Monday
November 3, 2014

Life on Life's Terms

It could have been worse

Julie called me later that day. She recognized that she had gotten a little paranoid early in her pregnancy.

"I was convinced there was something sinister within the shadows," she said.  "Now I wonder if I'm not a little crazy.  Did you tell us you used to work with schizophrenics?"

"I did.  To be honest, I was worried.  Sometimes schizophrenia lies dormant until some major stressor brings it out.  I thought the pregnancy might have been that stressor. Since your symptoms have gone away, they were probably just tied to the pregnancy, and not the pregnancy triggering a serious mental illness."

"That's good news, right?"

"Yes, that's good news, but you should still see someone at a mental health clinic for follow-up."

She didn't seem to hear me.  "So it could have been a lot worse, like with paranoia, and hearing voices, and other stuff?" she asked.

"Yes it could have been worse.  But listen, you really should see…"

She cut me off.  "I am so grateful."

I was happy for her, but still a little worried.

Today I'll be grateful for things that could have been worse.

Life on Life's Terms (c) 2014 by Ken Montrose

Upcoming Trainings

Ethics in the Helping Professions

November 5, 2014 at Kerr Presbyterian Church in Verona

9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m

$50 payable in advance, at the door, or by invoice after the training

This six hour training is accredited for:

• Addiction Counselors by the Pa. Certification Board
• Nurses by the PSNA #101-1-O-14
• Counselors by NAADAC #477 and NBCC #6352
• EAPs by the Employee Assistance Certification Commission
• Social Workers by the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work.

To register, please visit our website greenbriartraining.com or send an email to:kmontrose@greenbriar.net

Other Blogs

AArdvarks, a daily messages blog about a group of young people in recovery, can be found at: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/7277403-counting-your-blessings

RPG

NOTE: Julie is a character from Life on Life's Terms I put into Relapse Prevention Group.  RPG takes place a year after Life on Life's Terms ends.  Sorry for any confusion having both stories running at once may have caused!

Just a little more

Julie stopped into my office at the end of the day.  "Get it over with," she said, staring at her shoes.

"What?" I asked.

"Tell me how I had it all and threw it away.  Beautiful twins, great man, supportive family, a year clean, and still, I drank again.  Ask me how I could have been so stupid."

"I don't think you're stupid." I said. "I just think you wanted one thing too many."

"A little wine didn't seem like so much."

"You already had so much.  Sometimes you have to ask yourself why you need more."

Today I will ask myself, do I really need more?

Relapse Prevention Group © 2014 by Ken Montrose