Meeting April 2004
Fraser South EPI (Early Psychosis Intervention) Parents' Meeting, Tuesday April 27, 2004
The meeting was facilitated by family members in association with Nancy Clarke (BCSS).
We were very pleased to have Dr MacEwan in attendance and took full advantage of his presence by
asking him to answer questions in an open forum.
We also had two bright young women attend our meeting. They are clients who suffer from
psychosis and are doing very well. It was a real moral builder for those parents whose
children are still very ill. They came to promote the PEER SUPPORT NETWORK sponsored by EPI.
There were over thirty Family members present and once again there were new families experiencing
the support meeting for the first time.
Announcements
The 'NORMS' for the meeting were mentioned as were the web sites www.psychosissucks.ca and
www.psychosissupport.com
The new group based in Delta will be holding their first meeting on May 10th 2004.
The representatives of the client Peer Support Network announced that they are hosting a social
event on May 2, between 1:30 PM and 3:30 PM for EPI clients between the ages of 16 to 24 years
of age. These guys are doing an awesome job in building a new group to help
support our children and I think we will be hearing a lot more from them in the near future.
I was very impressed with their energy, enthusiasm and commitment.
TOPIC
The topic for this meeting was "DENIAL: Role in Recovery", however it should have been named, DON'T GIVE UP!
Having
some clients in attendance, who are now 'back' from the debilitation of psychosis was very
powerful. They were able to add insight and give advice to those parents whose children are still
very ill. One message which came through loud and clear was Don't Give Up. Even though the illness
may make it appear that your child does not care about you, deep down they need you there as their
rock or their anchor. While eperiencing the illness the child cannot express this, but it is critical
that they have a loving safe environment.
Doctor MacEwan fielded questions and discussed strategies over a wide range of subjects.
In
regard to 'Denial' the bottom line is that different strategies are required for different people.
For some, accepting their denial and allowing them to stay in their own reality for a while may
be required, while for others it may be time to gradually help them understand your reality.
Another key may be to ask what is the difficulty? Maybe it is not psychosis at this particular
time and there may be other reasons for a specific behavior or issue.
Discussion followed about Stigma and the fact that psychosis has been looked upon as a weakness.
Comments were made that attitudes need to change just as they have with diebetes, which years ago, was
looked upon much as psychosis is today. With education diebetes is now recognized and treated
for what it is, an illness not a weakness.
An interesting topic was 'remembering' during psychosis. The Peer Support Network representatives
contributed with real life examples, which allowed parents to gain greater insight into what their
children are experiencing.
Drug costs, chemical imbalance theory and several other topics were discussed, with Dr MacEwan
providing a perspective which we as parents found very informative and interesting.
Caring and Sharing:
We again divided the group into three different sub-groups for the sharing time.
This caring and sharing is a favorite part of the meeting for many people and
is the main reason they attend. It gives each person an opportunity to discuss and receive
feedback on their particular situation. Each month there are new people who need to share
and learn, there are people who have sucess stories, and there are people who just need to know
that what they are experiencing is not unique and there is love and support available.
If you have comments you would like to share please email pspops@psychosissupport.com