Mar 6, 2014

The Road to Positive

Just about two years ago I began this blog as a way to explore what ordinary people, nonclinicians, could do to change the experience of mental illness in America.

Here is the central lesson.

Everything changes once people give up outmoded, inflexible habits of thinking, start listening to each other, accept responsibility for each other’s health and safety, pay due attention to risk, and start doing what they can to pitch in.

This is one of the hidden lessons within much of today's mental health and public policy literature. I have just finished editorial work on Milt Greek's new book Delusions, Meaning and Transformation. Look for it on Amazon and other online booksellers in the next week or two. Milt has always stood for listening to people who have delusions and hallucinations. His insight is that mixed up thinking and delusions are the brain's way of operating when filtering and perception issues flare up. What's happening is complicated, but the person is experiencing something that is intensely meaningful. This experience is so rich and fascinating or troubling that it often motivates the person to resolve his situation and perhaps even help make the world better.  Creating an alliance around this quest or mission may be the best way for family, friends and the treatment team to work through and assist in the tasks of recovery.