Monday, March 28, 2011

It is Never Too Late...



Here's something I wonder about...


We know and have acknowledged that emotional and mental distress is a normal response to abnormal life circumstances. 

Research shows the correlation of distressful environments and trauma to mental health diagnosis. 

Yet - those who suffer are labeled as "ill", "sick", "diseased" and "disordered"....while those who are the cause and source of the trauma, oppression, abuse and neglect are often not and if they are - they often use this as an excuse to continue to perpetrate this dysfunction in their families instead of as a reason for their own pain and to find a path to wholeness and healing.

Then as we enter the healing journey we are perhaps classified or identify ourselves as victims. 

and this is true - I was a victim

but I am no more.

We have learned to survive...

but often not how to live beyond that.

Diagnosis is used as an end all; a reason for

"this is why I'm messed up"

instead of the beginning of a map to take us beyond "messed up".

We are taught coping skills and avoidance tactics to manage symptoms of these diagnosis that are said to be ingrained, inbred and unchangeable.

How do I know this?

Because I've BTDT. :))

Thats been there, done that :) 

I resided in the mental health system that for nearly 2 decades told me that I was my problem; that my brain was broken.

I was also told that I was the problem why "therapy" and the drugs never worked.

I was "resistant"

"difficult, diseased, disordered and finally - dysthymic"...meaning I would never be "better". 


That forever I would have this heavy cloud and fog overshadowing every moment 


of every day. 


And because I did not know any different 

I accepted this as my "truth".

It was my "normal" to allow others to define me and direct my life and how I viewed my reality.

Today though?

I no longer accept or identify with the idea that I am sick

or ill

or diseased, defective or disordered.

And I am most definitely not

"dysthymic". :))

Instead

I've chosen a different path

one that leaves me feeling empowered and enabled.

A path that has brought me to my "best life"....

The one I choose for myself and create

every day. 

So today...

I no longer wish for a miracle

because I am one. :))

My passion is to share a message of hope, healing and self discovery that it is completely possible to learn to live far beyond that place of broken and 


that it is never too late to learn to create 


and live 


our best life. 

Every day. 

Check the archives...

To Thine Own Self Be True (links to this 3 part series is in this post as well:))

I Am Not a Can of Soup (talking about labels:))

I've Got a Feeling! (this post talks about the language we use that defines our reality:))

Def:empower-empou-r-verb (this post discusses what it means to "empower" ourselves:))

And my wish for you.....I Hope you Dance... :))

The purpose of this blog....

Photo Credit

Share Seek Knowledge, find Wisdom, live your Truth!

8 comments:

JMJast said...

a fascinating and inspiring journey of empowerment. Congratulations on being able to 'grab your life by the horns' and direct it where you want it to go :))

Unknown said...

Hi JM and welcome! Thank you! This has been an amazing journey and one that has led me to believe that we ALL have the ability to create the life of our choosing!

Knowledge is truly (em)power(ment)

:)

Patricia Singleton said...

Susan, I am so glad that you don't accept the mental illness label as your truth today. You empower others to do the same.

I have always thought that doctors medicate way too much so that they don't have to spend time looking for the source of whatever needs healing. I once had a doctor, my regular family doctor, tell me that I read too much and asked too many questions because I didn't blindly accept whatever pill he was trying to push my way. That was my last time to visit his office.

Unknown said...

Thank you for celebrating my freedom Patricia! In hindsight I can see that I was ripe for psychiatry to define me and tell me who I was because in the original abuse I had been trained in the way I would go...to be submissive and compliant. My sense of "self" had never developed. The time I spent in the mental health system was devastating. I pretty much lost almost 20 years of my life to the drugs, the "treatment" and then the withdrawals from the drugs. Like you- when I attempted to question the "professionals", read my own material, seek workable solutions - I was shamed to return to compliance. Today - no one tells me who I am or what I'm allowed to do, think, feel, believe - or read. :)

Knowledge is truly where I became empowered to live beyond both the first trauma of the original abuse and that second trauma after escaping psychiatry and their drugs.

LadyJtalks said...

great post and well understood. it takes time yet I find that most of us do survive each step we take to become better also.

Linda Pittman said...

Fantastic post Susan. I posted on OSA that we often get stopped or stalled in our healing when we are given these diagnoses. The treat the symptoms but not the root cause. Keep on exposing the truth and giving hope. I hate that the medical community looks at us as 'hopelessly damaged' when we can and do heal!

Unknown said...

LadyJ...hello! I'm glad this made sense to you!!

Unknown said...

Linda; its true. Diagnosis and symptom management never helped me and in fact was very crippling as I carried the burden for being so defective. Understanding the root cause of the beliefs that left me feeling powerless over my own life was the truth that set me - and many others - free.

Thank you for dropping by Linda! Great to see you!