I remember being taught how to do Progressive Muscle Relaxation, while I was hospitalized in a psychiatric clinic. All the time I had a very strong feeling that I already know how to do it. I thought: »Oh no, it’s the déjà vu again.« But it was not. I later looked into a book about yoga and the guidelines for the ending relaxation after a set of yoga exercises were very similar to the guidelines for Progressive Muscle Relaxation at the clinic. It was the book, where I had learned yoga exercises from long before that hospitalization. As Wikipedia states: »Mindfulness practice, inherited from...

Warning for people with a mental illness: Do not try any of the techniques mentioned below, without consulting your psychiatrist first. It might not be the right time for you yet. As Louise Hay repeatedly points out: »The point of power is always in the present moment.« But what about the past? Should we just forget about it? Surely it would not be wise to think about the past all the time and thus miss the exciting present. But we can learn from the past by analyzing it, when we reserve special time for analysis – now and then of course, not too often. I analyze the past in my daily meditations...

And an onion consists of layers: Layer 1: My Thoughtful and Careful Character In itself it is not problematic, as long as I do not exaggerate. I believe it is the layers below that make me exaggerate. Layer 2: My Diagnosis – Schizoaffective Disorder My psychiatrist was successful at giving me the right medication for quieting down the bio-chemical aspect of worrying more than 10 years ago. However I believe a mental patient needs to take care of other aspects of mental illness as well. To cure my mind I did a lot of mental work next to taking medication. See the next layers below. Layer 3: Playing...

This title definitely sounds better than: “Face it – you have bipolar disorder.” Or: “Face it – you have schizoaffective disorder.” Or: “Face it – you have a mental illness.” Why? Simply because of the stigma that is attached to the words like: bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder or mental illness. We can look at stigma from two sides: from the outer side and from the inner one. Looking at it from the outer side means how other people treat us. There are many campaigns that fight this kind of prejudice that healthy people have against people with mental illnesses. On the other...

A few weeks ago I was at a psychiatric clinic again. Luckily not admitted to a locked ward. No, I am joking. I was not there as a psychiatric patient with schizoaffective disorder this time. I was there as a book author. I handed over a copy of my new book to Professor Rok Tavčar, MD, PhD, Psychiatrist, Head of the Rehabilitation Department, Psychiatric Clinic of Ljubljana. I wished to thank him for having peer-reviewed my manuscript and for having written a testimonial for my book. Professor Tavčar was the last psychiatrist I visited in order to thank them for having helped me with the book. But he...