This is my motto by Confucius for the weekend! Mid term case presentations are on Tuesday and there is still loots of work to do on my part! Especially on my write ups! 

So WORK WORK WORK it is.... 

The power of emotions

...laughing & crying on the same day!?

 

When starting off your day you have absolutely no idea what it may bring!...except maybe for what is written in your diary...and that may not even happen the way you have written it out so neatly. The same holds true for OT sessions! You can plan years ahead, with ample amount of effort and yet nothing will run according to your perfect plan A or even plan B!...On Monday night I was feeling very unprepared and somehow not confident about my work for the day ahead. It might have been due to the response I received about my treatment write ups (which I must admit were messed up). 
 

 ***

 

So let's face it, when talking to men about feelings they will find the easiest way to flee the conversation hey!? Well yesterday, my 28 year old male client was the one who brought up his feelings during our session about communicational barriers. Not only that, but he was getting a little emotional...the topic that was being discussed must have been close to his heart because I have never witnessed him listening so intently!...usually he's the one that will carry a conversation! 

 

The session also spoke to me...especially the three factors that we should work on in order to improve our communication skills.

1. Our body language
2. Listening
3. Speaking

In the last while I have felt a little excluded from all networks in my life. There were times when I felt quite lonely with my thoughts and feelings...guess it could be due to my love language which I think is ' spending quality time with loved ones'. I understand, life has been a little busy for us all and that there is plenty of change hovering in the air and that everyone sometimes forgets to listen....then again it could be because I don't talk about my feelings enough, or maybe it lies in the way I express myself...lots of time to discover that one:) 

 

The day on prac ended on a lighter and brighter note. We discussed our treatment write ups where I discovered that I may want to fix everything (even the irrelevant stuff) in one session when we should actually not try to eat the elephant in one go. I found the feedback really helpful and supportive! My last session however made my day! I played an adapted snakes-and-ladders-slash-that's-Life game to assist my client with decision making which we both enjoyed so much that we could not help smiling and laughing...don't worry the OT side of things was achieved (in my opinion) but the fact that it was done with so many happy vibes was heart warming!

 

 

   

        

...when you feel like clay that is being moulded into something new

The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn and change.
Carl Rogers

He, the service user was asked to engage in the activity of identifying and clarifying the different components defining his self concept. This was done by looking at one of his interests, mainly pottery. For just a second  I felt like the clay that was going through his hands...being shaped by all sorts of forces, rounding away the rough edges.

 

What makes OT so different from other courses is that it does not only build up your knowledge but it also shapes the way you handle and approach different people in this life which is why you have to be willing to 'round off those rough edges'. Some say we are all born with a set personality others say it is acquired. I believe that one is born with a large portion of your personality and that the rest is acquired over time. Life shapes your every being like pottery in the potters hand. 

 

The question, 'What do you look out in people especially in a boyfriend or a spouse?' was posed in class this week. One girl piped up "money" another "intelligence" a third "looks"...to me what counts most would probably be the personality and the character of people. (cheesy I know) This situation made me realize that if I find the personality or character so interesting, I should also be willing to give mine a good analysis in order to become more therapeutic. 

 

At the moment I feel a little like my head is all over the place...watch your handling skills, watch that your activity is appropriate, watch your scientific writing, watch your goals and aims setting, watch what and how you say things to your clients, watch your body language...I have decided to take it step by step as there is no point in rushing things...it will take time and effort but I am strongly holding on to the analogy of the clay being moulded into an unique end product....

 

 

 

 

 



That tune that says it all on a Thursday morning...

 

"Wake Me Up" - avicii

 

Feeling my way through the darkness
Guided by a beating heart
I can't tell where the journey will end
But I know where to start

They tell me I'm too young to understand
They say I'm caught up in a dream
Well life will pass me by if I don't open up my eyes
Well that's fine by me

 So wake me up when it's all over
When I'm wiser and I'm older
All this time I was finding myself
And I didn't know I was lost

I tried carrying the weight of the world
But I only have two hands
Hope I get the chance to travel the world
But I don't have any plans

Wish that I could stay forever this young
Not afraid to close my eyes
Life's a game made for everyone
And love is the prize

 So wake me up when it's all over
When I'm wiser and I'm older
All this time I was finding myself
And I didn't know I was lost

Didn't know I was lost
I didn't know I was lost
I didn't know I was lost
I didn't know



We all have our addictions!
 

 “I used to think a drug addict was someone who lived on the far edges of society. Wild-eyed, shaven-headed and living in a filthy squat.
That was until I became one...”
― Cathryn Kemp, Painkiller Addict: From Wreckage to Redemption - My True Story

 

When we hear 'addiction' we immediately think that someone, somewhere along the line has given in to peer pressure or has not got the sufficient coping mechanisms for life. It is often associated with individuals from the lower socioeconomic class and younger people as they are seen to be the most 'psychologically unstable' and have life the hardest. Many see individuals with addictions as weak as they are thought to be looking for the easy way out...fact is, we all have our preconceived ideas about addictions...and let's face it we all have some sort of addiction!

May it be caffeine, watching TV, eating, jogging, you name it...too much of something and not being able to live without that something may become an addiction! Yesterday,we met our clients for the first time and 'oh my' were we surprised that most of them were higher functioning! Let me give you an idea:

 

So the first thing that shot through my mind was, "how on earth are we going to treat our clients if they have the intellectual insight to what's going on with them"?! The problem is that our will power might be stronger than we think but the chemical imbalance within can sometimes be stronger than any forces and therefore there is the need for drugs such as Naltrexone, Acamprosate and Disulfiram as well as psychosocial treatment which is where our skills as OT's come in. Nice to know that we are just as important as drugs hey!:) What we examine are things like the clients cognitive believes, coping and stress management, motivation, communication and interaction skills. The treatment is underlined by models such as Stages of Change, Harm Reduction, Contingency management, Project mainstream or the 12 Step Group Participation. It is sounds easier than it is as we also become an important therapeutic tool which means our handling skills need to be effective. I will be focusing on my handling skills as prac unfolds as it is very important to find a stable balance when it comes to the way one approaches treatment with the clients. As Chantal said, "Just be yourself".

Girl, interrupted

 

 

Part of our psychosocial learning requirements is to acquaint ourselves with movies that have cognitive illnesses as an underlying topic. I found this an excellent idea as these movies give us a good idea of what people with cognitive illnesses go through. I watched 'Girl, interrupted' which I found mind boggling!

 

“Have you ever confused a dream with life?

Stolen something and have the cash?

Have you ever been blue?

Or thought your train was moving while sitting still?

Maybe I was just crazy

Maybe it was the 60’s

Maybe I was just a girl...interrupted”   

                                                                                        -          Susanna Kayson

The scene is set by taking the viewers into the torn thoughts of Susanna Kayson (protagonist) who is an eighteen year old girl, fresh out of  high school, in hospital, having her stomach emptied due to her having mixed a bottle of aspirin with a bottle of vodka. On the hospital bed she voices the delusion of having no bones in her bruised wrist. She also gazes into the eyes of her class mate’s father’s eyes with whom she’d been having an affair. Once out of hospital, Dr James Watson (psychiatrist) who is a family friend, pushes Susanna into the admission to a private mental hospital called Claymoore. She is diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.  

 

What Susanna learnt within these two years of her hospital stay was that she had to learn to show her mind ‘who is the boss’. This, as Dr Wicks put it could only be done together with a great deal of control. Susanna was yearning to feel alive which involves reflecting and owning up to your feelings which she struggled to do. This could be due to many factors including her context which I think may have played the lead role. She thrived on dreaming about dying which was quickly crushed by seeing death at face value. Susanna sums this up by saying, “When you do not want to feel, death can feel like a dream, but seeing death makes dreaming ridiculous.” Together with this emotional insight into her illness Susanna recovered and chose to go out into the unsheltered world to live rather than consume herself with her negative thoughts of death. “Maybe everyone is a liar and the world is stupid and ignorant, but I’d rather be in it.” (Susanna)

 The movie was great and Susanna's journey to recovery was tremendously wild yet I could relate to some of the feelings that she was encountering, especially the question of what is my role in the greater scheme of things.

“Was I ever crazy?

Maybe or maybe life is?

Crazy isn’t being broken or swallowing a dark secret,

It’s you or me amplified.”

-         Susanna

 

 

 

 



Oh the motivation!...

 

'I have immortal longing in me.' - William Shakespeare

 

What motivates you to get up in the morning and accompanies you to put on your unique 'armour' that so perfectly defines you, in order to take on the world??

 

Some OT students said seeing that smile of accomplishment and pride on their clients faces after completing a task successfully. Others said that they love seeing a difference or positive change within their clients. One student even said that it brings her immense pleasure just sitting and listening to her clients. These are all great motivators!

 

So, what motivates me? The human mind has always interested me. Finding out why people act and think the way that they do has fascinated me my entire life! To me it is an adventure to get down to the core of peoples issues...I often want to solve everyone's problems!! (ugh, trust me it is not always a good thing to be wired in that way) This does not mean that I am good at it or can do it!...but I would like to think that I have become a little more accepting, aware and understanding of different peoples ways and means of living their lives. I feel that together with OT I may able to help them gain insight in a professional and appropriate way as well as teaching them coping mechanisms for the challenges that they are facing.

 

Wandering through life, I have come across many of my imperfections or wrong doings and have noted that few people pointed them out to me or would just ignore them by playing over them. This, they may have done out of love to protect me. We all know that love can sometimes add or contribute toward the already existing problem instead of helping correct the flaw or making one conscious of it. Many people, when confronted about their issues become hypersensitive and feel that others are 'attacking' their personality, character or malfunctioning body which creates havoc within their hearts. Others may take it far to serious and their self esteem might take a huge knock. To me there is always a 'source' as to why someone is portraying the behaviour or thoughts that they are displaying for all to see...and this source, may it be low self esteem, negative thoughts  etc. we will be looking at closely when assessing and treating our clients this semester which I am quite excited about!...(the nerves are starting to creep in after mock practical though)  It will take a great deal of tact and sensitivity as I have experienced first hand, how uncomfortable criticism can be, even if it is constructive and done with a whole lot of love. We need to be able to receive it and to give it in order to grow, which will require a whole lot of learning! eeeeeeek*

 

"If you want to leave footprints in the sand of time, don't drag your feet." - Arnot L. Sheppard

 

I have been allocated to Newlands Park Centre for the Psychosocial block together with three other girls. Newlands Park is a substance abuse rehabilitation centre where a three month programme is run with the clients which includes individual sessions as well as groups. Our module coordinator will be our supervisor for this semester which I am happy about BUT I also know that we will be working very hard :) These next couple of days will be dedicated to reading up about substance abuse and how we as OT's go about treating our individuals.

 

Here are some interesting yet scary facts to begin with;

 

SA drug statistics

• About 65% of murders in South Africa were associated with social behaviour largely fuelled by alcohol abuse.
  Drug consumption in South Africa is twice the world norm.   (CDA-2009)
• 15% of South Africa's population have a drug problem.   (CDA)
• Drug abuse is costing South Africa R20-billion a year and could pose a bigger threat to the country's future than the Aids pandemic.
• According to SAPS figures, 60 percent of crimes nationally were related to substance abuse. In the Western Cape, the figure was closer to 80 percent. The perpetrators of these crimes are either under the influence of substances, or trying to secure money for their next fix.
• In 2004, government disbanded the SA Narcotics Bureau (SANAB), a dedicated drug-fighting unit within the SAPS that had achieved some notable successes. Since its closure, drug-related crimes have increased exponentially - in fact by 30 percent.
• The recently-released United Nations World Drug Report had named South Africa as one of the drug capitals of the world.
• The abuse of alcohol and usage of dagga has lead to the country to being one of the top ten narcotics and alcohol abusers in the world.
• One Rand in four in circulation in SA is linked to the substance abuse problem - 2009.   (CDA-Bayever)
• Drug arrests leapt from 300 in 2006 to 1500 in 2011 in Cape Town

Rehabilitation

• Between 2% and 6% of those admitted to drug rehabilitation centres are hooked on prescription medications.
• “Most drug rehabilitation centers have a success rate of less than 3%.”    (Prof. .Malaka / University of Limpopo).



http://www.tnt.org.za/index.php/2012-06-29-07-13-28/statistics

This information scares me a little and just goes to show that we can't change the whole worlds problems at once but we can always start small...

"Courage is being scared to death - and saddling up anyway." - John Wayne



Will I ever be ready?

 

Nope, no one will, nor can ever be perfectly ready to take on life as we know it. No mother can be given a baby guide to raise the perfect child, no bachelor can be given enough counselling about finding the perfect woman and there is no book for dummies on making the perfectly correct decisions. This is a good indication of how I feel about this module...having no specific recipe book as every clients case will be different.

As lectures have been rolling past about mental illnesses and OT ways of dealing with them I have started to get clammy hands and a dry mouth....

 

I have grown up in what I would like to call a fairly balanced home that encountered many different types of people but seldom people with mental illness. Oh wait, I profoundly remember a Downy girl called Elke, in my childhood. Back then, people with any kind of cognitive impairment were looked down upon and some even said it had something to do with the children's parents faith, which HAD to be lacking in some way or the other. 
My mom helped run our kindergarten within our community and I remember how much it took her to convince Elke's parents about the pros of sending her to the play school. I also vividly remember how my mom treated Elke when her parents finally gave in, which was with love and great respect, in other words just like she would treat the rest of us. To me my mom modelled an attitude of equality amongst the human race (which included race, age, religion, nationality, disability and gender) yet she remaining level headed, realistic and reasonable which greatly impacted my life to this very day!

 

I guess what I am trying to say about my mom is that she shaped a great deal of me! She stood out in our community, as she would always bring with her a bigger perspective on a matter which got people thinking. Many didn't appreciate her view points as they usually went against the 'old' traditional ways of doing certain things. A good example was only inviting the top students to the end of year prize giving's. My mom would refuse to go as she did not see eye to eye with the narrow mindedness of only celebrating the most prestigious kids in the school and leaving the rest out.  

David H. Barlow in 'Abnormal Psychology' states that the definition of psychological disorder is a "...psychological dysfunction within an individual that is associated with distress or impairment in functioning and a response that is not typical or culturally expected." (Barlow, 2005)

This definition made swallowing difficult as we are slowly starting to uncover the sort of cases that we will be confronted with. Flip, lately my mind has been grappling with the thoughts of how on earth will I connect with my clients?! I try to keep reminding myself that there is no map for life so there surely is none for what we are going to be going through, except for our knowledge that we are gathering and our experiences...oh, and to be yourself at all times.    

Let's face it, we all try to stay away from people that are  'distressed' in some way or the other. This may be because they are consumed by their problems and all they see is darkness all around them. I, myself am many a time consumed by distress which I sometimes battle to cope with and this semester we will be expected to minimize the distress of our clients?! I tend to seek wise counsel  (an OT lecturer or a 4th year student) in times of distress which I am also planning on doing this semester as I have heard that the course has quite an emotional side to it. (And of course there is my mom that always has an ear to give - even though she likes talking more than listening.) I also keep a personal diary that I confide in whenever my thoughts and feelings are waaay to heavy for a simple life like mine. ;)

What has always intrigued me is how differently people respond to different situations. This is possibly due to the influence of their social, physical and emotional surrounding. I only realized in one of our previous lectures how much our surroundings influence our thinking, behaviour as well as our response to certain situations. I am grateful for my surroundings in many ways as they have instilled in me ample room for difference. We need to know what influences our clients thinking in order to understand where their response or their actions are coming from. This can be done by utilizing the different models (KAWA. MOHO, PEO, CP) that we have been taught to us. Having a closer look at these will most certainly guide me well.

We however always need to bare in mind that people with psychological disorders can not help the way that distress and impairment is taking over their lives...it is a chemical imbalance or a shortage that causes them to respond in a way that is not culturally in sync. People like Elke can not help the way they are, just like we can't control our hormone cycles that play around with our moods like yoyos. We need to give people a great deal of leeway when assessing them to get down to the most important problems to consider in our programmes for them. In order for us to reach a good problem list we will have to brush up on our assessments which need to be up to date. 

It is also important to probe a little deeper into the mind of individuals with psychological disorders by reading some of their stories so that I do not forget to embrace this semester with an open mind and remembering that we all have different environments that influence the way we do things...just some of us have little short changes that result in difficulty living up to the expectations of the others. 

 

I will also make sure that I spend sufficient time in the outdoor, jogging and going for walks and spending quality time with people that ground me. I will do this with the intension of not forgetting to live and to give my mind a good, solid rest.

My mom greatly inspired me to

• find my own shoe size and to walk in them the journey of my very own life
• to stand up for what I believe in
• to be an advocate for those that are not capable of coping with life like you and I

I feel privileged to being able to reach out to people together with the help of OT!