I thought of this after I'd written my post above.

I found those words to be reassuring and comforting the first time I heard them. This is because it's very easy for the people around a person in crisis to say, "Oh, it's not real" but your fear is real; your anxiety is real; your terror is real. Insisting you have nothing to be frightened or anxious about does absolutely nothing to address the reality of your fear -- it just tells you that person doesn't understand and therefore, you can't trust them to talk with them. Yet, it's being able to talk about what is really going on for us that can help us understand and that may be what we most need to do -- to understand what our fears, anxieties, etc. are all about.

The quote above is from an interview with Bertram Karon, a psychologist with a long history of working psychotherapeutically with individuals who have undergone psychosis. You can read more of the interview excerpt here: Schizophrenia and Psychotherapy. Dr. Karon has also written a book that you, possibly your parents and therapist might also find useful: Psychotherapy of Schizophrenia: The Treatment of Choice

Another clinician I've found to be enormously helpful was John Weir Perry, a Jungian trained psychiatrist. In reading through my post above I realized I really had simplified things when they're not that simple. My experience -- perhaps yours too -- was a multi-dimensional experience. Healing and recovery had to address each of those levels of reality and experience.

Here's an interview with John Weir Perry that addresses some of the complexity of the psychotic experience including addressing some of those fearful/paranoid aspects. Again, you might find it helpful to read and share with the people you trust: A Conversation With John Weir Perry

What might also appeal to you about both of the doctors above is they did not rely on medications. Bertram Karon found that the best recovery rates took place among unmedicated individuals who underwent psychotherapy with a therapist who was skilled in working with schizophrenic clients. John Weir Perry founded an experimental project in San Francisco called Diabasis -- 85% of the people in that program were able to successfully move through their fragmentation process without medication.

Please note, that's not to imply that people should not take medication but I know you're interested in non-pharmaceutical approaches. Insofar as medication itself goes -- it's a very personal decision. Some people identify it as absolutely critical to their recovery, others don't. Should you reach a point where you decide it might be helpful to you, you may be reassured to know that medication does not have to be a forever kind of commitment. While some people do identify it as helpful over the long-term there are also many others who only take it for a period of time to help restore stability; they then wean off it and might never take it again. Still others only use medication when they're symptomatic. I didn't have medication but I did derive a great deal of benefit from approaching my experience from a psychotherapeutic perspective. Bear in mind that we're all individuals and what actually works best for us will also differ.

~ Namaste