The Georgie Gust Exhibit

Outsider Art 50s TV: No Longer Not Yet

The term outsider art was coined by art critic Roger Cardinal in 1972 as an English synonym for art Brut, "raw art" or "rough art", a label created by French artist Jean Dubuffet to describe art created outside the boundaries of official culture; Dubuffet focused particularly on art by those on the outside of the established art scene, such as a psychiatric hospital patients and children. — Wikipedia

Outsider Art: No Longer Not Yet

The term outsider art was coined by art critic Roger Cardinal in 1972 as an English synonym for art Brut, "raw art" or "rough art", a label created by French artist Jean Dubuffet to describe art created outside the boundaries of official culture; Dubuffet focused particularly on art by those on the outside of the established art scene, such as a psychiatric hospital patients and children. — Wikipedia

Always Do Your Best: Therapy Thursday, June 25, 2015

Always do your best; after all, it's all we can do.

The Domino Effect

An inside look into a therapy session with a person diagnosed with mental illness. A domino effect or chain reaction is the cumulative effect produced when one event sets off a chain of similar events. As it applies to mental health take an inside look into a therapy session with a person diagnosed with mental illness particularly schizophrenia. For more on iTunes - Podcasts - Schizophrenia Raw by Jonathan Harnisch download past episodes or subscribe to future episodes for free from Schizophrenia Raw by Jonathan Harnisch on the iTunes Store. Thank you for your continued support.

Reflections on Mental Illness

Experience an inside look into a therapy session with a person diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Unplug

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

Schizophrenia and Interpersonal Relationships

Presenting a real-deal look into schizophrenia and my first-hand ongoing challenges face to face with interpersonal relationships. The main thing my therapist and I got to while in session was that there were inevitable effects on me when there is conflict with those close to me. This is inevitable because I can feel empathy. Of course, this is a good thing overall, but comes with a price. I actually feel the consequences of how others feel which is much better than not having empathy. But this is why I think my doctor keeps stressing the importance of interpersonal relationships; when we feel empathy, interpersonal relationships matter whether we like it or not. Thus, we benefit from figuring out where people fit into our lives and what we can expect of them. This is complicated, but essentially we can look at it as a spectrum. There will be a few people who we will always want to keep around as much as possible, and a few we will never want to have around. Then there's everyone else. This is where most people will fit. My friend who came over to visit may be a good example of someone I may want to keep around very casually. I may not want to expect much from him, but I may not want to completely banish him. My caregiver is someone I would expect more from but I may need to accept that I cannot expect as much from her as I  did from certain other people and so on. One problem I will have is when a situation creates cognitive dissonance. This is where we cognitively want one thing, but behaviorally do the opposite. For example, when I feel conflicted about my caregiver, I am thinking "I want to fire her." However, given that she may be better than most home health care people and isn't so bad, etc. I find myself knowing it's probably best to keep her. So the solution is to find a way to accept her in general. This doesn't mean accepting everything she does or doesn't do, but accepting she is probably going to be around for awhile and I may need to assert myself or utilize my therapist to do so when I am frustrated. It seems like a lot of work and it is. But ultimately this work will help me navigate the crazy world of interpersonal relationships in a manner that doesn't come back at me and make me distressed. For those closest to me, it's a marathon, not a sprint. The more careful I can be in assessing what's going on and how I want to react the more efficient I will be in navigating the relationships and the less distress I will feel from any blowback. Onward bound!    

Mental Health Recovery Strategic Planning

Get an intimate inside look into a therapy session with a person diagnosed with schizophrenia.The main issue we discussed had to do with the weekends and how tough they can be for me. This is something that is pretty consistent and so I think my therapist and I should problem-solve and figure out a way to make them easier for me. I think they're hard, because it's unpredictable whether I'll feel comfortable being around other people, which isn't so much of an issue Monday through Thursday because there tends to be more activity going on around my property on those days. Plus, my caregiver is usually around of course.  However, on the weekend, she is gone, we don't have our sessions, and my wife may need to make plans, lest she stay home by herself.   Some important things for me to remember:-My wife wants to spend time with me.-My wife also understands why I may not want to be around other people sometimes and she doesn't judge me when I want to be alone.-Her making other plans is healthy and has nothing to do with me personally.  But I can see how I may find myself alone when I don't want to be. So that's what we need to figure out. My wife’s suggestion of using the "Peer Linkers" is a good one.  I think we should follow up with that.   We can also see if my caregiver can make an extra effort to offer to spend time with me on Thursdays and to double-check with me to make sure I am stocked for the weekend with the things I need.Otherwise, my wife's idea regarding my new project is simply a vehicle to spend time with me and do something together. But something like this can be overwhelming to think about. So my therapist will investigate this idea slowly and make sure we're not looking at it in black-and-white. For example, I may want to do some type of project together, but maybe not one so big. I have really been enjoying and benefiting from my setting our sessions up with the chairs and the taping. I think it lends itself to more organization.  I must remember that there is no pressure to make each session amazing.  Some will be, but some will be average. And if I am having too many flights of ideas I shouldn’t forget that my doctor takes notes and I am recording sometimes.  Overall, I have been doing great!

Let It Be: Using Mindfulness to Overcome Anxiety and Depression

Stop fighting your negative thoughts and let it be what it is going to be.

JONATHAN HARNISCH THOUGHT-PROCESS DISORDER LANGUAGE COMMUNICATION AND DISORGANIZED SPEECH IN SCHIZOPHRENIA-HD

The listener's task. Considering I've been diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, PTSD, borderline personality disorder, Tourette's syndrome, diabetes, anxiety and depression, a rare blood disease, dyslexia, and cancer, I am doing okay. I'm fine, but I'm just not happy, and I'd rather be honest than impressive.