Paranoia and Suspicious Thoughts

Restored Post from November 8, 2011

Dear Readers, and Friends with Sz, or those with Paranoid and Suspicious Thoughts,

I am winding down for the day, catching up on yesterday's Two and a Half Men episode. I paused the recording, because I have been meaning to Tweet a couple quotes I found in one of two books I'm reading. One of them is called Overcoming Paranoid and Suspicious Thoughts, by Daniel Freeman, Jason Freeman and Philippa Garety; the other is called Overcoming Traumatic Stress, by Claudia Herbert and Ann Wetmore. Both books use the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy [CBT] model, and they're giving me some tremendously helpful insights and coping methods for my situations, especially when they worsen. I recommend these two books highly, as acclaim to the outstanding Recovering Sanity: A Compassionate Approach to Understanding and Treating Psychosis by Edward M. Podvoll, M.D., based of the Windhorse model for treating psychosis.

The two quotes:

"Even a paranoid can have enemies." - Golda Meir

"When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which never happened." -Winston Churchill

...And one more:

"You go into a strange diner in the South and everybody goes quiet, and you realize all the other customers are looking at you as if they are sizing up the risk involved in murdering you and leaving your body in a shallow grave somewhere out in the swamps." -Bill Bryson

I lay crooked and bent on my laptop, and would like to be able to say more about these insights, though I think they really 'say it all'. But instead of leaving you with just that, I'm trying to give myself some good old fashioned 'me time,' and so I'll come back to this when my TV programs are finished.

Likely not much to add, but we'll see... I've been felling very content with life and I do appreciate all the shares and feedback on the last blog post about Wonderland. My intent was to be completely open and honest, and I believe that it shines through. I hope I might have made a difference, even if only small.

If I don't continue this post, I'll leave you with the message that it can all be treated, not cured, but treated--there is a difference.

Stay well, and enjoy each day full of new beginnings, open doors, possibility and promise, hope, and the chance to turn everything around, if needed.

And actually part of my message, if you will, is that I will just post this as it is. My action of committing to giving myself the pleasure of Jonathan time this evening is what I am doing.

Keep the hope and faith alive and well, until next time...

Jonathan Harnisch