mental health and mediation

Ella

I have schizophrenia and i was wondering about mediation
I have tried to mediate before but the voices get so loud that i cant concentrate should i keep trying ?

is there any tips that some one can give me please

Ella

Glow

My advice would be simply to regard the voices as you would anything else that distracts you from your breath: just relax and don't engage it. You can use the breath as a way to relax your body when a distraction comes up. The same goes for thoughts and sounds from outside. If you are having any difficulties, this is definitely something you will want to do under the guidance of a qualified mental health professional; many are now trained in mindfulness meditation and perhaps could guide you through the learning process while dealing with the problems associated with your schizophrenia as well.

Dazzle

Hi Ella,

Mindfulness Based CognitiveTherapy is available in the UK and includes meditation techniques. It's possible you might be able to get it on the NHS and you could ask your GP about it.


Kind regards,


D.




.

Ella

Thank you both for your help i will ask my gp about CBT
Ella

Jeffrey

Ella I have schizophrenia too. I would talk to my doctor and see if you can find a medicine to stop the voices. Not sure if that is possible but its worth a shot. Voices are not fun at all.

Ella

I am already on medication for the Schizophrenia my dose has been put down due to it making me feel more sleepy but am still getting the voices
i tried mediating a little while ago and i found it hard to concentrate but i did managed it for 10 minutes
Ella

Glow

Hi Ella. Ten minutes is actually not bad at all. That's how much I started with. As you establish a sitting practice, you'll be able to gradually meditate for longer, little by little. In addition to medication, as Dazzle mentioned, cognitive therapy (CBT) has been shown to be effective in managing symptoms of schizophrenia. My mother has schizophrenia, and cognitive therapy did help in managing the voices/hallucinations. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT, which is a bit different from regular CBT because it incorporates mindfulness meditation) is geared more towards depression and anxiety, but I think it could possibly be very helpful in learning to cope with the voices with less stress and discomfort.

newtech

keep trying, but under guidance

patbb

10 minutes isn't bad indeed.

also keep in mind that meditation is difficult (and get very difficult sometimes) for all beginners.

lightwithin

I can relate to all of you out there who suffer from Schizophrenia, as I suffer from something similar (Schizo-affective disorder).

There are times when I just can't concentrate over what I hear. But in my case I'm at the point where I think (or KNOW) the things I hear are very real and not part of my illness. I still am not convinced I have it, but even so, I also have bodily sensations that distract me immensely from my focus while I'm meditating and these are part of my condition too.

Being still for any given period of time is not an easy task for me, but I still manage to sit and meditate as best as I can, for thirty minutes each night. There are times when my head is too busy and I can't focus properly at all, but then there are other times when I'm calmer and more still, and my head is not "jumping around" so much and those are the times that make the effort of my practice worth it's while.

Medication helps me but not enough, and I still haven't found a therapist that addresses my problem in a way that helps me deal with it more effectively.

It's hard to be mindful and calm when you've got so much going on in your brain and body, but it CAN be done, at least every once in a while. Regularity in the practice helps, because you'll be exposed to good sessions also, not only the bad ones.

Best of luck to all of you.

patbb

lightwithin wrote: »

Being still for any given period of time is not an easy task for me, but I still manage to sit and meditate as best as I can, for thirty minutes each night. There are times when my head is too busy and I can't focus properly at all, but then there are other times when I'm calmer and more still, and my head is not "jumping around" so much and those are the times that make the effort of my practice worth it's while.

This sounds exactly like me when i was beginning (ad still today). Or like every beginners i've ever met.

I guess it will be difficult for you to figure out if your meditation is difficult because of your condition, or just because it is difficult...

If you can do 30 minutes tho, it would appear as you are doing just fine, as anybody else with or without conditions.

Fran45

10 - 30 minutes sounds good to me! More than I manage at times!

Jeffrey

Ella don't try prolonged continuous attention. That is not good for anyone and especially bad with schizophrenia. Other people might not know what I mean because they might misunderstand meditation to be continuous prolonged attention. But no meditation is a balance of factors and it is actually steadily coming back. Not continuously holding. Steadily coming back.

So the voice comes you just let it be and don't react. If you drift off its ok. Just come back. Gentle. Balance.

I had some of my worst experiences when I tried to continuously meditate with forceful concentration and I am cautioning against that. My guru talked to me about the affects of such unbalanced concentration particularly in my case.

So be gentle and just let the voices be. Gently come back.

upekka

this is what i gathered about mental illness

many mental ill persons ( i can not say all, but there is a great possibility what i say is true for all mental ill people) are not happy about their life for a while and get depressed and take medication for depression and do not know what to do about their illness

there is a medical side of it too, like imbalance of brain chemicals and need medication to make it balance

however, if a medical doctor can guide them towards meditation or they are lucky enough to find meditation techniques through monks/nuns, then their illness can be turn into priceless advantage for their lives

i say this because all mentally-ill people without exception are not idiots but very, very intelligent people
there is no enough guide for them to use their intelligence, instead they live in an imaginary world and outsiders see their behavior as lunatic because such behavior is not with the norm of the society

as buddhists we believe (later there is a possibility that we will know) that people who take intoxicant in their previous life become mentally ill people in their future life

so the cause and effect theory apply here too

if the mentally ill person is lucky enough to meet buddhist path (at least meditation for a beginning) it is no doubt his illness turn into a greater achievement of his life, namely stream-winning etc.

however it depend on his own previous skillful/unskillful deed he has done and how skillful/unskillful he can use his time now

so be happy that you have come to buddhism or buddhist forum because you are lucky enough to turn to the right path

now what you have to do is
take the medication at a moderate level because sometime doctors can make mistake by prescribing a high level
read and listen to dhamma and try to understand the gist of it
and
do meditation with getting help of a good teacher

you will be alright and you can see that you are alright after few months

AllbuddhaBound

Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) (another third wave cognitive behavior therapy) has been demonstrated to be very effective with psychotic patients (including schizophrenics).

ACT is the therapeutic approach closest to Buddhism I know of because it involves acceptance and no subjective judgement whereas some other cognitive behavior therapies focus on rejecting "bad thoughts".

Mindfulness is key to ACT.

This approach teaches people to accept their symptoms rather than trying to make them go away. The belief is that resisting them actually serves to amplify them.

There are also provisions for loving kindness which I am not sure are included in some of the other cognitive therapies..

It would be the form of cognitive therapy I would pursue in your circumstances.

Namaste

skullchin

Allbuddha Bound wrote: »

Mindfulness is key to ACT.

The same can be said for Dialectical Behavior Therapy. So if you can't find an ACT therapist, try to find a DBT therapist

armando

i was wondering how, in the context of acceptance, the above therapies address cognitive distortions. also, how do engage with personality disorders, especially borderline and antisocial. i do believe that most cognitive based therapies are excellent approaches to depression, phobias and anxiety and i think mbct and act, especially, could be helpful with certain psychotic disorders. i would appreciate any opinions. thanks

skullchin

Re. cognitive distortions - identifying cognitive distortions is actually an exercise in accepting reality as it is for example:
(From _Alcohol: How to Give it Up and Be Glad You Did_ by Philip Tate and Albert Ellis)
Being upset with yourself:
"I must do well and get the approval of others, it's awful to fail a to get rejected, I can't stand doing badly, I'm no good when I do poorly" (awfulizing, overgeneralizing)

Being upset at the actions of others:
You must treat me nicely, kindly and in just the way I want; I can't stand it when you act badly; it's awful to get treated badly by you; you're no good for treating me less kindly and considerately than I want (Shoulding)

Fran45

My understanding is that cognitive distortions are examples of reacting to events (including thoughts) rather than accepting the event and making a rational, considered reponse (right action). Skullchin posts good examples of what I mean.

With respect to personality disorders the key is to identify the habitual/maladaptive responses/thoughts and to replace them with right action and right thought (in buddhist terms). For example, people with Borderline traits have particular difficulties with separation and rejection. The experience of being turned down for a promotion or not being invited to a social event is (mis)interpretated as abandonment and complete rejection. They may respond with catastrophic and negative thoughts that can quickly turn to self harm. The three fold response is to accept the thoughts as just thoughts, to replace the thoughts with more rational responses and to replace self harm with self care. An important skill that Buddhism brings to this type of therapy is that of acceptance of thoughts rather than struggling to repress and replace them. Being able to sit with feeling sh***y is an enormously valuable skill.