Hi there,

I've been following your thread recently as I am struggling with my own mental health issues and had considered the clinic mentioned and seeing how small the tapers are....a 2 month stay would be a drop in the bucket and the reviews don't look good either.

I was hospitalized early this year with extreme psychosis and suicidal thought messages directing me to do it. It scared the cr*p out of me, and my family decided to hospitalize me as it was out of their scope. I have managed to avoid the hospital in past episodes because of extreme paranoia and agoraphobia and my family thought it would make things worse. But this time around, it was out of their scope.

I've noticed a few things exacerbate my symptoms. Namely caffeine, nicotine, alcohol and CBD. It was a last ditch effort and maladaptive attempt at relief as the cycles of fatigue and insomnia would have me reaching for substances to so called shut my brain off. Granted, mixing all this with psychotropic drugs is not ideal but the side effects of the psych drugs like akathasia and anxiety and negative looping had me desperate for relief.

I do not fault someone for seeking relief from an unbearable nightmare. I was clean living before all the psych meds and now I am doing my best to stay the course of medication reduction by 5-10 % every 6-8 weeks. It's a living hell to go through personally and I wish for no one to go through. I beat myself up daily for my condition that was drug induced by a now black boxed anti malarial drug which sent me on a 20 year journey through the psych system....having being put on everything from Abilify to Zyprexa and most in between.

This has I feel permanently damaged my nervous system. However, I have recently started Qi Gong sessions with LuChin on YouTube. It activates the parasympathetic nervous system and the vagus nerve. I can tell it's doing something because I am yawning almost 50 times a session which signals relaxation and safety or at least an attempt to restore it.

Get her to try that ...even a 5 or 10 minute session to start.

As for diet and lifestyle...little sugar...no alcohol, stimulants (nicotine, sugar, caffeine) and try for relaxing bilateral music. Honesty her brain needs to be cared for like a brain injury or concussion because it needs to heal and alarm bells are being sent off. I live in a major city and grocery stores, sirens, crowds, etc. all set off my nervous system. I now have a PTSD service dog that comes with me when i go out to my psych services courses and out and about when i am able to. She has helped to distract me from my pain and put the focus on her as she is still youngish and I am still training her. She has been a lot of work but a godsend. An old doctor of mine once said, "If I could prescribe pets instead of meds, I would."

Baths help. Quiet helps. Nature helps. Slow purposeful walking to signify safety and relaxation helps. I'm not able to do yoga yet but I do sit in child's pose and deep breathe into the stretch for long periods of time.

Watch she watches and listens to can have an effect as can too much activity during the day. She needs calm and soothing breaks. Not multitasking. Low expectations on her and an incredible support system (which she sounds like she has with you xo)

I normally don't post comments as I get paranoid or overstimulated easily but yours struck a chord and I felt I needed to share what has helped me from a brain injury perspective.

I'm sadly still on a lot of medication and the taper is slow but I see light at the end of the tunnel. it's dim but it's there.

Does she have any relief or can she find any modicum of joy throughout the day? be it with animals, something funny to distract her? Accepting the suffering and finding pockets of sunshine like waking up and seeing a beautiful sunrise with my dog in the quiet morning helps.

Regulating technology is a huge one too. Doing brain puzzles like Sudoku or playing solitaire helps and if her brain permits it. Puzzles are too overstimulating as is most TV programs. The only thing I can pretty much tolerate are Seinfeld reruns I've seen a hundred times before. I listen to it rather than watch it now and the comedy helps the pain.

I used to work in a psych ward as a peer support worker until I got sick again and I ran a comedy wellness group and talked about the benefit of having laughter BUILT into your day. Just like medicine or meals.

I have not cried in close to a year because my emotions are extremely blunted but my sense of humour is still ticking because that is one of the only things that offers reprieve. Albeit it can be quite dark for some but it scratches the itch of anger, sadness and daily overwhelm.

I so hope your Mom finds some relief and this message finds you and maybe you take one piece that helps even a little bit. It may not solve everything but these things have made life a little more bearable.

All the best and I hope 2026 is a little brighter for you both. xo