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Originally Posted by Gr3tta
Because I can also sometimes get caught up in questions of reality and perception, I have instead decided to define things as "real to me," "real to you," and "real to everyone," and leave it at that.  |
This is interesting, and I suppose it's a viewpoint I should take into account. I treat a paranoid schizophrenic (oddly enough considering my circumstances) who regularly hears voices. Only one time did I catch myself almost saying that his voices weren't real when he complained of them bothering him. I almost said it, but realized they were very much real to him. Both those three categories for reality are pretty decent and something worth taking to heart.
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Originally Posted by Gr3tta
One sort of reality check you can do, is to ask yourself, "is this unusual?" But this is only useful some of the time.
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I can only do this some of the time. If I am acutely psychotic or having a brief episode, it's impossible to make any distinction between what's real to me and real to everyone else. But other times I'm able to successfully bring myself down. I can say, "is there really a sniper in that tree aiming at me tonight? Not likely."
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Originally Posted by Gr3tta
One thing I have done is to train myself to greet others with eye contact and a smile, rather than a verbal greeting, if it is the first time I am seeing them, or I have any question about their state of realness. It's much easier to shrug off, and it buys you a little time to see if, and how others react, which may help you gauge how you yourself respond.
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I'm terrible at eye contact, but I see what you're getting at here. Some kind of nonverbal greeting or acknowledgement is something I should definitely try.
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Originally Posted by Gr3tta
btw I also work in a nursing home. I enjoy it very much. Do you?
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Not particularly. I mean, it's ok sometimes. It's rather boring (which can be a blessing on some days for sure). Some of the residents I like, but some of the other drive me up the wall. I often work as one nurse to 35 patients, and find the patient load to be a bit much when things get a bit crazy. I can't spend any time with any of them except during a medication pass which is rather pathetic. I actually was interviewed for a long-term structured residence facility that will house psych patients that I'm very excited about.