Had review with rehab team. There’s talk of when i might be discharged from their service. When that goes bang goes the Thursday group i attend that they run. There was talk of Richmond fellowship that they do groups to help with social isolation but again it’s short term-up to 2 years. As with most things nowadays it pushes the recovery model.I guess the trend is to pass you on from one short term thing to another until you exhaust all options .
Could always go back to the peer lead group connected with but not run by Rethink. Stopped it because it clashed with the group run by the rehab team. It was not a hard choice to make at the time as the peer lead group for several weeks had been myself and a learning disabled man who was pleasant enough but only said a few words if you spoke to him.
I was basically sitting in awkward silence for most of the hour’s meeting.
I guess i need something that’s in a safe environment that gets me out of the house and isn’t going to be stopped after a short while and as bad as it was the peer lead group may be the only option.
know how u feel. i just got a referral form for a group day centre near my home and i don’t know if i want to go back to that one. they don’t do the things i like to do. it’s mainly art based and i’m ■■■■ at that. i used to just take my writing down there but got bored of it in the end coz i can do that at home right? this time they’ve said i can sew on one of their machines so maybe i will go after all. i’d like to learn how to make clothes and stuff. we’ll c how it goes.
I think there is increasingly little out there for us chronic/long term service users who are not likely after all this time to ‘recover’.
What i need, and i guess others need, is a safe and solid environment to be with people who understand through experience. One of the buzz phrases is ‘social inclusion’ but if i was going to integrate with the mainstream it would have happened by now and i would have been given help to achieve it.
As i said to the social worker and rehab lady; sometimes it’s not about saying much but being in the physical presence of other people in a safe,communal environment.
Day centres and drop ins used to provide that safe haven but increasingly they’re a thing of the past. If for whatever reason you can’t cope well with mainstream society then the long term outlook is social isolation.
I am sure there is ACT in all/most areas but i don’t have access to it. Although i think the rehab team covers similar ground in a time limited way. As an older person who has gone through more acute stages symptoms are less pronounced than they were ,and the main issue is chronic problems with social functioning/social interaction.
It has been 30 years since i was last in hospital (22 years with my wife and 8 years on my own). The best i can say is that i muddle through day to day in a rather restricted, quite low level way. It’s a step up from being earmarked at best for a group home and at worst a long stay ward.
I have definitely been more anxious and less relaxed since my wife got ill and then died. I am at best patchy with ADLs ie not bad at paying bills etc but not good with keeping the flat tidy/going to places outside my comfort zone/practical tasks around the flat and so so when it comes to personal care/hygiene.
i don’t think any of us r brilliant at thhose things hunni. i’m good with money and ok at personal hygiene but my house could do with going over from top to bottom once a week. xxx
dont MIND have groups where you are, i dont know if youve ever considered it but age uk are looking for volunteers to go and chat to an elderly person in there homes its only 1 hour per week and its something ive done in the past made me feel really good about myself just a thought,
There is a MIND near to where i live but i am not aware of them doing any groups themselves. I do know they lend their rooms to organisations outside of MIND.
Would find it hard to do anything like age UK as i’m not good at making small talk/spontaneous conversation.
There well be love most peer suport folks are trained by state tests to get a job some were but the collages have to funds for class in bussnes in drop in centers run by us ill people . Class that I’m looking for dosent exsist yet.
I “graduate” from my group this year and it sucks! Only 2 years with them and then I have to find someone new. They said I can keep coming to groups but the program is designed for short term psychosis not long term diagnosis like sz.