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"Preventing
Suicide " For those who have been battling mental illness and need added support with their struggles in everyday life, Recovery Inc. may be the answer. It is one of the first self-help groups, founded at the Neuropsychiatric Institute of the University of Illinois Research and Education Hospital by the late Abraham A. Low, M.D. As a neuropsychiatrist, Low was tired of seeing the same patients over and over again who seemed to never recover. They would be treated, exit the hospital, then cycle back into treatment. Low is one of the first to use cognitive behavior tools for recovery. Cognitive behavior seeks to identify and correct thinking patterns that can lead to troublesome feelings and behavior. The same tools Low used in 1937 are used today in Recovery Inc. Someone may be reluctant to attend a meeting where the text is 68 years old, as was Sarah, a Recovery Inc. member. Walking into that meeting two years ago, she said that she felt uncomfortable and anxious. As members read from the text she thought, how could this possibly relate to me, an independent modern woman? Today she knows that the thearpy of Recovery Inc. is a timeless one because it deals with human behaviors that everyone has. Sarah attended the first meeting after a coworker invited her. The coworker was a Recovery Inc. group leader who suffered from anxiety and thought Sarah could benefit from being a part of the group. Her coworker could not have been more right. Depression and bipolar disorder run in Sarah’s family, so when she first recognized her symptoms of manic depression and her chemical imbalance in high school, she thought it was normal. After getting married and having her daughter, Sarah experienced postpartum depression. Then she sought help from a psychopharmacologist and therapists, who helped her depression and anxiety. But Sarah always had suicidal thoughts, but had never acted on them until after experiencing problems in her marriage and losing her job at the same time. Looking back, she says that she didn't want to die. Just in that one moment she thought, "I wouldn't have to struggle with everyday existence." So one night when she and her husband went to bed, she snuck away into the bathroom. She locked the door and overdosed on her medication. Sometime during the night, her husband realized his wife was behind the locked door and kicked it down and called an ambulance. After getting her stomach pumped, Sarah spent two weeks in the hospital, then was transferred to another facility. Her insurance wouldn't pay for further treatment, so she was back into the realm of everyday life. Sarah returned to Recovery Inc. after her suicide attempt and decided to commit to it. After attending numerous meetings, Sarah now says that Recovery Inc. is something you "have to practice. If you do it halfheartedly, it won't work." As a person with depression and anxiety going into a meeting, you may feel that everyone is judging you, but everyone in the meeting is in the same position you are, Sarah said. It is not like the atmosphere where a patient rambles to a doctor. Meetings are peer led, and group leaders are members too. Meetings take place once a week and locations have sprung up all over the world, including Ireland, Wales, Mexico, Puerto Rico, England, Israel and Canada. The meetings are a safe place for people who are helping themselves and are helping one another. The format is very structured and starts with reading Dr. Low's book or listening to tapes of his lectures. Then members give examples of their symptoms. At Recovery Inc. the main focus is not on the diagnosis, but on the symptoms members have. The language used to give the examples of symptoms follows a specific format in order to take the emotion out of the example. In Recovery Inc., words are an important part of the recovery process. Members are encouraged to walk through their past experience, not relive it. Finally members tell the group how they would have reacted in the same situation before they had come to Recovery Inc. After the structured portion of the meeting, members have the opportunity to talk freely about the meeting itself or any other issues they may have. Through the Recovery program members learn how to change the way that they react to people and situations in which they have no control over in everyday life. Members will learn how to manage their negative thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, which lead to mental and physical stress symptoms. After two years, Sarah still attends Recovery Inc. meetings. There are times when she forces herself to attend because she just doesn't feel like it. After sharing with others during the meeting, she has a feeling of relief that makes attending Recovery Inc. worthwhile.
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"As a single parent in my 30's, I want to make people of my generation aware of a wonderful organization, which has helped me immensely. Only recently, since discovering Recovery, Inc., has my life become meaningful, which allows me to anticipate a hopeful future. Previously my life had mainly consisted of a never-ending battle just to maintain my sanity. Also, I hope to introduce the Recovery training program into the school systems so my kids and their generation will be able to avoid the misery that I have experienced in my life. "As a child, I grew up in a family consisting of my father, mother, an older brother, and a younger sister. Our family moved around the country quite a few times. When I was 7 years old, my mother committed suicide. Later on when I was a young teenager, dad remarried, and then the family moved to Europe. While I was living in Europe my mental health deteriorated to the point that I needed to be hospitalized several times. Returning to the United States, I was able to complete high school; however, as a young adult, my life became chaotic with episodes of deep frustration and disappointment leading to disillusionment and an acute sense of insecurity. "Although I attempted to complete college several times, I was unable to stay long enough to graduate. I drifted from one unrewarding job to another; never staying long enough with any one to establish a career. Hoping to find some stability and security, I married twice. Both marriages ended in divorce leaving me alone with two children to raise. Throughout this long period beginning in adolescence, when I was first hospitalized, until just a couple of years ago, I have had a long struggle to maintain any semblance of good mental health. "As a child, beginning with the tragic death of my mom, I always had a troubling sense of alienation and isolation. It was difficult for me to make friends. I displayed the typical teenage rebellion, but my disruptive behavior was more intense and prolonged. My life consisted of a campaign of emotional battles with my parents and the outside world. The ways that I used to fight these battles were weapons of belligerency. When asked or told to do things that upset me, I would go on the offense by creating an intense, emotional confrontation of accusations and disrespect. "At times, when I felt that I was losing a major battle, I would retreat by running away from home. Unable to find sympathetic friends to comfort me during these battles, I turned to promiscuity. In between these episodes of emotional upheaval, I would sometimes experience brief periods of unexplained euphoria, which put even more strain on my emotional system rather than comforting me. "When the family was relocated in Europe, I found out that I could no longer continue to function using the emotional tactics that I had been using previously. The underlying fear and anger of the past became so frequent, and so very intense that panic and emotional paralysis set in, forcing me to be hospitalized. Until just a couple of years ago, my life consisted of going from one emotional breakdown to another. "Periodically my emotions would be so out of control that I would totally panic and crash into an emotional wall of fear, anger, and depression. My thinking became so irrational, so disoriented, that suicide seemed to be the only option to find peace of mind. Finally, after going through a number of suicide attempts, I acquired some emotional stability through subsequent hospitalizations, therapy and effective medication. I was stable enough to realize and accept the fact that I, like millions of other people, am a nervous person. This acceptance enabled me to see that I needed to actively work at acquiring and maintaining good mental health. I realized that I needed to practice good mental health to be able to raise my two girls. Then I discovered Recovery, Inc. "I have discovered that my thoughts were actions of uncontrollable behaviors. By golly, it is called a SYMPTOM! My psychiatrist gave me a label. Gee, I am a NERVOUS PERSON! Supportive people could relate to my thoughts, feelings and actions. Wow, there are MEETINGS. Amazingly, there are TOOLS and a four-step example to follow. It is a miracle. Coping skills and practice can make a difference in my life and others. I continue to survive and look for a better tomorrow. I opened my closet and released myself from the bondage of stigma. "The Recovery mental health self-help group helps me to take charge of my emotions rather than being controlled by fear, anger, or depression. By attending weekly meetings, I have learned to accept myself and to accept the idea that I can rid myself of the harmful thinking and attitudes that had caused me so much pain in the past. "People of all ages can benefit from Recovery because it provides a firm structural foundation that is most forgiving when mistakes are made. Another thing about the method is that it talks directly to you and then teaches you to talk self-assuredly to yourself. When I first joined my Recovery group, I learned that millions of other people have the same harmful thinking and attitudes that cause people to bring so much agony into their lives. Through the Recovery training, I am now able to tell myself that I have a choice -- I don't have to always be fearful. I don't have to be continually angry. I don't have to suffer debilitating bouts of depression. "Recovery, Inc. is not a miraculous cure for mental health problems. Life most certainly can and will be stressful at times. I can still get fearful, angry or feel empty but now I have the means -the Recovery tools - to change those distressing feelings. Using my Recovery training, I am now able to recognize that these feelings are merely the result of insecure thinking and attitudes. "I have learned how to change my thinking from harmful, threatening feelings to secure thoughts. The Recovery mental health support group certainly has changed my life for the better. Now I am able to experience the joy of raising my two girls, and receive the love and friendship of my family and friends." Jennifer Englehardt's story as told to Mark Winterbottom.
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We are always looking for examples to use in The Recovery Reporter and would welcome yours. Please write it up in the usual four step manner and submit it to [email protected]. Although we encourage the use of your full name if you prefer a first name only, or initial please let us know and please include your city and state. If you are not already a member but would like to know more about membership, go to the How to Become a Member section of the Introduction page. Or fill out a Membership application to become a member today!
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