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By Lance
Jaffe
When you scrape your knee or cut
your finger, you bleed. You can clean the
wound, apply an antibiotic, dress it with
a bandage and go on with your day. How do
you attend to the emotional wounds from
mental illness? Sadness and regret can
often get the best of us. A band-aid
won't do it. Suddenly, you have to
contend with an unknown
quantity.
To a novice in the mental health
field or for someone whose loved one is
afflicted with severe emotional problems
and are just recognizing them, Michael G.
Rayel, M.D.'s First Aid to Mental Illness
helps guide them on what to do to bring
relief and control so they don't get
overwhelmed, preventing action from being
taken later than they should as the
symptoms worsen. Dr. Rayel gives helpful
clinical and practical solutions to help
stem the tide when symptoms begin to set
in and methods to help heal the painful
slings and arrows of a wide range of
afflictions, such as panic attacks,
depression, anxiety, mood swings, eating
disorders, even trauma and
bereavement.
Depression is the invisible
illness. You're laughing on the outside,
crying on the inside. Sometimes there are
no visible signs but the mind and body
are suffering so unbearably, many people
become socially "paralyzed" or even
commit suicide. As one who is suffering
from the slings and arrows of depression,
it is frustrating for me that I have a
legitimate and potentially dangerous
disease, but it's dismissed even by
family and friends because they don't
understand. Dr. Rayel validates it as he
acknowledges how people are labeled
"lazy" and told to "smarten up," "grow
up" and "go to work". I could relate to
that as well-intentioned people
victimized me with those very
words.
The doctor's humane and easy to
understand approach on how to cope
empowers patients and those that help
take care of them against disorders that
can flare up at any time like a hot flame
or sneak in and bite like a poisonous
snake. This mental "first-aid kit"
emphasizes practical ways to help and
heal such as healthy breathing
techniques, visualization of peaceful
places and the acceptance of the illness
as a reality and how to recognize when
the next step is to bring in professional
help.
As a consumer in the mental
health world and one who has to deal with
raw nerves on a daily basis, I appreciate
this book as a first aid kit for mental
wellness because it makes sense to me and
keeps emphasizing the need for education
and practical ways to help one's self
during the early stages of a blue or
psychotic episode. Dr. Rayel's philosophy
is that there's no reason for people to
suffer needlessly because now you know
some of the skills to ward off and
recognize negative side-effects.
Knowledge is an essential tool in my
fight to function in this world. Take
your life by the reigns and ride your
disease instead of letting it ride
you.
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