Schizophrenia: A Blueprint for Recovery
By Milt Greek
4/5
()
About this ebook
Schizophrenia: A Blueprint for Recovery provides innovative techniques to work with a person in psychosis, move him or her into recovery, and aid in rejoining mainstream society. Topics include the building of schizophrenic psychosis, hallucinations and false perceptions, working with someone in psychosis, stabilizing on medication, and counseling for self-understanding. The 2012 Revised Edition includes enhancements in understanding psychosis, a discussion of medication and alternatives, and a new appendix to aid in working with a person experiencing psychosis.
"Milt is one of the most articulate and astute authorities on schizophrenia I have ever had the privilege to know or hear." – Tom Walker, NAMI Ohio Board of Trustees member.
"After my wife and I read Schizophrenia: A Blueprint for Recovery, it was like a light came on for us." – father of young person formerly in psychosis.
“Milt’s experience and presentations are critical for those who work with persons with thought disorders.” – Diane Pfaff, MSW, Athens-Hocking-Vinton 317 Mental Health Board
"Milt Greek's thoughtful, respectful model for engaging psychotic individuals in treatment is welcome in a field that, in the past, had little to offer therapists who want to help individuals with Schizophrenia." – Sandy Watt, M.Ed. Professional Clinical Counselor
Milt Greek
After nearly two decades doing volunteer work involving schizophrenia and publishing two books on the psychosis, treatment approaches and recovery while working as a computer programmer, Milt Greek took a sabbatical from mental health work and returned to his quiet life. After years reflecting on his life, Milt is embarking on a new series of publications for sensitive people. Blending a deeply spiritual approach to life with practical approaches to flourishing as a sensitive person, Milt's writings seek to provide aid to many other sensitive people who strive for happiness and fulfillment in a human world marked by crises and challenges. Information about his additional publications can be found at his blog on Goodreads: goodreads.com/author/show/5354218.Milt_Greek/blog
Read more from Milt Greek
Fulfillment Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSource for Sensitive People Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Schizophrenia
Titles in the series (2)
Schizophrenia: A Blueprint for Recovery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Delusions, Meaning and Transformation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related ebooks
Surviving Schizophrenia, 7th Edition: A Family Manual Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Schizophrenia: a Patient's Perspective Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCoping with Schizophrenia: A CBT Guide for Patients, Families and Caregivers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Schizophrenia or Spirit Possession Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Living with Schizophrenia: A Brief Guide to Understanding and Coping for Patients, Families, and Providers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How I Conquered Schizophrenia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelusion Disorder, A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSchizophrenia, A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsManaging Schizophrenia: A Personal Perspective Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Got Bipolar?: An Insider's Guide to Managing Life Effectively Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow To Diagnose and Treat Mood Disorders Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSchizophrenic Spectrum Disorders Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Understanding Schizophrenia: A Guide to the New Research on Causes and Treatment Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Alternative Treatments of Schizophrenia: Safe, Effective and Affordable Approaches and How to Use Them Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Schizophrenia: Knowing What the Voices Are and How to Deal with Them Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Schizophrenia: A Guide to the Symptoms, Management, and Treatment of Schizophrenia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSchizophrenia: A Guide to Understanding and Managing Schizophrenia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBipolar Disorder: The Ultimate Guide Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Simple Guide to Psychosis, Diagnosis, Treatment and Related Conditions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSchizophrenia: The Ultimate Guide to Understanding the Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment of Schizophrenics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Everything Health Guide to Schizophrenia: The latest information on treatment, medication, and coping strategies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMarrying Bipolar: The Highs And Lows Of Loving Someone With A Mental Illness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Surviving Psychosis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBipolar Disorder - Understanding Symptoms Mood Swings & Treatment Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Delusions, Meaning and Transformation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Everything Health Guide to Adult Bipolar Disorder: A Reassuring Guide for Patients and Families Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Living With Someone Who's Living With Bipolar Disorder: A Practical Guide for Family, Friends, and Coworkers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Medical For You
The Lost Book of Simple Herbal Remedies: Discover over 100 herbal Medicine for all kinds of Ailment, Inspired By Dr. Barbara O'Neill Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Vagina Bible: The Vulva and the Vagina: Separating the Myth from the Medicine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Adult ADHD: How to Succeed as a Hunter in a Farmer's World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ (Revised Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Women With Attention Deficit Disorder: Embrace Your Differences and Transform Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Peptide Protocols: Volume One Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mediterranean Diet Meal Prep Cookbook: Easy And Healthy Recipes You Can Meal Prep For The Week Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5"Cause Unknown": The Epidemic of Sudden Deaths in 2021 & 2022 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The 40 Day Dopamine Fast Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is How Your Marriage Ends: A Hopeful Approach to Saving Relationships Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Diabetes Code: Prevent and Reverse Type 2 Diabetes Naturally Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Living Daily With Adult ADD or ADHD: 365 Tips o the Day Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/552 Prepper Projects: A Project a Week to Help You Prepare for the Unpredictable Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Obesity Code: the bestselling guide to unlocking the secrets of weight loss Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tight Hip Twisted Core: The Key To Unresolved Pain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hidden Lives: True Stories from People Who Live with Mental Illness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Holistic Herbal: A Safe and Practical Guide to Making and Using Herbal Remedies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Schizophrenia
6 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5certainly a worth read! everyone’s effort counts it could save a life
Book preview
Schizophrenia - Milt Greek
Schizophrenia: A Blueprint for Recovery
By Milt Greek
Copyright 2008, 2011, 2012 by Milt Greek
Published by Milt Greek at Smashwords
PO Box 475, Athens, Ohio 45701
For more information about this book and to purchase additional copies, visit http://www.schizophreniablueprint.com.
The author thanks Paul Komarek for his assistance in preparing this work for publication.
Cover Art Copyright 2012 by Jonathan Story, used with permission. The author wishes to express his appreciation to Jonathan for agreeing to allow his art to be used for this handbook.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Milt Greek at Smashwords.com
Important Disclaimer
This book is intended for general educational purposes only. It does not substitute for individual medical advice from your doctor. Please consult your doctor for advice on your individual situation.
Preface
Introduction to 2012 Revised Version
Chapter One The Building of Schizophrenic Psychosis
Chapter Two Working with Someone in Psychosis
Chapter Three Stabilizing on Medication
Chapter Four Reviewing Possible Causes of Schizophrenia
Chapter Five Counseling for Self-Understanding
Chapter Six Rejoining Society
Afterword
Appendix A How A Series of Hallucinations Develops A Story
Appendix B Notes On Common Elements Within Delusions
Appendix C Informal Surveys of Experiences of Psychosis
Appendix D Related Websites
Appendix E Materials Supporting Mentoring
About Milt Greek
Preface
During my early years in college, my life became more and more difficult. As problems grew and my life worsened, I gained insights into my life and my problems, but these insights alone didn't get my life back on track. As crisis followed crisis, my parents sought medical help for me, which at first I cooperated with, but then grew hostile towards because the medical establishment kept locking me up in mental hospitals and ignoring my insights and issues.
By a series of coincidences and with the help of friends, I came to the surprising realization that I was suffering from schizophrenia, as the doctors had been saying, and needed to take medication to get control of my life. After I accepted my diagnosis, I stabilized on medication but fell into deep depression, sleeping fourteen hours a day for the next two years. Despite this problem, I managed to finish degrees in psychology and sociology.
Unable to find work with my degrees, I retrained in computer programming. In spite of ongoing depression, I left welfare and worked without insurance for five years, finally gaining enough experience to receive insurance through work and stabilize my life economically. I eventually returned to the town where I had gone to college and met the woman who is now my wife.
With my wife's help I began to review the issues and delusions that had made up my mental illness. At the same time, I volunteered to help a couple of people who were in the psychotic stage of the illness and formed a schizophrenia peer support group. During these years my depression ended and I gained insights into the nature of schizophrenia. The result of this process is a blueprint for recovery which is described in this guidebook. Beginning with an explanation of the formation of the delusional framework and suggestions for ways to work with actively psychotic people, the blueprint discusses steps to move people from post-delusion lethargy into self-understanding and reintegration into mainstream society. Despite the brevity of this guidebook, the blueprint describes a process that took over ten years of my life. This time frame may be shorter or longer depending on the individual.
The material in this book is meant to provide people with schizophrenia, family members, and mental health workers insight into means of transforming a situation of seeming hopelessness into one of renewed strength and vitality. Its value lies not in dogmatic interpretation, but in being applied as befits each individual case. Those aspects of this book which prove useful in some cases may be less useful in others. Paying close attention to what works for a particular individual is key to working with a psychotic individual. The extent to which this guidebook provides the basis for insight into individual cases is the degree to which it is successful. I sincerely hope that it may provide help and comfort to you and your particular situation.
Milt Greek
Introduction to 2012 Revised Version
Since the writing of this handbook in 2006 and 2007, I have wanted to add more material. Some of this additional material was included in the 2009 recordings on DVDs detailing this material in seven talks. While I had hoped to complete these additions in 2010, new volunteer work cropped up, limiting the time I had to devote to this revision. In 2011, I set time aside for presenting and/or attending at five conferences involving schizophrenia and recovery and undertook a pilot survey of ten people in post-psychosis. These activities gave me a more complete sense of the role of this material in the larger community and rounded out my own views of schizophrenia and recovery.
The revisions contained in this work are mainly enhancements in understanding psychosis and a discussion of medication and alternatives. The additional material on psychosis is mainly in Chapter One and Appendices B and C.
At present there is a hotly debated question of medication verses non-medication and strong feelings on all sides about its use or nonuse. Some caregivers are committed to using medication; other caregivers are committed to not using medication. The updates on medication are attempts to make the approach in this handbook useful for both groups.
The purpose of this handbook is to provide a set of components that can be used independently of each other. As such, I have written this handbook to allow for people to use what works for their specific situation and to ignore what is not effective. It is important to view each person and their surroundings as unique and to apply these components as best fits with that unique situation. To the extent this handbook provides a variety of means to do this, it is successful.
Milt Greek, 2012
Chapter One
The Building of Schizophrenic Psychosis
This chapter explains how psychosis slowly builds, the experiences which give people with schizophrenia a strong belief in our delusions, and the underlying reality which people with schizophrenia perceive. This explanation will help the reader understand why we actively cling to delusions and what our behavior and attitudes are seeking to achieve. It will serve as a basis for the next chapter, which details approaches for working with the psychotic person and moving the person toward accepting diagnosis and a commitment to use medication.
Schizophrenic thinking has a number of basic elements that affect the forming of psychosis. Over time the elements gradually create a delusional framework that is usually fully in place when the person's problem comes to the attention of family and mental health workers. This delusional framework poses one of the toughest problems in working with psychotic people and persuading them to accept their diagnosis and take medication.
Chemical Imbalance Like Continuous LSD Trip
To understand how schizophrenia affects perception, it is important to start with the recognition that schizophrenia creates a situation where we experience hallucinations, voices, and other effects like a constant LSD trip. The experience is like unwittingly being given LSD every day for years on end. As a result, hallucinations and unusual thinking gradually become a constant part of everyday life. We have strange experiences, with increasing frequency and intensity, and we begin to develop ideas about the world around us and our own lives based on these experiences.
Basic rules of perception that we had known prior to schizophrenia are lost and in their place we develop new ways of thinking that mirror our new, hallucinatory reality. Arguing that we should return to the old rules of perception is a frequent and useless practice, since the new rules we apply match our daily experiences.
Loss of Object Permanency and the Flow of Realities
Object permanency is the psychological name for our belief that objects exist after they have disappeared from sight. It was described by the French child psychologist Jean Piaget, who noted that very young infants would forget about balls and other toys with which they were playing once the objects rolled out of sight. Piaget noted that after reaching a certain age, the children began to look for the missing toy, indicating they understood it still existed.
During psychosis, we lose object permanency. Hallucinations and other aspects of our experience indicate that objects actually do fade in and out of existence. Often, this can occur in a matter of moments. As a result, we come to believe that things and people appear and disappear for mystical reasons. For example, if I were going to a store and met a friend on the way, I would believe the chance appearance of my friend was closely connected to a higher purpose that was being fulfilled by my trip. In addition to whatever mundane purpose I had for going to the store, I might be attempting to change reality through a ritual involving money and purchases, and I would see my friend as someone whose presence indicated a central role in this ritual.
In place of object permanency, we develop the belief we are centered in a flow of multiple realities and potential futures that might be entered into at any moment. In normal life, choices such as in what community to live, what to do for work, for whom to work, and who to have as a spouse create long-term changes in one's destiny. For a person with schizophrenia, the possibility of entering into various futures is immediate and can be caused by any minor event or choice, such as to whom to talk or what magazine to read. This immediacy mirrors the hallucinatory experience, where minor events can trigger major hallucinatory episodes that seem to indicate a massive change in reality.
Since we have lost object permanency, we lose the concept of boundaries in time and place. Places, events and beings that are thought to exist outside of mundane reality--such as heaven, hell, the rapture, angels, gods and demons--can enter into this earthly reality and we can be taken into their reality at any time. Instead of the static physical reality the normal individual assumes, the person lives in a place where, in a matter of moments, small thoughts