hi

I do a lot of reality checking @redheaded to help me cope when living with acute psychosis. I find it good to post about here on the forum because at the moment my Mrs is seeing a carer's counsellor (she's my primary carer). This counsellor likes to play warden with me and sees any mental ill health as a means to have me put into respite (against my will mostly). I hear voices very regularly and mostly that really gets me down.

Having said all that the medication I take helps me enormously. That and therapy with a psychologist (I do a combination of acceptance and commitment therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy). Also, I've recently discovered the benefits of exercise and hobbies as a way of boosting endorphins (those natural feel good chemicals) and have found that although my psychotic symptoms are still there, they bother me less.

I hope you are still allowed to have your phone with you in the psych ward. In my state, public psych wards are phone no go zones. Because I go private however, I get the luxury of having my phone and laptop with me when I am hospitalised.

Please let us know how you get on,

Q

Hi @redheaded hope you got there safely and without incident. To answer your question from earlier about dealing with psychosis ... Mostly I rely on the meds I'm on to keep me on a more even keel so it doesn't happen again. But there is also personal management and strategies like learning to recognise when things are starting to change, knowing my triggers, letting someone know what's happening (a trusted person - too rare for me) or the CATT team if necessary and my GP and psychologist. Then I focus on a sleep routine, quiet activities that focus my mind like adult colouring books or reading recipes and cooking or crocheting. And getting some exercise and eating a good diet make a difference too, though I've only started walking and swimming again recently. Didn't have anyone to go with and couldn't do it by myself. Family is making a difference for me too. My adult child and my brother and sister-in-law specifically. I moved interstate for their support 6 months ago and life is better. Avoiding high stress is important too, but not easy. Travel is another potential trigger for me so I haven't done that alone for a couple of years. I miss it a lot. It helps to have a WRAP - wellness recovery action plan - with a lot of these things recorded in it so that when things start to change I can look at it and put things in place in case they change more. Keeping mood and sleep records at those times helps monitor what is happening. If you google WRAP you can find out a bit more about this stuff. Hope this answer is helpful to you.

Good Morning @CheerBear, @Queenie and everybody. Free hugs for the taking here 🙂

Hi @redheaded, a referral to a psychologist could be a very good thing to help you manage your psychosis. I've found it very beneficial myself. I've learned how to challenge delusional thinking through cognitive behavioural therapy.