Re: vulnerability

[Guest guest]

Hi , I just wanted to say I'm glad you posted how you are feeling. This is a safe place, and you will never be rejected here for telling it like it is. I've been completely tapered for about a month now, and I'm learning that anything can happen. My body and mind are still adjusting. It is like learning to walk again. Hopefully you'll be feeling better soon. Check in again and let us know how you're doing. Hugs,

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[Guest guest]

,

I know from personal experience on a myriad of issues the cathartic

benefits of sharing with others. The problem with trying to do that

quite often as it relates to coming off these drugs is getting people

to understand. Rest assured it is the drugs. Hence, posting here is

somewhere that you know people will understand. I should go back and

read some of my early posts. They are probably very similar to yours.

Anyways, a huge part of the overall healing process is exactly what you

are doing. Right on and God bless!

Casey

[Guest guest]

,

I almost forgot. You asked what helps. Prayer and lots of it. Setting a

good spiritual foundation puts into perspective what is truly

important. For me going to the Lord and asking for strength and wisdom

never fails. Without exception He provides me with it. So I go beyond

prayer and seek out a spiritual condition in a number of ways. I don't

like to get preachy, but you asked what helps and that is what helps me.

Casey

[Guest guest]

" So I go beyond

prayer and seek out a spiritual condition in a number of ways "

Casey, can you expand on this a bit, I'd be really interested to hear

more if it's not intruding?

, wrote out a list of spirituality books to, they may

help?

Love

[Guest guest]

" but really it's about changing and

growing and coping and we are all the same in that. "

Yep, and here's the best place to learn!

With Love

x

[Guest guest]

" I look forward to having a full rainbow spectrum of feelings as I go

off of this drug. "

What a beautiful description. xx

[Guest guest]

,

SInce you asked I am gonna give you a long-winded answer. Lord knows

I can be verbose, but you asked for it.

First let me correlate it to shared experiences here. Feeling

absolutely sick from withdrawal or anxiety-ridden or fearful or

whatever comes our way is tough enough to deal with on our own.

These are things I have gone through coming off meds, as has

everyone else here. For me it was a combination of this and years of

abusing alcohol which left me in a state of complete spiritual

bankruptcy. Everything revolved around ME. So as I progressed

spiritually I grew further and further away from the me first

mentality and it served me well in my recovery. In other words,

anything that can be used to get outside our own heads to me is time

well spent. Lord knows we spend enough time inside it anyways. This

group is a perfect vehicle for that, as well as many other things I

have engaged in over the past few years.

Anyways, to your question. I was agnostic to the core. I was filled

with too many questions and concerns as it pertained to religion. I

have come to realize that religion and spirituality are very

different. Anyways, my first obstacle was overcoming some of the

questions and concerns. I had a dear friend guide me to two books.

The first was The Case for Christ by Lee Stobel. He was an

investigative journalist who was an atheist and set out to prove

Jesus was only a man. In the process he discovered He was in fact

the Son of God. The second was Letters from a Skeptic by

Boyd. It is merely a series of letters between an atheist father and

his very devout son. Through the letters he comes to the same

realization that Mr. Strobel did.

For me I couldn't just pick up the Bible and make sense of it and in

turn the world. I had to first put to rest any doubts I had. THese

books, especially the first one, went a long way towards this. That

in turn made the gospels more relevant and profound. Now I don't

want to be preachy, but like I said you asked. As I stated, there is

a huge difference between religion and spirituality. Sometimes I am

more comfortable identifying as a follower of Christ then a

Christian simply because I can't stand many things in organized

religion. It is pretty simple to me. Following His teachings changed

my life and as it pertains to recovery from psychotropic medication

it helped me get outside my own head. It helped me put others first.

It helped me get strength and wisdom during the long, difficult

hours of coming off a host of meds. It will help me coming off my

last medication.

Of course I'd prefer everyone follow His teachings, but I would

never discourage anyone from finding strength from whichever source

they so chose. The world would certainly be a better place and I

know from experience that drawing on something else for strength

helped me immeasurably.

Now I'd also recommend The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. As

for other avenues of being spiritual I do plenty of things. Prayer,

meditation, worship, and being of service in any possible way. There

are plenty of studies showing the scientific power of prayer and

meditation in terms of how it aides the brain. I know there is a

section in the files dealing with this. OK, how was that for long-

winded? I guess the point is that you hit a point where you will do

anything to get better. For me spirituality is a very important

component of that and maybe that is why I prattled on so long here.

Casey

[Guest guest]

Casey, Wow that was great, i too am a christian even though the word christian has different meanings to different people, i am as you say a follower of christ, it has only been three years since i became a believer, it has chnaged my whole family, my husband drank everyday for the first 20 years of our marriage, since he found christ he hasn't drank or smoked in three years just quit like that and my son was a big time atheist and is going to become a pastor he is 21, are you a male or female, Casey can be either, i hope you don't mind me asking. Debbie mcpark99_2000 wrote: ,SInce you asked I am gonna give you a long-winded answer. Lord knows I can be verbose, but you asked for it.First let me correlate it to shared experiences here. Feeling absolutely

sick from withdrawal or anxiety-ridden or fearful or whatever comes our way is tough enough to deal with on our own. These are things I have gone through coming off meds, as has everyone else here. For me it was a combination of this and years of abusing alcohol which left me in a state of complete spiritual bankruptcy. Everything revolved around ME. So as I progressed spiritually I grew further and further away from the me first mentality and it served me well in my recovery. In other words, anything that can be used to get outside our own heads to me is time well spent. Lord knows we spend enough time inside it anyways. This group is a perfect vehicle for that, as well as many other things I have engaged in over the past few years.Anyways, to your question. I was agnostic to the core. I was filled with too many questions and concerns as it pertained to religion. I have come to realize that religion and spirituality are

very different. Anyways, my first obstacle was overcoming some of the questions and concerns. I had a dear friend guide me to two books. The first was The Case for Christ by Lee Stobel. He was an investigative journalist who was an atheist and set out to prove Jesus was only a man. In the process he discovered He was in fact the Son of God. The second was Letters from a Skeptic by Boyd. It is merely a series of letters between an atheist father and his very devout son. Through the letters he comes to the same realization that Mr. Strobel did.For me I couldn't just pick up the Bible and make sense of it and in turn the world. I had to first put to rest any doubts I had. THese books, especially the first one, went a long way towards this. That in turn made the gospels more relevant and profound. Now I don't want to be preachy, but like I said you asked. As I stated, there is a huge difference between

religion and spirituality. Sometimes I am more comfortable identifying as a follower of Christ then a Christian simply because I can't stand many things in organized religion. It is pretty simple to me. Following His teachings changed my life and as it pertains to recovery from psychotropic medication it helped me get outside my own head. It helped me put others first. It helped me get strength and wisdom during the long, difficult hours of coming off a host of meds. It will help me coming off my last medication.Of course I'd prefer everyone follow His teachings, but I would never discourage anyone from finding strength from whichever source they so chose. The world would certainly be a better place and I know from experience that drawing on something else for strength helped me immeasurably.Now I'd also recommend The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. As for other avenues of being spiritual I do plenty of things.

Prayer, meditation, worship, and being of service in any possible way. There are plenty of studies showing the scientific power of prayer and meditation in terms of how it aides the brain. I know there is a section in the files dealing with this. OK, how was that for long-winded? I guess the point is that you hit a point where you will do anything to get better. For me spirituality is a very important component of that and maybe that is why I prattled on so long here.Casey

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[Guest guest]

" OK, how was that for long-

winded? "

Casey, it wasn't long winded at all, it was perfect, thankyou. I want

to learn more about spirituality and you are right it is an important

part of recovery.

For me at the moment, I am at the stage where I am confident that the

universe knows much better than I do about everything!

I totally accept that taking the SSRI and recovering was a journey I

was meant to take, a journey that has led me to see things in such a

different way. I still learn from it everyday.

Thanks for the book titles to I will check those out, I'm still

getting through the books listed to. If only I could read

faster!

Thanks again

With Love

[Guest guest]

Hi , You are awesome! I needed to hear that about accepting that the meds, the recovery, everything happened the way it is supposed to. Love,

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