Jonathan Harnisch In Session Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) Part 1

Get an intimate inside look into a therapy session with a person diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder.

CONSIDER AN ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATION

I take on and tackle Tuesday, April 14, 2015 after recent bouts with severe depression and turn a bad day around. I spend the second half of this film in a cognitive behavioral therapy session where my psychologist and I primarily discuss F.A.B. The Fundamental Attribution Bias. It was a great session. I am glad how I was able to slow it down when it became overwhelming. We mainly discussed the F.A.B. The Fundamental Attribution Bias. It's where we assume our own negative traits are situational, and others' negative traits are part of their personality. It's probably somewhere in the middle for many of us.   Either way, whether it's because of the F.A.B., cognitive distortions, or delusions… we should consider alternative explanations frequently.  Our instinct is to follow the same paths, to the same conclusions. Considering alternative explanations can help us figure out what's going on logically, rather than habitually. My psychologist used the example of a man from that morning who was driving erratically in front of him.   My doctor thought, "What a jerk." It made him feel angry, then, when he saw a dog in his car; he considered that he was taking the dog to the vet. (He probably wasn't!  But he may have been upset over something else, and driving like a jerk.)   But considering this possibility made him feel better and as I may have astutely pointed out: prevented him from being a jerk, giving him the finger or something. It's been a lot to think about and so I have not shot any new footage since recording this film though some good opportunities came up. I have taken the liberty time to think about all of this stuff, and as we had continued without recording 2 days later. I finally decided to post this film, Consider an Alternative Explanation.—Jonathan Harnisch

LIVING THROUGH THE DEPRESSION

Depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. Also called major depression, major depressive disorder or clinical depression, it affects how you feel, think and behave and can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems. You may have trouble doing normal day-to-day activities, and depression may make you feel as if life isn't worth living. — Mayo Clinic This film documents my own hassles of day-to-day depression and anxiety, terror and humiliation. Recorded on Saturday, April 11, 2015. — Jonathan Harnisch #HARNISCHFILM NYU FILM | MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCATE | SCHIZOPHRENIA SPECTRUM | AUTHOR | ARTIST | BLOGGER | PODCAST HOST | PATENT HOLDER | HEDGE FUND MANAGER | FILM & TV PRODUCER | MUSICIAN

WAX ON TV

I invite you to watch Wax play live on TV with me! I decided to tell a bit of the story behind the film afterwards. I, Jonathan Harnisch, executive produced and wrote Wax years ago. We produced the 15-minute short film through Fat Man Media while collaborating with The Vine Entertainment in Los Angeles. I have written the full feature length screenplay for Wax as well, which is detailed in prose, as part of my novel Sex, Drugs, and Schizophrenia, and Jonathan Harnisch: An Alibiography, both easily accessible on Amazon worldwide among most other booksellers as well. The film distributors also continue to play reruns of one of my other short films, which perhaps reaches an even broader audience, while Wax is rated TV-MA, On the Bus I believe is rated either PG or R, I can’t remember. I did not know quite what to say about the film at the end of this recording, in this 20-minute movie. To be honest, in a way, I rather felt on the spot, but I thought I should say something and yet, I did, I spoke a bit, yet overlooked mentioning how a lead actor of both Wax and On the Bus, Mark Schrier, who has been so easy to work with and simply shines in both films. He is versatile and an extremely rare talent. My wife, Maureen Cooke-Harnisch, has been a godsend while I suffer from severe mental illness, she was able to ground me, centering me through the usual stresses on both productions where many people, cast and crew, are abound and filmmaking is truly a collaborative medium. I hope you enjoy my work and thank you all for your continued support of my work, and me, but moreover the arts in general, in this case. God bless you all, and again, I thank you. Jonathan Harnisch: Screenwriter/Producer: ON THE BUS (2008-2015) and Screenwriter/Producer: WAX (2007-2015)Available in the United States on DirecTV channel 573 and AT&T U-Verse channel 1789; in the Netherlands on UPC on channels 25 (SD) and 64 (HD). Belgium on Telenet channels 567 (Flanders) and 747 (Brussels). Through Numericable in France (channel 120), Luxembourg (channel 100 in French, 110 in English) and Belgium (channel 33 in French, 43 in English, 57 in Dutch); on TTNet in Turkey, on Romtelecom in Romania on channel 201, in Eastern Africa on Zuku channel 221 and on NextGen in Romania.

OUT AND ABOUT: SATURDAY, APRIL 11, 2015

Jonathan Harnisch: From today's film footage out and about Saturday, April 11, 2015.

SPENDING THE AFTERNOON WITH JONATHAN HARNISCH

There are no words to describe this video podcast, so I suppose it's best not to over think it. I’m not quite sure why, but Chinese writer and inventor Lin Yutang comes to mind when describing today’s daily video documentation on the road again as, noted author of Alibiography and Sex, Drugs, and Schizophrenia, filmmaker, and moreover life documentarian, since age 11 in 1987, Jonathan Harnisch (hey, that’s me!) ventures out and about around the town of Corrales, New Mexico where he continues to seek meaning and purpose in life, living with schizophrenia and Tourette’s syndrome, in particular, referring to the Ancient Greek aphorism "know thyself.” Simply spend the afternoon with Jonathan Harnisch on a typical positive day. Kurt Vonnegut wrote, “To whom it may concern: It is springtime. It is late afternoon.” To quote Yutang, “If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live.” Jonathan accomplishes this and more in this partly educational and partly just staying in the now sort of film. Thank you all for tuning in and your continued support and love living with mental illness, rather comorbid mental health conditions as I recover. Life can be tough, and so can recovery. Sometimes we just have to let go and stay in the moment, presenting a half hour of hanging out, hoping you hang out with me. As always, there are more movies to come. Again, thank you. I have a lot to be grateful for, including you, which is why I publish these film dailies as I have been for over 5 years now, namely on Vimeo and my podcast currently called Schizophrenia Raw on iTunes.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF TRAUMATIC STRESS EFFECTS AND INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

Jonathan Harnisch responds to an emotional challenge instead of to the subtle ebb and flow facing the truth and consequences of his own damaging responses to PTSD and intimate interpersonal relationships. People with PTSD are different than “normal” folk as they lose relationships and interest in the things they used to enjoy, feeling irritated and getting mad easily. There are particularly many difficulties when anniversaries come around. On the road from therapy to thrift shop, Jonathan begins to recognize and seek help regarding the fact that a person with PTSD often does not notice their own symptoms or the consequences of getting mad but others do see it. Dealing with the consequences puts a great burden on the body and mind. Harnisch begins to wade back into what he refers to as the usual standard podcast where mental illness and its devastating consequences of suffering and stress, which affects all people, are discussed candidly. This video podcast was recorded on Thursday, April 9, 2015.

Mailbox Wednesday, April 8, 2015

“I question how life is treating me, I should be asking how I am treating life.”― Jonathan Harnisch, Jonathan Harnisch: An Alibiography

Mailbox Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Another brief lunch break on the road.

A Brief Artistic Amalgamation

“I question how life is treating me, I should be asking how I am treating life.”— Jonathan Harnisch, Jonathan Harnisch: An Alibiography