Schizophrenia Recovery Is In Daily Routine
I recovered from schizophrenia giving great thanks to my daily routine as one of the great contributors for the achievement. I had gotten into a structure of activities that constantly stretched my brain while having excellent home support with third party follow-up.
When I followed a routine structured set of actions that I could see benefited others in the development of my local church chapter, the progress that was made over four years was outstanding.
I was in the very small group that started my church branch and soon became responsible for ensuring that the public address system was in place and working perfectly. I did not let anything interrupt the flow of service with each service seeing my level of personal satisfaction grow. I carried the speakers, microphones with cameras and all recording equipment with me at all times as we did not have a permanent venue at the time.
I was present for all our church meetings in good time to set up the recording equipment. If I felt unwell I still was present because I had to bring the equipment. I was required to present weekly and monthly reports that gave me focus about writing and reviewing my activities. Most times I was too busy dealing with requests to think of anything away from the tasks at hand. Although I did not plan it, all my day became busy as I was always prompted for something that would make a difference in the lives of others.
I saw the benefits in my life. I became highly motivated. I was not bogged down in analysing things or bemoaning the past. All my activities were to see immediate results. I also learnt to delegate. Priorities were mapped out for me in the constant requests for my input for ministry. I found this responsibility comfortable as I could see my hobbies make a difference in people’s lives.
What I did not do about keeping my surroundings clean, others did for me. We were taught to leave any venue we used better than we met it. I would take a photo of the arrangement of each venue we used with these to ensure that they were returned to their former state. This helped me in keeping tidy restoring things to the state I found them.
I went months without reviewing anything as I was too busy. Unnecessary activities that would have got my attention because I was fond of them were not given the time of day. I did not have time for social visits. I was effectively on duty at every time.
I made notes of every meeting I attended exercising my hands and my brain. Very often it would be almost a year before I would get to review them. I found that making notes drove home the messages that I had continuously heard. When I did the reviews these helped make these messages become a part of my consciousness for application where possible.
Structured activity is essential for recovery from mental illness much like for bringing up a child. Schizophrenia affected my capacity to structure my thoughts. I got constant feedback from my wife on my appearance and presentation which over the months yielded amazing results. Where I got things messed up I started on a clean slate.
Were you inspired by this blog? Get on Amazon to purchase “Defying the Odds- One man’s struggle and victory over mental illness and his wife whose faith in God never failed” by Zoe. A. Onah (Published by Destiny Image Europe, 2011)
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