[jean17]

I feel so totally ashamed of myself. My GP just told me that she believes I do have a mental illness, but if I would just decide to I could get over it. And the best therapy for me is Bhuddism. Help. Is this true? Can we just change our minds and think our illness away?

[cryingontheinside]

No we can't just decide not to have mental illness and it will go away . We can try and work on our issues and try to get the help we need to relieve some of our symptoms but we can't just decide not to have mental illness and it will be gone . As for suggesting which religion you should believe in , that is totally inapropriate . What do you feel ashamed about ?

[Skeezyks]

Well... this is interesting to me. I actually gave up on the mental health services community where I live several years ago. (By the way, I'm an elderly geezer, if that makes any difference.) I've had a psychiatrist, been on psych med's, tried several different therapists for brief periods, & tried to "delete myself from this level of reality", so to speak, several times.

What I have turned to instead is to the ancient Tibetan Buddhist teachings called "Lojong" or "mind training" primarily as taught by the American Buddhist nun Pema Chödrön. I don't think it is probably too much of a stretch to say that, without the Lojong teachings, I might well not be here today.

There is one particular practice I use multiple times daily. It is called: compassionate abiding. Here's a link to a mental-health-oriented description of the practice:

https://mindsetdoc.wordpress.com/201...e-abiding-101/

I often link members, here on PC, to this web page. But I do also know that the practice of compassionate abiding is simply one component of the whole discipline that is called "Lojong". And I sometimes wonder if, taken out of context, it can really be of that much help to anyone. I don't know...

You asked if we can just change our minds & think our mental illness away. No... of course I don't believe that is possible in most cases. (I would presume it would depend, to some extent, on the severity of the illness. If the illness simply involves some fairly mild situational depression, then yes that may very well be possible.) But the thing is that, although we perhaps can't "think our mental illness away", what we can do is to learn to float... to dance with it, so to speak. The Lojong teachings provide a detailed program for just how to do that.

But the Lojong teachings aren't easy. It takes time, commitment, & consistent work. In my case, I have read Pema Chödrön's books over-&-over for years & tried to put the discipline into practice as best I can. And I still feel as though I haven't fully grasped their import. But that's what you have to do if you want them to work for you. Just "adopting" somebody else's concept of spirituality & sitting crosslegged on the floor trying to focus your attention on your breath or whatever, is not likely to get you very far, in my opinion.

I don't know what your GP had in mind when s/he told you the best therapy would be Buddhism. That's casting a pretty wide net, if you ask me. But, yes, if you want to pursue it, there is a discipline within the Buddhist tradition that can help you... assuming you really commit yourself to it. But you do have to commit yourself to it. From quite a few perspectives, the traditional mental health treatment pathway of therapies & psych med's is easier to follow. Oh... & by the way... there's absolutely nothing to feel ashamed of... I wish you well...

[jean17]

Originally Posted by cryingontheinside

No we can't just decide not to have mental illness and it will go away . We can try and work on our issues and try to get the help we need to relieve some of our symptoms but we can't just decide not to have mental illness and it will be gone . As for suggesting which religion you should believe in , that is totally inapropriate . What do you feel ashamed about ?

Thank-you. What am I ashamed about? Well, that I am a stupid idiot that has brought all this pain on myself. I am lazy and if I would just work on it my illness (which isn't really an illness, it's a choice) would go away.

[cryingontheinside]

Originally Posted by jean17

Thank-you. What am I ashamed about? Well, that I am a stupid idiot that has brought all this pain on myself. I am lazy and if I would just work on it my illness (which isn't really an illness, it's a choice) would go away.

None of us chooses to have mental health issues , but I'm guilty of blaming myself for it sometimes too . One of my symptoms is depression and I struggle with motivation ( lack of motivation can be perceived by some people as laziness ) but it isn't . Even now I am trying so hard to clean my flat . I have to keep stopping for little breaks that's why I'm on here . It's not laziness because I want to do it and I'm so frustrated that I can't just get it all done in one go instead of keep having to stop and giving myself little breaks. My daughter is coming so I really have to get it done.

[Unrigged64072835]

Mental illness is not a choice. There's a reason it's called mental illness.

There's many ways to manage mental illness--medication and therapy are the most common. Some people add religion as structure and support but it doesn't apply to everyone.

Your GP is not a trained mental health professional and she should refer you to one if she believes you have a mental illness.