My dad, a psychiatrist, told me several times about treating patients with a diagnosis in the schizophrenia spectrum. He said, that with continued treatment with medication and all of that, that the day to day routine these patients would embrace would often usurp the delusions that had such a hold on them when they first came in for treatment. For example, six months to a year after "Paul" began treatment, Dad would ask him, "Paul, what about all of that trouble you were having with the FBI and CIA?," and in a scornful, dismissive tone Paul would reply, "Aw man, what are you bothering me with that for? Why are you even bringing that up? That's the last thing on my mind these days." Note, it's NOT that Paul no longer BELIEVED the delusions about the FBI and CIA, it's that they were no longer very IMPORTANT to him.
I figure that the above example serves as a likely outcome for my whole preoccupation with this famous woman I've written so much about these past six months or so. My focus on upcoming day to day stuff such as looking for a job, going to support groups, taking music lessons, dealing with challenging people and situations in a variety of settings, all of that and more will become much more important than my thoughts and feelings about the famous woman. My experience in the past of this day to day routine overthrowing the delusional stuff as the main thing on my mind tells me that such an outcome represents an achievable and desired way for all of this famous woman stuff to play out.
I figure that the above example serves as a likely outcome for my whole preoccupation with this famous woman I've written so much about these past six months or so. My focus on upcoming day to day stuff such as looking for a job, going to support groups, taking music lessons, dealing with challenging people and situations in a variety of settings, all of that and more will become much more important than my thoughts and feelings about the famous woman. My experience in the past of this day to day routine overthrowing the delusional stuff as the main thing on my mind tells me that such an outcome represents an achievable and desired way for all of this famous woman stuff to play out.
RSS Feed
