Welcome The Saferoom Project eNewsletter!!

I Never Promised You A Rose Garden
Joanne Greenberg

"Seldom has the strange and seductive world of mental illness been charted more explicitly, or more beautifully than in this novel-this shining story of a young girl's three years in a mental hospital and her journey back from madness to reality. A novel that reveals deep truths about mental illness . . . rare and wonderful insight into the dark kingdom of the mind." -Chicago Tribune.

I like books that relate to real life situations. I Never Promised You A Rose Garden, by Joanne Greenberg, is an extremely moving book, which is based upon a true story. It reveals that the mentally ill struggle with the same needs and battles that we all do, as well as the quest that we all share for love and acceptance, the power of undiluted truth, kindness, and forgiveness.

Perhaps, at times, I got lost in the twists and turns , but this only made me give more thought as to what was going on in the mind of this young woman. This book depicts how she, Deborah, at age 16, is still within reach of understanding what the "real world" is, thus allowing me to identify with her further.

The novel travels into the depths of the mind of a girl who is deep in madness, permitting the reader to picture the slipping in and out of Deborah's own secret world. I was left to presume it was schizophrenia, but found so much within the pages that I could identify with on the level of DID/DIDNOS.

This work shows that Deborah has to overcome seeing unhappiness and the sickness of others. She is witness to everyone's emotions coming out, while at the same time, having to deal with her own. Her "worlds" were an alternate reality, that created a wall that kept out hurt, but also kept out the love that everyone needs. To live in the reality of the world is a battle for us all. Throughout the book, I was shown that my most formidable opposition lies within myself. But it revealed to me as well, that also my greatest strength comes from within myself.

This book is for all who wish to understand others, themselves and how the human mind works. It offered no "far-fetchedness", but was tangible and realistic, in depicting some seemingly unreal situations.  The book's title is fitting- healing is no rose garden- but then again, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden illustrates such a point with detailed accounts of therapy sessions and a very powerful ending. Anyone who has ever felt alone, scared and/or hopeless will certainly be given a graphic demonstration that no fear is stronger than our desire to be victorious over it.

Yahoo Goofs...
Need we say more?  Yahoo has once again been having net splits, as well as not letting people into chat.  You may have better connectivity using Cheeta Chat, which can be used across a few chat systems, including Yahoo. For those who are having problems with Messenger, try using ICQ, which most members already have.  Please know that we are aware of these problems, and any complaints as such should be directed to Yahoo Forum Bugs

Well, as a lot of you know, we had planned to get together this spring in DC, for our first official SRP gathering.   We aren't going to be able to commit to that, unfortunately, as we have used almost all of our spare time to getting the site and Project back in shape after moving, and the spring would be cutting it pretty close for reservations.  We will be planning a gathering for late fall though, perhaps in celebration of our 2 year birthday.  Details for the trip will be publicized, when available.  Thanks for your pateience, and sorry that things fell through for the spring.  Besides...  the weather will be so much cooler then.....  ;)

Some of us have been through a part of healing called PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. According to the APA (American Psychiatric Association) Online Public Information page....."Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) - once called shell shock - affects hundreds of thousands of people who have survived earthquakes, airplane crashes, terrorist bombings, inner-city violence, domestice abuse, rape, war, genocide, and other disasters, both natural and human made."

There are many of us.... me included... who can tell you how PTSD affected them. I had many of the symptoms...and had a very hard time dealing with them. I tried outpatient therapy...but it was not working. So, I asked to be admitted into a military hospital on an inpatient basis. It was not easy to deal with... but with the help of therapy... friends.. and family... I made it through the rough times, and have been working on maintaining ever since.

These are the symptoms of PTSD: According to case studies, PTSD usually appears within three months of the trauma, but sometimes the disorder appears later. PTSD's symptoms, tend to fall into three categories:

• Intrusion
• Avoidance
• Hyperarousal

Intrusion - For most people this takes the form of flashbacks, that is, reliving the experience with full sensory recall, such that it seems like it is happening again. I had all the classic symptoms of intrusion...I had vivid, uncontrollable flashbacks that totally overwhelmed me. It was like I was there and reliving it all over again. I think that was the worst part of it for me.... but again, with therapy... and time... they stopped.

Avoidance - This aspect of PTSD is more subtle, and usually equates to avoiding close emotional relationships with family and friends. It is characterized by numbness, an inability to express emotion, to the extent that only routine mechanical responses can be carried out. Also, PTSD sufferers tend to avoid situations that may remind them of the trauma, as it causes more intense flashbacks. However, this avoidance results in not working out grief and other emotions relating to the trauma, which enables the trauma pattern to continue. Depression is often results from the inability to heal PTSD. I had alot of trouble with avoidance. My wife and daughter could not understand why I did not want to be around them. I felt guilty about the flashbacks and about my inablilty to control myself. I felt overwhelmed by the intense emotions that kept flooding over me. I just wanted to crawl into a corner and die at times... But as I worked through my feelings in therapy...these symptoms slowly went away.

Hyperarousal - Often people with PTSD live in a state of feeling constantly threatened by the original trauma. They can become suddenly irritable, even when there doesn't seem to be cause. They often have problems concentrating and remembering current information, and sometimes develop insomnia. Usually the perpetual feeling that danger is near results exaggerated startle reflexes. An aside of hyperarousal is that many people with PTSD use alcohol or other drugs to numb, or selfmedicate their pain and forget the trauma temporarily, and may show poor control over impulsive urges. I was lucky on this one....I never abused drugs or alcohol. But, I did have many other ways to escape, like eating and sleeping excessively to forget. Methods of treatment for PTSD include:

• Behavior therapy
• Psychodynamic psychotherapy
• Family therapy
• Discussion groups or peer-counseling groups

PTSD is a part of survival, that many people suffer with. Realize that you are not alone. Some people can work through it with the help of their friends, family and others, while others seek therapy in order to deal with it. But it can be dealt with, and you can survive it...I and others in SRP are living proof of that.

 

Forums run by SR members

Survivor Forums with which SR Members are affiliated