Self-Help—It's the Name of the Game for Recovery International

By Anne Ingram

The Daily Gleaner

Fredricton, New Brunswick, Canada

Harry is a big man with a broad smile and an infectious laugh. He appears to have a jovial and happy outlook on life.

Two years ago he was a very different person. Depressed, anxious and unable to control his temper he was beginning to find life unbearable.

Fortunately Harry realized that he needed help. Now he is an active member of a local self-help group, Recovery Inc. Like all those who sit around the table with him every Wednesday evening in the library at Wilmot United Church, he is using techniques developed in the mid-thirties by Dr. Abraham A. Low, Assistant Director of the University of Illinois Medical School, to take control of his life.

Dr. Low was a man whose ideas were considered controversial 50 years ago. He felt that people suffering from what were called "nervous disorders" needed to be empowered to help themselves. In order to prove his theory the doctor established Recovery and wrote a book outlining his methods.

More than five decades later, people like Harry and the other men and women in the Recovery group can attest that Dr. Low knew what he was talking about. They know his methods for controlling anxiety attacks really work.

Recovery Inc. meetings always follow the same format. Group members introduce themselves, on a first name basis only, then they read a chapter from Dr. Low's book "Mental Health Through Will Training". After this, there is what is called a "panel session" during which any member can tell about an event which triggered symptoms of anxiety, what those symptoms were like and how they were handled. The rest of the group can then offer comments as well as positive feedback.

No one is compelled to relate their experiences during the panel session, which is led by Terri MacLean, who started the chapter of Recovery Inc. here in Fredericton. Those who do though, relate similar yet different stories.

There is Jane, a quiet spoken woman who appears to be very self-controlled yet her voice almost quivers when she talks of experiencing terribly debilitating symptoms after she was informed that she had to give a presentation at work, "My heart started racing, I was sweating, my throat was tight and I thought I was going to pass out," she says.

Jane admits that before coming to Recovery Inc. she would probably have walked out of the room and not given the presentation. But, as she puts it, "if I had done that I would have processed the incident over and over again in my mind for days and weeks afterwards and my anxiety would have gotten worse".

Instead, she "faced the fear", forced her muscles to relax and took control. She presented her report calmly and confidently.

After telling her story, Jane smiles and says, "I feel so good about myself tonight because of what happened." The other people in the room join in her "self-endorsement". They discuss the incident and give Jane a mental 'pat' on the back.

Joe, a youthful looking, white-haired man, explains that for a person suffering from anxiety phobias every day can bring small battles and small victories like Jane's. "Feelings of dread or foreboding may be irrational," he says, '"but they produce symptoms which are very real, symptoms that really affect your life."

Helena quickly nods in agreement. "Until I came to Recovery," she reveals "I couldn't travel. I couldn't even go across the river in Fredericton. I was desperately afraid of getting tied up in traffic and not being able to get off the bridge. I would sweat profusely just thinking about it."

Thanks to the support she has received from group members, Helen was able to travel to Quebec over Christmas to see her family. "I actually spent six hours in the car both ways," she laughs.

According to Joe, the basic thinking around which Recovery is built is judgment. The judgment takes the form of two "tempers" angry and fearful. The person with an angry temper always blames someone else. The person with a fearful temper has feelings of self-blame, self-pity, guilt and fear. He or she may feel inadequate, hopeless and discouraged.

"I never thought of temper as being anything but anger," Joe explains "but now I have learned that temper, as we speak of it in Recovery, has to do with the trivial, ordinary frustrations of everyday life. These frustrations can cause us to lash out or to become extremely tense and fearful."

The secret is to "spot" the temper and control it. This often means overcoming deep-rooted fears or, as Joe says "forcing yourself to do something which may appear trivial to others but which may scare you to death."

He notes, for instance, that anxiety symptoms can often cause extreme fatigue. Rest doesn't help with this kind of fatigue but exercise does. "You have to force yourself to get up out of the chair and make your muscles work," Joe says, adding "believe me, this can often mean mentally pushing yourself out of the door."

While acknowledging that this is sometimes very difficult to do. Harry says "but let me tell youevery time you are able to control your actions you gain self-respect." Then he adds, with his usual grin, "you have to do things in order to get well, not wait until you get well to do things."

Harry will be the first to admit that he has "come a long way" since he first walked into a Recovery Inc. session. He is a passionate disciple of Dr. Low but he knows that he needs the support of the group in order to keep going. Asked what attending Recovery Inc. meetings has done for him, Harry replies simply "It has given me a lot of insight into my behavior. It has taught me that this behavior can be controlled. I have learned that I can live every day by following Dr. Low's principles and above all, I have found other people who understand my situation."

There are smiles all around the table when Harry makes that comment but they fade when he adds "we have to work hard to overcome the stigma against mental illness". This perceived stigma means that, like the other group members, (with the exception of Terry) Harry wishes to remain anonymous. "If we were a broken arm support group it wouldn't matter. I'd really like to know why mental illness is looked upon differently from physical illness."

However, Harry doesn't allow himself to ponder this for too long because such thoughts are considered "sabotage". After all, the group's philosophy is not to dwell on what is "right or wrong" but to learn to cope with situations and prevent a relapse of mental illness.

Judging from the comments heard around the table Recovery Inc. works and works well. As Helen puts it, "driving to Nashwaaksis may not seem like much to anyone else but to me it is a real step forward. The group has helped me feel good about myself."

Posted with permission from The Daily Gleaner.

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