Recovery From Mental Illness Thanks to Socializing with People and Treatment

I sympathize a lot with people suffering from PTSD, and have much respect for the people working at ADAA, and social workers in general, trying to make a difference. I respect and admire people who work with people to make them feel better and be more able to communicate difficult experiences and feelings. Those who find the capacity to try to make a positive difference for others make such a big difference for the quality of many peoples lives, and can even save their lives. The world is a better place thanks to you and them.

I am a man from Denmark, Europe, who experienced mental illness in my youth. Besides therapy and treatment that helped me to recover, as I see it, socializing with other people was also an important part of recovery. I realized the importance of this and encouraged myself to place myself in social situations, even when I did not feel like it.

A wise woman once also told me that we should prioritize sleeping, being social, eating healthy food, and exercising to be well. I also found helpful information and inspiration from the ADAA website. Its resources also made this clear and I now try to live by her advice. 

Last year I made a music album that, to a large degree, is about soldiers who returned from war and what they experience. I also painted and made the cover artwork for it. I would say that being creative has also been a gateway for me to be more balanced psychologically.

For me, my experiences with mental illness guided me on a path of wanting to be physically and psychologically well and healthy, and also being grateful for and appreciating the beauty of life. Maybe this reflects in my music and personality. I hope so.

The last thing we lose, some say, is hope. If we can somehow find self-love and faith in ourselves and our own capability, we can maybe understand the importance of questioning our own thoughts and feelings. What our parents and others told us and made us believe, and what we think of ourselves and others, may very well be wrong. For me this insight has been helpful.

Hopefully this can inspire something good;iIt is not the thought that is the most important—it is the action. 

Listen to Niels Rahder's music on Spotify.

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