How To Get Better
Another reader recently asked me how to deal with their mental illness, and I see this being a trend, so I've written this guide. Here’s how it works in the country I live in, but it should work for any civilised country, and the later steps are arguably more important that anyone can do.
Step 1: See a doctor, a GP.
Step 2: Explain the symptoms and what you think is the cause for the symptoms. Give enough detail that proves you aren’t malingering but not enough that makes you have a flashback.
Step 3: Ask for a referral to a Psychologist. If you start with a Psychiatrist you are are going to get scammed and given antipsychotics that will fuck up your life forever, because Psychiatrists are bastards who try to use pharmacy for everything.
Newsflash: pretty much no medication for psychological disease treats the illness the way that you or they think it does. It’s not like antibiotics where you help your body fight infection so it can heal. It’s more like taking paracetamol for chronic pain. They treat the symptoms, not the disease.
Step 3.5: If you don’t feel like you get along with the Psychologist or the Doctor, find a different one. Yes, this will be expensive. I assure you it will be less expensive than living with illness for the rest of your life. It took me a decade to find someone who worked for me.
Step 4: Read The Body Keeps the Score. Keep tabs on any segments that stand out to you. Read it again and again as much as you can tolerate until you stop finding parts that jump out at you.
Step 5: Journal. When you feel an excess of any emotion, write it down. Yes, physically, in a book. You can burn it later. I’m personally against that, keep it secure, in a safe or locked box. My first mentor told me the first thing I had to do upon waking was write 3 pages without stopping. I hate that man and want him dead, but not for that little ounce of wisdom.
I’m tired of being right.
No one can save yourself except you, but it is almost impossible to overcome mental illness on your own, you need outside help to assist with understanding yourself. The hard work will be done by you, but until you know what works needs to be done, you need to see a professional.
You are not alone. You don’t have to go through this alone. I didn’t think I had a problem or pattern either until my repressed nature came out in such a way it irreparably damaged my life and psyche forever. I lost everything.
Now I am old, jaded, and hopeless. You don’t have to, or want to become me.