice specifically dedicated to trying to get to a healthier place?

Apologies for all the questions. I'm just kinda stuck on this topic right now.


I credit my path with giving me the tools and strenght to deal with the hormone-related depression I fight on a regular basis. The medical terms are more than I can remember right now, and a diagnosis doesn't fix the problem anyway. I do have to work around it sometimes. I haven't picked up my tarot cards in months because I'm not stable enough to handle them. No, it has never made me doubt my path, its what got me here. And yes, most of it is dedicated to making me a better, healthier person.

It's not easy and some days are hard. I can't tell most people that becoming a heathen helped me more than any therapist or any drug (drugs really almost did me in). I'm learning every day to cope better. I used to hate that every 3-4 weeks, I would spin out of control, until I realized that the moon and many other natural things come in cycles too. So while I might be really in a hole for 4-16 days (or if its very bad and my environment is bad, months at a time), it always goes away again. This path saved me, along with my horses. It gives me the freedom to walk away from self-damaging beliefs and handle the cards I've been dealt to the best of my abilities.
Jinx or Jinxy :)
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Redfaery

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Re: Mental Illness and Practice
« Reply #3 on: October 02, 2014, 08:25:31 am »
Quote from: HarpingHawke;160664
I know there was another thread for this somewhere but it didn't feel quite right to resurrect it. Hence this thread.

For those of you with diagnosed mental illnesses, how do they affect your practice? Do you have work around them? Have they ever made you doubt your path and what you're doing in that path? Is there a part of your religious practice specifically dedicated to trying to get to a healthier place?

Apologies for all the questions. I'm just kinda stuck on this topic right now.


Dealing with mental health issues. For me?

Pills.

You will take them from my cold, dead hands.

The taking of medication has become such a normal part of my routine that I actually get irritated when I hear people complain about having to take medication, or when they praise me for taking mine like I'm some sort of courageous medical survivor.
 
That said, my spirituality has affected my mental health state immensely, and for the better. Learning to sort through the thoughts in my head rationally and in a detached manner has eliminated my negative self-talk, for instance. And that has been an incredible help.
KARMA: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Iris Melody

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Re: Mental Illness and Practice
« Reply #4 on: October 02, 2014, 12:54:28 pm »
Quote from: Redfaery;160887
Dealing with mental health issues. For me?

Pills.

You will take them from my cold, dead hands.

The taking of medication has become such a normal part of my routine that I actually get irritated when I hear people complain about having to take medication, or when they praise me for taking mine like I'm some sort of courageous medical survivor.
 
That said, my spirituality has affected my mental health state immensely, and for the better. Learning to sort through the thoughts in my head rationally and in a detached manner has eliminated my negative self-talk, for instance. And that has been an incredible help.

 
Yes! I support medication. I am on a cocktail now for ADHD and bipolar type one. We (my psychiatrist and I) have managed to work together to find the perfect combination to keep me mostly stable and not have the "brain fog" or loss of creativity some medications have given me. Depression still rears its ugly head now and then as does something I refer to as "head chaos," and sometimes I have anxiety attacks triggered by bad memories. But aside from the medications I have self-help techniques to limit my nasty symptoms. As I've mentioned in another thread, I've found some books by Thich Nhat Hanh especially helpful. He is a Buddhist monk who practices what he calls "Engaged Buddhism" but as he mentions in his work anyone of any religion or path can benefit from his teachings.

I have yet to start doing energy work or meditation aside from mantras. I am currently in the research everything stage of my new path and am starting a journal for my research and later my practices. But I'm already noticing the change. Taking time to focus on myself and what I believe has helped limit the "head chaos."
“I am still so naïve; I know pretty much what I like and dislike; but please, don’t ask me who I am. A passionate, fragmentary girl, maybe?” ― Sylvia Plath

HarpingHawke

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Re: Mental Illness and Practice
« Reply #5 on: October 02, 2014, 01:29:32 pm »
Quote from: Redfaery;160887
Dealing with mental health issues. For me?

Pills.

You will take them from my cold, dead hands.

The taking of medication has become such a normal part of my routine that I actually get irritated when I hear people complain about having to take medication, or when they praise me for taking mine like I'm some sort of courageous medical survivor.
 

 
Quote from: Iris Melody;160912
Yes! I support medication. I am on a cocktail now for ADHD and bipolar type one. We (my psychiatrist and I) have managed to work together to find the perfect combination to keep me mostly stable and not have the "brain fog" or loss of creativity some medications have given me.


 
This is a bit off-topic, and may not actually be the right place to ask, but I'm actually looking into medication at the moment because my depression has started to impede my practice and normal life. Are there any little pearls of wisdom or advice you feel like sharing? I'm just so new to the whole: "It's legitimate depression, not just normal funk" thing that it's kind of hard to make a decision about whether or not to start, and what to expect. I would assume it's different for different medications, but in general, what do I expect? (If there even is an "in general").

Thank you, and thanks to everyone who's replied. :)
"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self." - Hemingway

Redfaery

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Re: Mental Illness and Practice
« Reply #6 on: October 02, 2014, 01:45:09 pm »
Quote from: HarpingHawke;160913
This is a bit off-topic, and may not actually be the right place to ask, but I'm actually looking into medication at the moment because my depression has started to impede my practice and normal life. Are there any little pearls of wisdom or advice you feel like sharing? I'm just so new to the whole: "It's legitimate depression, not just normal funk" thing that it's kind of hard to make a decision about whether or not to start, and what to expect. I would assume it's different for different medications, but in general, what do I expect? (If there even is an "in general").

Thank you, and thanks to everyone who's replied. :)
You'd really have to ask a professional. Medications vary widely in their effects on any one person. Not just different types of pill like Prozac vs. Paxil, but also sometimes from different manufactures of THE SAME PILL.

I'm on the Teva produced generic label of Paxil. Even the name brand doesn't work as well for me. As for other generics.....*clutches the precious pink pills and starts twitching*
KARMA: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Iris Melody

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Re: Mental Illness and Practice
« Reply #7 on: October 02, 2014, 02:51:15 pm »
Quote from: Redfaery;160915
You'd really have to ask a professional. Medications vary widely in their effects on any one person. Not just different types of pill like Prozac vs. Paxil, but also sometimes from different manufactures of THE SAME PILL.


I second this. Ask a professional. Preferably a psychiatrist over a general practitioner if you can. Also, if feasible, see if you can also get therapy. While the meds will help the symptoms most of the time, the therapy can teach self-help techniques to use along side medication and also help when symptoms occasionally poke through despite medication.
“I am still so naïve; I know pretty much what I like and dislike; but please, don’t ask me who I am. A passionate, fragmentary girl, maybe?” ― Sylvia Plath

HarpingHawke

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Re: Mental Illness and Practice
« Reply #8 on: October 02, 2014, 02:52:48 pm »
Quote from: Redfaery;160915
You'd really have to ask a professional. Medications vary widely in their effects on any one person. Not just different types of pill like Prozac vs. Paxil, but also sometimes from different manufactures of THE SAME PILL.


 
Makes sense. I've been talking with a professional, just I still was a little unsure. And tired. So my logic wasn't really working...:o Of course they affect different people differently.

Thanks!
"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self." - Hemingway

EclecticWheel

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Re: Mental Illness and Practice
« Reply #9 on: November 04, 2014, 11:51:47 pm »
Quote from: HarpingHawke;160664
I know there was another thread for this somewhere but it didn't feel quite right to resurrect it. Hence this thread.

For those of you with diagnosed mental illnesses, how do they affect your practice? Do you have work around them? Have they ever made you doubt your path and what you're doing in that path? Is there a part of your religious practice specifically dedicated to trying to get to a healthier place?

Apologies for all the questions. I'm just kinda stuck on this topic right now.

 
I have struggled for years with emotional and perceptual disturbances; during some periods of my life it has been more severe than others.  I was on meds for years, but I eventually weaned myself off because they weren't helping anymore and were making matters worse.  They were necessary in the beginning, although I think it would have been better on a more temporary basis for me.  I am better off now, but often times psychiatrists will not help a person make this transition.  I had to do it on my own -- not ideal, but I had no choice.

These difficulties have made me doubt myself at times, including my spirituality, but over time I came to the perspective that even when I am not having emotional issues, my perceptions are simply different in some ways.  And that's not bad.  I don't have any need to pathologize it or identify it as an illness.  I simply perceive the world differently in some ways at least some of the time, and if I'm going through a lot in my life at the time, those perceptions may be, well...disturbing.

Today I tend to think of these differences as a gift, or at least an attribute with some advantages, not an illness, even though it has the potential to manifest in a negative way.  It aids my spirituality -- I have an easier time communing with spirits or obtaining insights or entering into altered states.  It can aid my creativity or help me perform rituals and with the right people, close friends, in the right context, sometimes it helps me impart some of that altered state to them.

My entire spirituality is dedicated to becoming whole, holy, so there isn't a specific part I dedicate to healing except perhaps prayers that might ask specifically for that.  But in general all of my prayers and rituals are geared toward re-integration, my mind, my body, my emotions, my whole self, and that includes some of the ways in which I perceive differently than many others...it is not so much that I want to get rid of the ways in which I sometimes perceive differently than other people, but to integrate and change that in such a way that it becomes a part of my wholeness rather than isolated from the rest of me and labeled as an illness.
My personal moral code:

Love wisely, and do what thou wilt.

HarpingHawke

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Re: Mental Illness and Practice
« Reply #10 on: November 05, 2014, 12:00:50 pm »
Quote from: EclecticWheel;164381

...it is not so much that I want to get rid of the ways in which I sometimes perceive differently than other people, but to integrate and change that in such a way that it becomes a part of my wholeness rather than isolated from the rest of me and labeled as an illness.

 
That's an interesting way to look at it.
"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self." - Hemingway

Tay Redgrave

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Re: Mental Illness and Practice
« Reply #11 on: November 05, 2014, 01:03:09 pm »
Quote from: HarpingHawke;160664
For those of you with diagnosed mental illnesses, how do they affect your practice? Do you have work around them? Have they ever made you doubt your path and what you're doing in that path? Is there a part of your religious practice specifically dedicated to trying to get to a healthier place?

I was diagnosed with mild generalized anxiety disorder. My doctor didn't think it was severe enough to put me on any medication and I can generally function okay within society... minus the fact I can turn into the biggest worry wart or a huge mess over things people consider minor worries, of course.

It doesn't affect my practice negatively. Actually, I think working with Lucifer and learning the things I am through that relationship is helping me figure out potential ways to manage my anxiety better, and hopefully live a healthier life. He's also sort of been trying to drill it in my head to manage it... there's that, too. *cough*

Jainarayan

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Re: Mental Illness and Practice
« Reply #12 on: November 05, 2014, 01:10:22 pm »
Quote from: HarpingHawke;160664
I know there was another thread for this somewhere but it didn't feel quite right to resurrect it. Hence this thread.

For those of you with diagnosed mental illnesses, how do they affect your practice? Do you have work around them? Have they ever made you doubt your path and what you're doing in that path? Is there a part of your religious practice specifically dedicated to trying to get to a healthier place?

Apologies for all the questions. I'm just kinda stuck on this topic right now.

I am bipolar 2 hypomanic/depressive; I have GAD (General Anxiety Disorder), OCPD (Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder), and undoubtedly Asperger's. When I am hypomanic (just under full-blown mania), and having an attack of GAD and OCPD, it affects my practice in that I will focus on externals. That is, I become obsessed with getting the altar and shrine, and rituals absolutely perfect. I spent a lot of money on murthis (statues and idols) and books in my Hindu and Buddhist days.

I spent a lot of time creating rituals, making up ritual and prayer books, re-doing them. I fretted over the proper mantras, prayers and Sanskrit pronunciations, whom to pray to. I spent more time on that than I did on actually practicing or worshiping. Strangely, now following Asatru, I am finding myself less a slave of these externals and "perfections", though not entirely. I'm still a bit o-c about how the altar looks, but I am 1000x less obsessed. I think it has virtually everything to do with following the path right for me. Looking back, I know now that Hinduism was adding to my stress. Asatru seems to be calming me down.

Btw and eta: I am on medication, Xellbutrin XL, Lamictal and Valium. They're not perfect, but I think they're better than the alternative.
« Last Edit: November 05, 2014, 01:11:54 pm by Jainarayan »

Ghost235

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Re: Mental Illness and Practice
« Reply #13 on: November 05, 2014, 01:25:55 pm »
Quote from: HarpingHawke;160921
Makes sense. I've been talking with a professional, just I still was a little unsure. And tired. So my logic wasn't really working...:o Of course they affect different people differently.

Thanks!

 
In the same vein(and this may or may not apply to you) be very careful of "toughing it out".  

By that I mean, if you try XYZ medication and after a certain period of time it has side effects you don't like(even if you can deal with them), let your doctor know so he/she can try something else.

HarpingHawke

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Re: Mental Illness and Practice
« Reply #14 on: November 05, 2014, 02:11:07 pm »
Quote from: Ghost235;164462
In the same vein(and this may or may not apply to you) be very careful of "toughing it out".  

By that I mean, if you try XYZ medication and after a certain period of time it has side effects you don't like(even if you can deal with them), let your doctor know so he/she can try something else.

 
Oh yeah. :)
My psychiatrist suggested the generic of Zoloft, which didn't work out. I've been on a low dose of Prozac for a couple weeks and it's been going much better.
« Last Edit: November 05, 2014, 02:12:15 pm by HarpingHawke »
"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self." - Hemingway

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