A Lesson Learned.
I would never have believed that I would get involved with a mental health support
group - my male ego, my life of total independence from support, plus the 'stigma'
of mental problems were formidable barriers to this concept.
However, when I saw
my child in the grip of psychosis, the barriers disappeared. The search for knowledge
took over, it became a case of total immersion in the subject matter, and all possible
arena's where the subject of psychosis was involved became fair game.
I found there is
a wealth of material available. Today the internet has opened up the world. There are
many, many web sites with awesome information. There are books and video's,
there are lectures and courses.
There are also support groups. The Fraser South,
Early Psychosis Intervention Program, Parents Support Group, is one such group
which has been invaluable to me. This group was developed for parents of children
suffering their first psychotic break, and boy, was this group ever needed by those
involved.
I have found that Psychosis not only challenges reality for the individuals with the
illness, but also severely challenges parents to maintain a grip on their own lives too.
I strongly suspect that parents way beyond the boundaries of the Fraser Health Region could
benefit from the information synergized during the monthly meetings of this Vancouver area
group.
Accordingly, this PSPOPS (www.psychosissupport.com) web site has been developed to host the
minutes of the meetings,
to share knowledge, stories, helpful hints, faq's etc., and to support as much as possible all those
parents who are not as lucky as those of us who have made this connection through EPI.
The lesson learned was how useless ego and pride are in a battle against illness and how
strength can be synergized from meetings of like-minded people.
If you have a lesson you would like to share please email pspops@psychosissupport.com
Note: We will only contact you if we decide to use your story.