You Are Not Broken

Have you been diagnosed with psychosis and now, maybe, believing that you are broken in some way?

Would it surprise you to think that it could happen to any one of us?

Because here is the thing, psychosis is nothing more than a series of thoughts that have created an all consuming fear, that has lead to your mind proving it to be true.

Every person on the planet that can think, is doing exactly the same thing, which is why you are not broken, your mind is doing what it does.

Whatever our perception of ourselves, others and the world is, our mind will only prove it to be true! That is until something shakes our beliefs and makes us question them.

So, ok, your thoughts may have created a monster in your mind. The likelihood is that whatever was going on in your life before having a psychotic episode, it was scaring the crap out of you!

Us Human Beings are well known for catastrophising and thinking the worst. If you are thinking these thoughts all day every day, your cortisol (stress) levels are going through the roof. Is it any wonder this creates the mind to start misfiring.

Everyone’s mind is a series of neurons firing, that is our thoughts, our emotions, our actions, our body sending signals to the mind that we need to pee, eat, sleep…

The problem is when you are back on an even keel, and now you have the fear of another episode happening. So you do everything you can to make sure that it doesn’t happen.

What if fear was the very thing that caused it? Now your fearing it returning, and thinking the worst and catastrophising and….. I am sure you can see where this is going to lead. Straight back into the very thing you are trying to avoid.

So what is the answer?

It would seem that delving off into the past can be a painful process, and in my own experience, did not help at all. In fact it made me feel way worse.

Now I did not have psychosis, I had PTSD. I was taking antidepressants for what seemed an eternity, and saw no sign of them ending. And it would seem this is the answer for most healthcare professional’s to help the person coming to them with low moods, negative thoughts, lack of motivation etc.

But this is like losing a leg and putting a plaster over the wound and hoping that will sort it out. Doesn’t sound very likely now, does it?

We as people think so many external things define us, and psychosis is no different, but are we really defined by our body shape, our health conditions, our relationships, home, car, I could go on and on. I am sure you get the drift of what I mean.

We think things that happened in our past also define us, and how others behaved towards us was a personal attack deliberately to hurt us.

Is that true though?

Was it about us or was it about themselves, and a way of making them feel better that had absolutely nothing to do with us at all?

Maybe we just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and they were just venting their own anger and frustration and we was there to catch it?

As children, we was very unaware that there is a world much bigger than us, and our parents may have been juggling and struggling with money, with keeping a roof over their families heads, with their own issues from their childhood, whatever it may be.

If you have children yourself, do you ever shout at them? Do you say things in anger because of other things that are going on in life? Of course you do, we all do. But the children don’t see the external things the parent is dealing with, they feel like its a personal attack on them. That they are bad, or can’t do anything right, or that they were not wanted. All sorts, because they don’t understand what it is to be an adult.

What tends to happen for most of us, is that we carry these belief’s and meanings into adulthood. When our buttons are pressed, it is as though we believe that whatever it is that is triggering our emotions, anger, frustrations, fears, is another personal attack telling us we are not good enough. Its as though the emotion from our childhood resurfaces, but all in the blink of an eye, that we are not consciously aware of why we are being triggered.

Sound familiar?

Ever thought “Why am I so angry?” “Why do I feel afraid?”

So how do we get out of this loop? How do we move past our fears?

Fear is like the school bully. The more you try and run from it, the bigger it seems to become. But what happens when you face the bully?

Its as if the bully shrinks in size and stature. You see the bully for who they truly are and wonder what it was that you was so afraid of.

That can be a scary thought in itself, to face into the fact that you had psychosis. It seems very counter intuitive that to move past it, you have to face it head on. However you don’t have to go through this alone.

As a coach, I know from personal experience, that too face your worst fears is the only way to get past them. To be able to see it for what it truly is. When you understand what took you there, you now have an awareness how to manage your thoughts and emotions so as not to go through the same again. You learn how to deal with your fears and doubts.

All fears and doubts, every single one of us has them. Even the most successful people on the planet have them. But they have learnt how to push past them and know them for what they really are. Just thoughts. It doesn’t make them real.

I hope that this article has helped to bring down barriers. For someone that has had psychosis to know that their mind has done what everyone else’s does, hwoever, you now have the added advantage of knowing completely that thoughts can create your reality.

But heres the thing. If can create something as damaging and harmful as psychosis with your thoughts, what could you create with focus on a future that you want and desire? Where could that take you? Most people do not realise what their thoughts do, but you do!

Could you use that as a superpower to create a life far beyond your wildest dreams?

Imagine waking up, looking forward to the day ahead with a spring in your step. You have complete trust in yourself that you can deal with anything life throws your way. You focus on what you want, and it flows towards you. You are surrounded by people who love and support you and are cheerleading your success. Something worth thinking about….?