Author: Christina Bruni

Christina Bruni is the author of the new book Working Assets: A Career Guide for Peers. She contributed a chapter "Recovery is Within Reach" to Benessere Psicologico: Contemporary Thought on Italian American Mental Health.

Having a “Normal” Life

I want to riff on where I left off in the last blog entry.

I always thought recovery must be self-defined.

In the 1990s I had a “normal” life with a corporate office job and an apartment. So on paper it looked like I had recovered.

Only I don’t think I had a better life until I turned 35 and started working as a librarian.

Proof that you can be in remission yet not have the kind of life you wanted to have until later on.

In this regard I don’t view recovery as the return to having a so-called “normal” life.

The Merriam-Webster definition of normal is:

Of or having ordinary or average intelligence; conforming to a standard or type; free of mental defect.

Does being average and conforming appeal to you? More power to you should it float you to be normal.

I always wanted to have “an artist’s life in the city.” That was my one true goal when I was in college

Often those of us with broken brains take a detour before coming to be where we want to be.

Thus I’m not keen to accept returning to having a “normal” life as the hallmark of whether a person has recovered.

Isn’t it a relief to know this?

Isn’t it more hopeful to know that you don’t have to fit a mold of what constitutes success?

That you and I can go our merry way having a life of our own design.

As the saying goes:

Sometimes the best raspberries come late in the season.

Recovery and Remission

My stance is that you must decide for yourself with your own psychiatrist how you feel about where you are in your life.

Refrain from letting a so-called expert who hasn’t met you dare presume to diagnose a person from afar.

In this regard I’ve always taken E. Fuller Torrey, MD to task. This author of Surviving Schizophrenia claims a person who has a job or a spouse hasn’t recovered.

In his eyes you haven’t recovered unless you don’t need medication. I fear he is using the term recovery interchangeably with remission.

In his book he lists the statistics for what percentage of people recover. This is where E. Fuller Torrey claims a person hasn’t recovered even when they have a job or a spouse.

The fact is you can be in recovery and still have symptoms. People who have symptoms can hold a job or be married.

Does this mean you haven’t recovered simply because you still take medication?

I beg to differ for one strong reason: a significant number of people go without treatment before they get help.

We should not discourage such a person from making recovery a life goal worth shooting for. Even if they cannot get to being in remission.

I’ll end here by reiterating that you have the right to set goals with your psychiatrist and other treatment team members.

Only you and the mental health staff that you employ to serve you should be deciding whether you’ve recovered or not.

Giving Americans a Universal Basic Income

The person who would’ve had my vote in the Democratic primary was Andrew Yang.

Alas, he dropped out a couple months ago.

Yang had a solid plan for giving every American citizen a Universal Basic Income of $1,000 per month.

His campaign website had detailed where the money would come from and how it would be paid out.

In countries in Africa and elsewhere in the world the government gives people a Universal Basic Income.

The Yang website countered the detractors of a Universal Basic Income. Andrew Yang detailed the benefits of giving everyone this guaranteed cash.

I’m in favor of giving American citizens a Universal Basic Income.

Like Yang foresees I don’t think the jobs lost to computer intelligence are coming back.

And we cannot fault individuals who are unemployed or underemployed. It’s not always their doing that they can’t get a job or hold a job long-term.

Detractors claimed people would use the Universal Basic Income to buy street drugs and alcohol.

Who are they kidding. I see no reason why the government can’t give every citizen $1,000 per month.

The fact as I see it is that in my estimation 90 percent of Americans would put the money to use feeding and clothing themselves without having to go into debt.

A Universal Basic Income could help workers that constitute the “working poor”–people who have jobs yet might live in homeless shelters because they can’t pay rent.

A Universal Basic Income would enable people living in recovery to see a therapist of their own choosing.

A Universal Basic Income would give people living in recovery the cash to pay their psychiatrist. [Most shrinks don’t take insurance round here and elsewhere.]

A Universal Basic Income is something to think about.

It should be kept on the table with the candidates remaining in the coming presidential election.

In the next blog entry I will return to talking about recovery.

Getting Money in the Crisis

For those of you who are employed and not at your job in this time of the COVID-19 outbreak I would like to tell you some good news:

The government has signed into law an Act that will give people money for having been impacted in this dire economic time.

If I remember those of us who filed a tax return in 2018 or 2019 will be given money.

It will be directly deposited into your bank account on file with the IRS.

If your account isn’t on file you will have to submit the claim yourself to get the funds.

It’s a tidy sum of money I can tell you.

The government has been generous. The amount of money you receive might be based on what your paycheck used to be.

Get what you deserve. Log online to check your account. Research if you’re entitled to the money and need to submit the claim yourself.

Either way it’s a tidy sum of free money.

In a coming blog entry I’m going to talk about the concept of giving every American a Universal Basic Income.

A Universal Basic Income is a financial security net whose time has come.

Making the Case for Recovery

It can be hard post-diagnosis to believe that things can get better.

In a time of living through this pandemic it can be doubly hard to manage your recovery and have hope.

I make the case for having hope coupled with taking action.

To do what is safe while the COVID-19 outbreak is upon us.

Again I recommend staying in contact with friends and family and any neighbors you can count on via the telephone or on ZOOM on the computer.

This is a time that everyone will benefit from having compassion for ourselves and others.

The world has changed. We cannot go on the way it was before.

It’s more imperative than ever to work together to champion recovery as the goal after a person gets a diagnosis.

It’s time to find solutions to be able to fix the broken mental health system once and for all.

The day has come to recognize just how hard it can be living in recovery.

To act in the spirit of wanting to lighten this load.

The pandemic will end. It might not end soon.

This is all the more reason to renew our efforts to champion recovery for everyone post-diagnosis.

Love Must Win

Having an Attitude of Gratitude makes all the difference in a time of crisis.

My refrigerator is more stocked with food now than it was before the COVID-19 outbreak.

I’m grateful for my good fortune.

In this time of hardship a friend told me to remember all that I’m doing to give joy to people who read my writing.

Life is bigger than your pain. Find what your purpose is for being here. Going and doing that can help you transmute your pain into something positive.

Early on in my recovery I wanted to turn my pain into a thing of beauty for other people.

Even though a lot of us and most likely a significant number of us are sheltering in place we are all together in this changed world.

It’s time to think of how we want to live and what we want to do after each of us returns to going outdoors.

Egotism and bigotry must not prevail.

It’s 2020.

Too late in the history of humankind to continue to engage in hate, killing, violence, and war.

War is not the solution.

Won’t you join me in committing to shifting the needle to the left of the dial after the pandemic has ended?

Today is the day to think of the day we’re going to return outside.

We can each of us decide to love.

Love wins. It always does.

Using an Employee Assistance Program

At a health conference I heard a woman talk about how the pressures of her job caused her so much stress that she cracked.

Before it gets to this point for you investigate whether your employer offers an Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

This is a free benefit you might have as the employee of a company. I have an Employee Assistance Program at my union job.

This service offers links to counseling services and could also give staff members financial help information to manage your money.

In 1991 when I worked at my first job I met with an EAP counselor to talk about finding a support group or group therapy.

Whether the stress you’re experiencing is mild or severe or work-related or caused outside of your job it could benefit you to talk with an EAP counselor.

They can direct you to available therapy and financial options where you live.

Employers benefit when they offer their workers an Employee Assistance Program.

An EAP can boost morale. It can also help staff members get help that helps us lead happier and healthier lives on and off the job.

It’s called an Employee Assistance Program.

Should you need or want this kind of help ask the person in your HR department if your employer offers an EAP.

In a coming blog entry I’ll talk about the findings of a longitudinal study of Sustained Employment Among People with Psychiatric Conditions.

The news is good for getting and keeping a job long-term.

In Praise of Union Jobs

Anyone who is leery of those of us who work in union jobs I dare say has bought into the divide-and-conquer tactics of the government.

I make the case for getting a union job as opposed to a job with a private employer.

My experience sheltering in place in the time of the COVID-19 outbreak in New York City gave me the idea to write in detail about the benefits of having a union job.

Not a lot of union jobs exist anymore because of the union-busting tactics of the government as well.

My job is a union job for city employees. While the library has shut down we are getting paychecks every two weeks.

Having a union job that offers a perk like automatic paychecks in a crisis can make the difference between affording to pay your rent or mortgage and going into debt just to be able to live.

In 2000 when I graduated library school I chose not to pursue a job in a library in a legal or corporate office.

Decades later I’m glad I choose to get a union library job.

With a union job your chance for a promotion isn’t linked to the whim of whether your supervisor is willing to give you that chance.

With a union job you often have a pension when you retire which is now rare for private business jobs.

With a union job you could have the benefit of signing up for a 403(b)–a retirement plan for nonprofit agencies that is like a 401(k) for private employers.

With a union job you might have the benefit of an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to get counseling services and financial help information.

With a union job you could possibly be able to use free legal services to hire a real estate attorney or a lawyer who can help you create a will for free.

What’s not to like about a union job?

In New York City you can go on NYC.gov to find civil service and other government jobs.

The number-one benefit of having a union job is that you cannot summarily or capriciously be fired or laid off.

You have protections in place as a union worker.

In a coming blog entry I’m going to talk about the benefit of an Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

Engaging Your Mind in a Time of Crisis

While I’m no fan of the president who I’ve taken to calling Mr. Toupee over the years I’m impressed with one thing he said in a speech concerning life in the time of the CO-VID19 outbreak:

“All Americans including the young and healthy should engage in learning from home.”

It impresses me that a president who rules the country via Twitter fiats urged us to flex your mental muscles as a way to cope.

Not only did Staples deliver my ink and paper so I could continue my writing projects at home:

Amazon is set to deliver a book to my house.

Reading books and magazines would be in my estimation a productive use of our mental energy when we’re sheltering in place.

For you watching TV might be a pleasant way to pass the time when you’re sheltering in place. By all means continue to watch TV should this give you great joy.

Watching TV sitcoms all day on a good day is my version of a great way to dull my mind if not outright damage my mental health.

To keep my mind sharp and alert I’m reading a book one of my friends published last year.

Talking on the telephone to my family also helps me ride out this crisis.

Like I said the number-one act of healing for me has been to use the creative process to express myself.

So when the ink and paper runs out I’ll fire up the credit card and order new ink and toner from Staples.

We’ll get through this together.

Americans have always been resilient in the face of hardship.

Flexing your mental muscles?

I’m all for this as a game plan.

Eating Well in a Time of Crisis

Italians like I am eat to live more than we live to eat.

The Mediterranean Diet has been touted since the early 1990s as a healthful eating plan.

The number-one goal in a time of crisis as I see the goal is to keep up eating healthfully consistently every day.

From FreshDirect I order an organic CSA box of Lancaster Farms produce. It costs $39 and contains a mound of cheese and carton of eggs as well as 5 types of produce.

Either stopping eating or eating too much is the drawback in a time of crisis.

So far I’ve snacked my way through 3 bags of potato chips. Yes–you heard me right–3 bags of potato chips in 2 weeks.

I quickly threw out the 3rd bag of chips before it was all gone. The snacks are gone for good. And I won’t be ordering anymore chips at all from the online grocery.

Not bringing junk food into your house in the first place is the foolproof tactic for eating well in a time of crisis.

I’ve learned to cool it out with the chips and the pretzels.

Having breakfast lunch and dinner is imperative when you’re told to shelter in place indoors and not go out.

My goal is to have dinner before nine o’clock at night. Preferably by eight o’clock.

Eggs are great to have for breakfast.

Soup or salads are good to have for lunch.

Dinner can be as simple as turkey or chicken and a vegetable.

I was pleased to find out I could order healthful organic turkey burgers from FreshDirect online. They come in a 4-pack.

The CO-VID19 outbreak is no joke. Stay indoors when you must.

More to come in the next blog entry.