Psychiatrist Michael Corry's new series of public meetings aims to provide a safe space where sufferers of psychosis can share their experiences, writes Sylvia Thompson.
There is a quiet revolution going on among people who have suffered from mental illness in this State. Support groups run by organisations such as Aware and Schizophrenia Ireland and lobby groups such as the recently formed National Service Users Executive are giving voice to people's experiences of mental illness and the mental health services.
Psychiatrist and psychotherapist Michael Corry is a more radical voice who has gained a certain following both from his charismatic work with individual sufferers of mental health problems and the public meetings, Depression Dialogues, which he has been running in hotels for more than two years.
Next month, Corry is launching Psychosis Dialogues, a new series of public meetings for people who have had psychotic experiences. "Psychosis dialogues is a series of open discussions, a forum which seeks to offer hope and explore avenues for change," says Corry, who will facilitate the meetings.
"The intention is to create a safe space where sufferers and their families can share their experiences and seek information. The atmosphere will be one of acceptance."
Corry describes psychosis as a "state of mind which has lost contact with the consensus of everyday reality".
"It is typified when an individual holds unusual beliefs about themselves and the world around them that are not shared by others," he says.
Rather than seek to identify and label psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia and manic depression, Corry says it is more important to accept people's experiences and help them understand and integrate them into their lives.
"The key is to help them fully appreciate that they have had an extraordinary experience. Young people doing drugs such as hash and ecstasy can have transpersonal experiences which allow them get in touch with other dimensions," he says.
"They can turn very fearful when they try to make sense of these experiences and/or when they are told that they've had a manic or schizophrenic experience," he says.
Corry says the meetings will encourage dialogue around issues such as delusions, unusual beliefs, hallucinations, paranoia and mania. "I am striving to create a humanistic view of psychosis that locates its origins not just in the biological but in particular traumas and existential experiences."
Corry says that rape, a serious bereavement and other traumas can trigger the onset of a psychotic experience.
"We will also share strategies that help individuals feel safer and more empowered and the benefits and drawbacks of medication will be discussed."
Corry believes medication is beneficial in the acute phase of a psychotic experience but that it is not useful in the long term.
"Medication is critical in the acute phase when sleep deprivation and anxiety is at such a magnitude that the person is incredibly vulnerable.
"But after 12 or 18 months, most people will stop taking their medication and because of their dependence on the drugs, they are left high and dry - having never been debriefed after their psychotic experience and having never had any psychotherapy."
Corry believes that people who suffer from psychosis need psychotherapy even more than those who suffer from depression.
"It's critical to help the person stand back and see where they need to make changes in their behaviour, their thinking and their feelings," he says.
Speaking about his support for the so-called recovery model in mental health services, Corry says, "in a manic experience when someone has been burning the midnight oil and suffering from delusions of grandeur, they need a lot of care when they crash. I am very supportive of the model where people who experience this stay at home and are brought back around by the calm support of their family."
Ultimately, he believes that how we deal with people who suffer from psychotic experiences mirrors how much we value and respect them - and ourselves - as human beings. "Ideally, we should create therapeutic communities - like monasteries - where people who are damaged and disintegrated can get quiet space away from the world where they can recover."
The first meeting of Psychosis Dialogues will take place at 7.30pm on Wednesday, June 6th in the Institute of Psychosocial Medicine, 2 Eden Park, Summerhill Road, Dún Laoghaire. Donations €10. Tel: 01-2800084 for more details.