Global Families for Dialogic Approaches GFDA

 Mankind started in this planet as a special ape. One who talked, made bonfires, produced art and also an ape who had a spectacular insight: there were things that he could not perceive with his senses, but that existed. Probably, judging by the primitive societies that still exist, this was a happy ape. However, at a certian point, began agriculture in a large scale. The idea that a seed develops into a plant they knew for long, but the idea of producing more than what you would eat, was a knew one. And that changed history.  Human groups grew in their size, and some became richer than others. A mistery pervaded all the history of this ape. From the begining , the richer ones were in much smaller numbers, and lived more comfortably. The majority of the poor ones would very rarely revolt against their explorers. They invented something called a code of laws. Those who disrespected that, would be punished. There were strict laws to be followed, regarding all aspects of life, no...

 It seems to me that some people with schizophrenia can not foresee a good future. They even seem not to be able of a good daydream, as odd as it may seem. Faced with someone complaining about the lack of good fanatsies, , the psychiatrist would likely say, "I am happy you are less dellusional".  But he would be wrong here. And I will show why. Let´s think in a biological manner. All animals try to optimize their efforts for food. A lion will seek to hunt at night, to save energy either from the burning sun or from competitions with hyenas. A cheetah will try to get it´s prey in thirty seconds, a chimpanzee will change from one tree to another in every three days, and so forth. ( these are just fictitious examples, please). So, there´s always the spent energy and the received energy. So, all animals actions have to have a purpose, lest they waste energy. But humans have a peculiarity. Day dreaming doesn´t help to hunt or gather. Why that then? What are these fantasies? Someti...

 An idea was developed in Finland, that when someone has a psychotic outbreak, the decisions on what to do should not be at the hands of professionals, especially psychiatrists, only.  Everyone has a voice. Everyone should be heard. So, so and so had outbreack, he went to the street naked. The family is puzzled.A psychistrist comes. Usually that will be considered an extravagance greater than a normal person would ever do, and those who do this sort of thing, they are the famous " Schizophrenic '.  And then, the " scientific" protocol is that this person likely has an excess of dopamine in the brain, which will be controled by some drugs that will act in your brain to diminish the dopamine there. And then, often the person diagnosed will be compulsirely interned in a psychiatric facility, as the person is dangerous to himself and to others. But then in Finland, they started giving voice to everyone. The family members, professionals, and, the person in the centre of ...

 Hi this is Vicky. I will share more later about how my son's treatment team is using principles developed through Open Dialog or Dialog Approaches to radically improve his life.

 What a great spot for us to share! Stephanie 

 I am a person diagnosed with schizophrenia with a story of some recovery. Some time ago I started facilitating groups of mutual support for people with schizophrenia. This was a journey of discovery for me. With time I developed my own way of facilitating.  This I was doing in São Paulo Brazil. Then I was introduced to Mz Cindy Peterson, from the US. And I came to know about something called " dialogical approach". This is to a great extant to give voice to the diagnosed person and his family and friends, not only to professionals. Lived experience is considered as important as erudition. I was already doing this in my groups, so very happily I joined Cindy and her companions. This is a blog of ours. If you have schizophrenia, or if you know someone who has, or even if you are just curious, you will certainly profit from this blog! ( you are allowed to comment, if you wish)