SZ 3 Moms Episode 9: Rebuilding Life When you Have Schizophrenia: Rebecca’s Story, Part 1

Rebecca Lyn Phillips, 43, is a published author, speaker, and mental health advocate. She regularly shares her story of trial and recovery to help others who need hope. She wants to shine a light on a dark subject and show that life can happen again.
Episode 9: Rebecca Lyn Phillips, Part One
3 Mom Updates:
When SMI peer community can be a problem
Having a “mundane” problem put in perspective
Periods of calm
Rebecca’s story:
early life - filled with love, or filled with trauma? (the answer: love)
"Dark Days" how psychosis started for Rebecca, what it felt like " I was tormented by intrusive thoughts and beliefs that hurt me." -- what was that like?
Spirituality and psychosis
“Voices” or “intrusive thoughts”?
First and subsequent hospitalizations and medications: what was that like?
Why go off your meds if they seem to help?
Did you tell friends and other family members about what you were going through?
Lowest point, and turning point: when things turned around - what clicked? the right doctor? the right medication? Your own awareness? The right words at the right time?
LINKS:
Mindy and her book: mindygreiling....
Randye and her book: benbehindhisvo...
Miriam and her book: www.miriam-fel...
Rebecca’s book, Heart to Heart:
www.amazon.com...
“Living with Schizophrenia” Documentary: • Living With Schizophrenia
Dr. Xavier Amador:
dramador.com/
Quotes:
“When I was 17, I started sleeping in my closet...it was like I was trying to escape my mind” - Rebecca (about 13:30, for audio clip)
“When I was 18, I was sleeping in the bathroom in the art building because I thought I was in danger.” - Rebecca
“I was so scared that I’d have to be in a group home for the rest of my life...and I’d die there” - Rebecca
“The psychiatrist sat across from me and he said ‘I know your family member can accept your illness, but can you accept your illness?’...and something in my psyche shifted..and I thought ‘I actually have a choice here.’” - Rebecca
“I accept (and I don’t always do it with joy) -I accept that I have an illness. It’s a daily thing, and it’s taken years and years of struggle.” -Rebecca
“The voices - the thoughts - were saying to me ‘flush all your medication down the toilet’” - Rebecca
“I got off all my medication because I didn’t want the side effects and I didn’t want it in me...and I drove to a nearby town and started talking to people on the street, saying that they could read my mind...and law enforcement was called.”
Hosts:
Who:
Randye Kaye - was a morning Radio Personality bringing humor to CT families when her own son was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Now she is still a Broadcaster, Actress, Voice Talent, Speaker, and Author (“Ben Behind his Voices”)
Miriam Feldman - is an artist, writer, and the mother of an adult son with schizophrenia. Her book, "He Came in With It" chronicles her family's story and was released to rave reviews on July 21st, 2020.
Mindy Greiling - Mindy Greiling was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives for twenty years. She helped found the nation's first state mental health caucus, which successfully lobbied for a significant increase in Minnesota's mental health funding. She has served on the national board of the National Alliance on Mental Illness and is the current president of her NAMI county chapter. Her acclaimed memoir is “Fix What You Can.”