Life is not something we can do on our own.  When you have to adjust your life to the day to day struggles of dealing with a mental illness, building a team around you is crucial.  When a team is in place you can see things from new perspectives, you approach life at different angles. 

But a team doesn't happen overnight.  As one grapples with new meds, sleeping, and eating patterns and just living many times back at square one developing trust with the world around you just takes time.  Even finding the right doctor for me took a few months.  And even the friends and family view our life from the sidelines it becomes apparent that some of our closest loved one are unsure of their role in our lives.

This can be difficult at first.  I know for me, not everyone around me had very sound advice in times of crisis.  At one point right after my first hospitalization, fresh on new meds, my mom and stepdad thought it best to go directly back to the university.  And that advice only ended me up in the hospital a couple weeks later.  For good or bad results, in particular everyone's role gets more defined the more you are able start making decisions for yourself.

For me, after the doctor and family roles were defined other people fell into the mix.  In my case I had very little peer support especially in those first few years.  Friends can be as equally stand offish when it comes to finding new roles in your recovery.  The key with this is having the understanding that this process is very new for people, they have to feel out what to say what is too much to say, and how much they just have to let you be you and a healthier you. 

Open and honest communication is the key to long term success.  In this process of building a team, the more people can communicate with each other and build a united front the better off you will be in the end.  When you add a team member like a therapist, or spiritual counselor like a pastor, you can start to redefine you reactions and life and the other people around you.  When you a up for doing the internal work you can more clearly process the advice and direction you get from others.

A team will help you transition through crisis in to health, it will help you define your direction and help you to be accountable to yourself.  The more you begin to trust the people around you and their roles the more you will find stability and be able to stick to long term goals.

A team is a safety net, it a undeniable resource that stabilizes and defines our path and our perspective toward a healthier life.

Again readers, you are awesome, thank you!