Suppose you go to work one day, and the walls start talking to you.

You’d like to ignore them, but they are saying things you’ve secretly suspected for years.

You go to a doctor. He hands you to a therapist. The therapist sends you to a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist gives you pills, which he tells you may or may not take care of it. Make another appointment. Plan to do this for life, because the prognosis is not good.

Then, he sends you home.

What now? What do you tell your family? What do you tell your employer (if you still even have an employer?) What do you tell your friends?

What do you say to yourself?

This happens to millions of people a year. But I have yet to see a book that tells people what to do next. Nobody told me. 

What this book has to offer is 36 years of experience on what to do next. 

—

To recap: I am not claiming that altered [mental] states are real or imaginary, good or evil, physical or spiritual. You will surely come to your own conclusions about this. I am merely pointing out that they are human, and that some folks experience them much more often. 

So, what I would say that we, the ‘mentally ill,’ have in common is that we are Prone to Altered States of Consciousness: PASC. It is not a deprecating term. It is merely descriptive. 

— 

The Dually Diagnosed tend to get lost in the Alcoholics or Narcotics Anonymous crowds. We are the recovering, the hardworking, the grateful — and the lonely. We are the ones who did all our footwork, but still didn’t get better. We are the weird among the weird. We don’t feel welcome. We don’t speak up. And we need to.  

When you’ve got this kind of double whammy, you can’t help wondering about your value. Did I do something horribly wrong? Am I being punished for sins I committed in a previous life? Am I simply a weak personality? Is it just bad DNA? Can we posit that, in trying to get away from the exquisite misery of our illnesses, that some of us have adopted alcohol, drugs, and other self-destructive behaviors just for relief? Is the electrical brain mis-wiring so similar to the other that they develop in tandem?  

—

Becoming spiritually sane is not a selfish act. We need [the book’s program] and the program needs us. Through our unique and hard-won insights, we have much to offer…. the power I used to waste on self-blame can now be used for better things.

—

Fruchey continues throughout the rest of the book in a similar style, offering practical suggestions to assist those with psychiatric diagnoses in handling life situations. She suggests affordable ways to enjoy life and spend days when you have too much time and too little money…how to explain your condition to family and friends and employers…how to seek accommodations at work…how to handle awkwardness caused in your friendships and family relationships when you go through depressions and episodes…sort of a ‘Beginner’s Manual to Mental Illness.’

Deborah Fruchey writes from experience, after over 40 years of living with bipolar syndrome. She’s currently seeking representation and publication for Is There Room for Me, Too? You may reach her to discuss her writing – or for support and a shoulder to lean on, if you deal with a similar situation – at lastlaughpro@gmail.com.

Prepublication copies of the book  are available NOW at www.roomformetoo.info. You can also check out Deborah’s blog on mental health issues at www.alteredstatescentral.blogspot.com.

From Deborah Fruchey, suggestion of a magazine by and for mental health consumers:

Open Minds Quarterly