wrap (Wellness Recovery Action Plan)

Hello @Former-Member

I came from a family with lots issues and married into another one, though different.

I love that you doing your best with your family. Different ways of looking at the world between generations, families are difficult to bridge over.

Wish I could say I had success with a WRAP plan ... the neatness of the title puts me off ... but then again I have had just had to go with what was on offer and make things work the best way I could. I am not sure that "therapy" is about feeling better. Go with whatever is workable ..

@Former-Member no need to apologise for the long post - happy to listen.

sorry to hear about your struggles! ❤️ ❤️

I am also at the beginning of a recovery from a trip to hospital with psychotic symptoms. I have bipolar.

finding people you're close enough to to talk to about really personal struggles is hard! this is not the same but i moved abroad for a few months and had no close friends i could talk to in person about my feelings, that was hard.

anonymous online spaces like this are good i reckon! and talking to people who can somewhat understand your experience bc of their own - have you thought of group therapy?

from personal experience, tears over a cup of tea, whilst certainly often not suffiicient in themselves are really really important so it's good you're looking for opportunities to get that kind of support I reckon. I am also really bad at opening up though, even to close friend, but i'm getting better at it. it's an invaluable skill! and takes time to work at ❤️

good places to make friends can be social groups like a community band or choir if you are musical, a church if you're interested in that option (people of faith are supposed to be open and accepting and giving), volunteer somewhere? making new friends is hard but worth it.

you choose your family, right?

i don't have any experience with a wrap but have heard good things, thinking about exploring that option myself.

don't blame yourself if your partner is treating you unfairly, call out their bad behaviour for what it is.

lots of love ❤️

Thanks @Appleblossom I appreciate your support 😉

I am going to ask about the group therapy because I think it’s a great idea.

I have looked in the past but couldn’t find any in my area.Thanks @Jenn4 , I really appreciate your input.

I joined up with a church early in the piece, in some ways it’s been really good.

In other ways it’s a bit like Easter & Christmas with the family everyone puts on there happy face talk to about everything that’s good & hides their shit times but I enjoy going & have found great benifit, in other ways I’ve grown up in a very disunctional family and I not married so I kind of stick out like a sore thumb which I sometimes wonder if it helps with mi. It’s about really finding a space place.

I to have bipolar & I just find when I get upset my thoughts can be quiet disordered & a bit too much for friends to cope with. I have lost many friends throughout the years of having mi when I’m manic.

Hi @Former-Member just wanted to wish you well today. I also have Bipolar, though I didn't know it till after I was hospitalised

I have found the forum lifechanging in terms of making connections and then getting braver in the outside world.

I did a WRAP - was really sceptical, but it did help me when I felt things were sliding. However, I have a brilliant pdoc, and psych. I am very lucky, as they are not easy to find, and I have had really mixed experience with health professionals. These 2 play a really big part in my recovery (a never ending work in progress, eh?)

Would it be worth trying another psychologist? The one you're describing seems to have their own agenda, rather than letting you take the lead. Take care

Thanks @frog for sharing your experience with me. It is my mental health worker & I also have a phychiatrist & gp.

So now that you mention it I’ll talk it over with psychiatrist & see where I go from there because the psychiatrist has always been supportive of talk therapy.

yourself & @Jenn4 have inspired me to get it out & have look at it tomorrow so many thanks for the encouragement & I’ll be sure to list the forums for further support when I need it.

Im just so thankful for the support of @Appleblossom , @Jenn4 & yourself I’ve been worrying about this for a week & didn’t have anyone to talk it through with but now I’m feeling much better about it.

Attacking my mountain of unfolded washing this morning with vigour as my continuous worry has been kicked to the curb for today so Thank you 😊

pleasure @Former-Member , i'm not always on the forums but often am so am very happy to listen/chat for sure 🙂 good on you for getting to the washing!! ❤️ ❤️

@Former-Member Keep working your supports. Apparently that is the way to get the best out of them .. in a good way. Have fun with that mountain.

Just being able to ask .. straight off the cuff ... not always needing to filter things ... has helped me.

Hi @Former-Member and welcome to the forums if you're new. I have bipolar (1) too and have been in hospital several times over the years - 1st time when I was 25 and most recent 2009 (aged 46), the latter being when I was finally diagnosed with bipolar despite depressions and manias for a few decades, including psychosis several times. I also have complex PTSD which interacts with the BP and complicates things no end.

I have had a WRAP since around 2011 and find it invaluable. Of course it's still a work in progress as I add to some of the lists now and then, especially the lists of what I do when I'm 'well' and what it looks like when things are starting to change in either direction. And some things need to be changed sometimes such as removing certain members of my family from my contacts list, adding new therapists etc.

I think it's also really good for planning in advance things you do or don't want in the event of an 'episode', people you do or don't want involved, medications and treatments you want or don't want (in my case no consent to ECT shock therapy or a particular drug or category of meds), who you want to manage things like your finances if you are unable to and a plan for after the episode i.e. how you will regain control of finances etc.

I would suggest that you simply leave blank for the time being any part of it that you struggle with. And discuss those areas with your therapists including the one who asked you to do it. They may have suggestions you haven't thought of.

I had almost no 'informal' supports (family/friends etc) for many years and only now have solid support from 2 members of my family ( now 56). I tried making 3 others my support people unsuccessfully, tried to educate them about my diagnosis etc and it took quite a while for me to realize that they were no support at all, one of them is actually often a trigger to hypomania for me.

But without the WRAP I wouldn't have even thought about some of the areas it covers. The 'Tool Box' is also invaluable.

I also think it's important to tell someone (maybe even your psychiatrist) where you keep it, or give them a copy.

If you want to discuss it some more with me just tag me. Eth.

@Former-Member Hoping my post is now acceptable. Happy to edit as long as most of the content can remain.