Pressure Washing Mental Illness (Without So Much Pressure)
My "President's Message" for the June Quarterly Newsletter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Jacksonville Not long ago, I noticed myself doing something peculiar while pressure washing my stone patio. Every time the dirty water began to pool up, I'd compulsively wash it away with the wand. I’d try my best to move on to the next cluster of crusty pavers, but another pool would form, and I’d have to start spraying it out of the way. It got a little crazy! My recovery from chronic depression has been like that at times. Just when I’d start making progress on changing a specific harmful thought or behavior, my attention would wander to something big and overwhelming like the job I dreaded, the disconnect I seemed to be having with God, or wondering if my misery would ever go away. I just wanted to wash it all away right then and there – and would even attempt to do it with no result. As we begin to get the hang of recovery and see results, we gain patience...