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ARAFMI Tasmania |
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An Association of Friends and Relatives of the Mentally Ill (Tasmania) Incorporated |


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Our library is available most week day mornings.
Please call 6228 7448 in the South or 6331 4486 in the North to confirm before you come!
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Book Review: “Peaceful Mind” by J McQuaid & P Carmona 2004 New Harbinger Publications
This excellent small book tells us how to practise mindful attention, find out one’s inappropriate beliefs and assumptions and how to change these so that one can gain relief from depression. Mindfulness, a deliberate moment to moment attention, assists in recovering from depression by: Training our minds to become aware not only of physical sensations of the body but to extend that awareness to becoming aware of one’s emotions, assumptions, beliefs, thoughts, expectations. By practising more non-judgemental awareness By allowing the questioning whether judgemental thoughts are indeed facts. This can facilitate a more honest relationship with ourselves. & helps us to locate and identify unrealistic beliefs that we can then work on. Nice easy to read text, very helpful for all of us really in terms of prevention of unnecessary distress. Anne |
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Book Review “ I am not sick. I don’t need help” By Xavier Amador
This is such a helpful reminder to all of us who encounter this aspect of mental illness from time to time. Firstly Xavier explains the biological nature of insight and how it varies within an individual depending upon treatment response and the severity of the illness. A lack of insight is due to the illness itself, that is, the brain is not functioning as it should. Insight however can improve with treatment and be fostered by an enlightened way of our discussing such issues with the person. So there is a message of hope here. He shows that it is not necessarily stubbornness or defensiveness that leads to denial of illness and of help seeking. Then he shows how to talk with someone experiencing less than optimal insight into their condition and need for treatment. He uses a simple acronym, LEAP in creating an agreement.
Listen: with attention to hear what it’s really like from their point of view. This enables us: to help us respond in a way that will increase their insight gently, step by step. Set aside suitable time / place to discuss Agree on the items you want to talk about Listen for beliefs about themselves and the illness Don’t react emotionally. (real hard) Let the chaos be (even if it’s ‘crazy’ talk) Echo what you’ve heard Maybe write it down, stick it on the frig…
2 Empathise: if you want someone to understand your point of view, we must first understand theirs. So reflect back what the person says to check that you have really understood it. Feed back their emotions also. Listen for: - or that personal goals remain unfulfilled, or being stigmatised and feeling like a failure.. - Awful memories about the compulsory admission, a sense of unfairness even & tentatively reflect back what you’ve heard. 3 Agree: Find an area to agree with, find facts you both agree with, goals you both want. 4 Partnership: a collaboration on working towards the goals you both want. - Allow yourself to say that you’re worried about the person getting sick again and ending up in hospital or whatever…) - Would you like to offer to be a part of the agreement activity?
All in all, this is a very timely but easy read with lots of detail on how to actually phrase up those difficult topics. Please read this book. Anne. |