March 11, 2025
Breaking Through Schizophrenia Recovery with Dale Walsh
What happens when your brain betrays you, plunging you into a reality "not conceived on earth"? Mental health coach Dale Walsh takes us on his remarkable 40-year journey through schizophrenia, from his first psychotic break at Dartmouth College to developing a revolutionary approach helping families navigate this challenging condition.
Dale's story begins with a poetic introduction to his experience: "Hi, I'm God was a joke I made after killer Dartmouth toke..." This humorous yet profound glimpse into his psychotic break sets the stage for his deeply personal insights. Unlike clinical definitions focused on hallucinations and delusions, Dale offers a simpler, more powerful definition of schizophrenia: living in a reality completely disconnected from our shared world.
The heart of our conversation explores Dale's innovative Live Love method—an eight-step program helping families communicate effectively with loved ones while maintaining their own mental health. Through Learn, Integrate, Validate, Explore, Listen, Observe, Value, and Express, caregivers develop tools to navigate the complex terrain of supporting someone with schizophrenia without losing themselves in the process.
Dale doesn't shy away from difficult topics—medication compliance, drug interactions, psychotic anger, and treatment resistance. He introduces listeners to "agnosognosia," a neurological condition preventing many with schizophrenia from recognizing their illness, comparing it to asking a blind person to read. This single insight transforms how we understand treatment resistance.
Most powerfully, Dale shares his moment of breakthrough—what he calls "the death of Dale"—when his entire identity structure collapsed, allowing him to finally see his illness clearly. This profound experience reveals why schizophrenia isn't simply about having "bad thoughts" but involves fundamental structures of perception and identity.
Whether you're supporting a loved one with schizophrenia or simply seeking to understand mental health more deeply, Dale's journey offers hope, practical wisdom, and four essential qualities for the journey: love, hope, faith, and patience.
To learn more or schedule a free 45-minute consultation with Dale, visit www.dewlivelove.net or www.calendly.com/DaleCoach55.
Want to be a guest on Living the Dream with Curveball? Send Curtis Jackson a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1628631536976x919760049303001600
00:42 - Introduction to Dale Walsh
07:08 - Dale's Poetic Introduction to Schizophrenia
19:08 - Defining Schizophrenia Clearly
31:01 - Recovery Journey and Challenges
54:05 - The Live Love Method Explained
01:12:29 - Dangers of Drugs and Alcohol
01:22:40 - Understanding Psychotic Anger
01:39:29 - Treatment Refusal and Family Support
01:56:36 - Hope and Final Thoughts
WEBVTT
00:00:00.420 --> 00:00:08.330
Welcome to the Living the Dream Podcast with Curveball, If you believe you can achieve.
00:00:08.330 --> 00:00:28.573
Welcome to the Living the Dream with Curveball Podcast, a show where I interview guests that teach, motivate and inspire.
00:00:28.573 --> 00:00:35.273
Today we are talking mental health, as I am joined by mental health coach Dale Walsh.
00:00:35.273 --> 00:00:44.094
Dale is a coach for families of people who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
00:00:44.094 --> 00:00:49.741
Who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
00:00:49.741 --> 00:00:56.502
Dale has been a coach for years and he has developed a live love method for the families and the people who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
00:00:56.502 --> 00:01:02.984
So we're going to be talking to him about his method and why he's so passionate and everything that he's up to.
00:01:02.984 --> 00:01:05.352
So, Dale, thank you so much for joining me today.
00:01:06.359 --> 00:01:07.584
Thank you very much, Curtis.
00:01:07.584 --> 00:01:08.347
Good to be here.
00:01:08.347 --> 00:01:09.743
Thank you very much for having me.
00:01:10.987 --> 00:01:11.790
Glad to have you.
00:01:11.790 --> 00:01:14.588
Why don't you start off by telling everybody a little bit about yourself?
00:01:16.081 --> 00:01:18.447
Well, if you don't mind, I swear I have.
00:01:18.447 --> 00:01:18.989
I'm a poet.
00:01:18.989 --> 00:01:24.432
I actually have an archive of 5,000 poems.
00:01:24.432 --> 00:01:35.206
I actually have an archive of 5,000 poems and I have one that I usually use as sort of an introduction just to let people know what happened.
00:01:35.206 --> 00:01:41.058
Rather than explaining in five minutes, I think this does it in like one, yeah go right ahead If I could have the liberty.
00:01:41.900 --> 00:01:42.381
Absolutely.
00:01:42.381 --> 00:01:56.906
It's called Dale Reviewing what Actually Happened and it goes like this Hi, I'm God was a joke I made after killer Dartmouth toke of some Primo Ivy League smoke which apparently caused me to croak.
00:01:56.906 --> 00:02:08.830
Because in mental hospital I awoke With roomie Gabriel, the main bloke, who did my delusions angelically stroke, while the doctor claimed my brain broke the moment divine gag.
00:02:08.830 --> 00:02:17.907
I spoke testifying I was only bit quack, which clinicians diagnosed as psychotic attack, preventing me from getting sanity back.
00:02:17.907 --> 00:02:33.151
Until I came to TNEC Hackensack to pursue resident therapy program track and deal with my evident lack of reason among psychiatric patient back who never gave me any slack under interrogation.
00:02:33.151 --> 00:02:38.526
The story didn't crack that was absolutely beautiful.
00:02:38.828 --> 00:02:44.760
I love that for listeners who might not be aware of what schizophrenia actually is.
00:02:44.820 --> 00:03:16.479
I know we hear about it, but explain what schizophrenia is and why it's such a problem this many think is a result of a chemical imbalance in the brain, where you have hallucinations, delusion.
00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:17.442
There are two things.
00:03:17.442 --> 00:03:18.582
There's positive symptoms and negative symptoms.
00:03:18.582 --> 00:03:29.068
Positive symptoms are things that are added to a person's reality, such as hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking, incoherent speaking and stuff.
00:03:29.068 --> 00:03:54.108
And then negative symptoms are like withdrawal, social anxiety, depression, as I said, withdrawal, and so, basically, doctors go on about like the symptomology, and you know, to tell you the truth, kerbal, I never had a.
00:03:54.108 --> 00:04:02.173
You know, I'm a pretty rare schizophrenic because I never had a hallucination in my life, even when I was doing LSD.
00:04:02.173 --> 00:04:06.615
In my life, even when I was doing LSD, my whole problem was delusions.
00:04:06.615 --> 00:04:35.502
But that notwithstanding, just from my own lived experience, I've come up with a definition of schizophrenia that I think basically sums up the illness very concisely and is a lot easier to understand than the jargon that doctors and therapists use, and that definition is a schizophrenic is living in a reality that was not conceived on earth.
00:04:38.567 --> 00:04:44.624
Okay, well, I know that you recovered from schizophrenia, or you know.
00:04:44.624 --> 00:04:49.230
You can let us know if you feel like you fully recovered or you're still in recovery.
00:04:49.230 --> 00:04:57.367
But what does for those who might not know or might have somebody recovering or trying to recover from schizophrenia?
00:04:57.367 --> 00:05:00.026
What does recovery from schizophrenia look like?
00:05:01.790 --> 00:05:11.110
Well, basically, uh, well, um, I, when, when, basically, I, what I, what, I, uh, what, what I say about?
00:05:11.110 --> 00:05:20.100
Uh, about using that definition of schizophrenia I just used, which is, uh, living in a reality that's not conceived on earth.
00:05:20.100 --> 00:05:33.214
Uh, to me, a recovered schizophrenic is something I call a genius, and that's someone who has integrated his or her reality into that of the general culture of the matrix.
00:05:33.214 --> 00:06:04.206
So, basically, I, when, when, when you first get schizophrenia, and until you get to reach a certain point in recovery, you're going to be basically exiled from a society and, um, and you know, I, I this is a I'm not saying this as a judgment, this just seems to be what happened.
00:06:04.206 --> 00:06:10.168
You know, I basically was like an outsider, even though I was like living by myself.
00:06:10.269 --> 00:06:44.884
For, you know, from 1981 on, I began by being hospitalized for 13 weeks and then I came to a psychiatric program which I said in my poem for five and a half years where I was given intensive therapy for three times a week, group therapy twice a week, and basically I was basically forced into therapy, and that's one of the reasons why I feel I've been so successful in my recovery.
00:06:44.884 --> 00:07:04.213
But recovery from schizophrenia basically means being free as a hospital being, you know, hopefully on your own or at least in some sort of like independent living situation, even if it's a supervised, you know apartment or something, even if it's a supervised, you know apartment or something.
00:07:04.213 --> 00:07:12.918
But when I was first in the hospital my first hospital, you know I said to my doctor, I said why am I here?
00:07:12.918 --> 00:07:20.845
And he said, well, if you broke your leg, dale, you'd come to the hospital.
00:07:20.845 --> 00:07:22.911
And I said, yes, and he said, well, you broke your brain.
00:07:23.740 --> 00:07:39.182
And for the longest time this was back in 1975, but you know, for the longest time, uh, even up to probably like 15 years ago uh, schizophrenia was basically a death sentence.
00:07:39.182 --> 00:07:49.055
It was like a life sentence of hopelessness, because people said that you broke your brain and there was nothing you could do.
00:07:49.055 --> 00:07:57.115
And the most you could ever hope to do is cope and live by yourself and stuff.
00:07:57.115 --> 00:08:02.372
There was no hope for marriage or even college.
00:08:02.372 --> 00:08:22.966
I mean, I'm a college graduate, I graduated with honors from Fairleigh Dickinson University, but you know, but the popular, the stereotypical idea of a schizophrenic is they're just going to be a babbling idiot for the rest of their lives, and that's obviously not true.
00:08:22.966 --> 00:08:36.216
But the fact is that to recover from schizophrenia takes a great will of self-will, self-awareness and self-determination, because it is a bitch of an illness.
00:08:38.321 --> 00:08:46.934
Well, tell us about your live love method and, you know, kind of explain how you came up with that and how you use that to help your clients, their families.
00:08:48.139 --> 00:08:57.860
OK, well, live Love was basically I feel is basically download from the Lord, because it just came to me in a flash of genius.
00:08:57.860 --> 00:09:12.649
And Live Love is an anagram, which is Live Love stands for learn, for Learn, integrate, validate, explore and then Listen, observe, value and Express.
00:09:12.649 --> 00:09:17.109
And this is the eight-step method, eight-step program.
00:09:17.109 --> 00:09:18.633
I take my clients through.
00:09:18.633 --> 00:10:14.402
My coaching, my mentoring, is devoted to not only helping people, you know, communicate better with their loved ones and to, you know, have an ongoing dialogue about the challenges they face on a daily, more long-term situation, but it's also, more importantly, it's to help them reclaim, or at least achieve, self-integrity that many of them lose in the caregiving process, just because, you know, schizophrenia can be so consuming, not only to the patient but also to the caregivers the to the patient, but also to the caregivers that I, a lot of times the caregivers become codependent on their loved ones and find their whole meaning in life, you know, taking care of their loved ones.
00:10:14.402 --> 00:10:36.541
And uh, so what I try to do in my live love program is like help them to come to a realization, not only of how to better communicate with their loved ones and give them tools to understand and most, you know, one of my main purposes is just to tell them about what the illness is.
00:10:37.221 --> 00:11:21.383
You know the symptomology, you know their delusions, hallucinations, organized thought and how to communicate with their loved ones and ultimately, just, but you know, more importantly is to be able to get back their own mental health, away from the codependency and the sort of like pathology that they might assume, taking care of their loved one and also improve their family relationships with the other people who are not affected by the illness in their family, because that's another big factor.
00:11:21.383 --> 00:11:26.289
You know, when someone gets schizophrenia it can be.
00:11:26.289 --> 00:11:30.355
It usually is extremely disruptive to the whole family.
00:11:30.355 --> 00:11:42.886
And you know, not only do siblings become jealous that you know their parents are paying so much attention to the loved ones, but it's just like the loved one himself.
00:11:42.886 --> 00:11:53.354
Him or herself can cause a lot of conflict, and so you know it does put strains on marriages and family relationships.
00:11:53.354 --> 00:11:55.948
So that's something else that I help people with.
00:11:55.948 --> 00:12:06.134
But the Live Love program, I feel, is like a general therapeutic method that could be generally adopted in a lot of ways, not just in psychiatry.
00:12:09.480 --> 00:12:17.783
Okay, well, in your experience doing your Live Love program, what is the biggest challenge that you see your clients face?
00:12:19.226 --> 00:12:21.952
I would say the biggest challenge is.
00:12:21.952 --> 00:12:32.722
Challenge is well, uh, they're a couple.
00:12:32.722 --> 00:12:36.048
One one is uh not not getting frustrated and treating their loved one with compassion.
00:12:36.048 --> 00:12:40.421
Uh, I say there are four things, uh faith, love, hope and patience.
00:12:40.421 --> 00:12:46.573
Those are, uh, you know, four, four qualities that I think every caregiver has to have.
00:12:46.573 --> 00:12:57.794
One thing that I emphasized at the very beginning is mental illness is not a two-week hold.
00:12:57.794 --> 00:12:59.667
It's not going to go away in two weeks.
00:12:59.667 --> 00:13:04.589
It's going to be a lifelong fight to get your loved one.
00:13:04.668 --> 00:13:44.746
And one challenge that people seem to don't really think about is that when someone gets schizophrenia, their personality, usually their identity, completely transforms, and so the caregivers are sort of left in a position where they're mourning the death of the loved one that they knew and they are very reluctant, just because it can be very difficult to communicate, they're very reluctant to get to know the new person their loved one has become, and there's a lot of grief that can go on.
00:13:44.746 --> 00:13:49.690
And, of course, there's shame and guilt, because people feel guilty and shame.
00:13:49.690 --> 00:14:01.544
They feel shame for having a loved one's schizophrenia and they feel guilt because they feel it's their fault that the schizophrenia came at all.
00:14:01.544 --> 00:14:09.886
And that's something that I really work on helping people get over, because it doesn't serve any purpose.
00:14:09.886 --> 00:14:29.833
And ultimately, there's something called agnosognosia, which is another big obstacle and that very few people know about, but it's something that I basically, in the first session, the learn session, I make sure that they understand or at least have the concept.
00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:36.553
And agnosynosia is a concept taken from neurology for stroke victims.
00:14:36.553 --> 00:14:46.684
That means the patient is unable to comprehend that there's anything wrong with their brain, unable to comprehend that there's anything wrong with their brain.
00:14:46.684 --> 00:14:59.804
So the analogy I've come to use about this is if you go up to a blind person and you put a book in front of them and say, read it, he's obviously not going to be able to read it because he can't see it.
00:14:59.804 --> 00:15:04.024
And agnosygnosia is the same thing with mental illness.
00:15:04.024 --> 00:15:31.724
The people that have agnosygnosia, which affects as many as 60% of people with serious mental illness, can't understand that they have a mental illness and therefore they're going to be very reluctant to take drugs, medications that they you know, that make them feel terrible and they feel are unnecessary and also makes getting them into therapy very difficult.
00:15:32.926 --> 00:15:34.288
Well, speaking of medication.
00:15:34.288 --> 00:15:41.235
How important is medication to recovery, and is it a lifelong thing or temporary or what?
00:15:42.546 --> 00:15:59.378
Well, I really feel that without medication, I wouldn't be here today, whether I be dead or in some long-term institution, in the back ward of some state mental hospital.
00:15:59.378 --> 00:16:15.897
Because you know, just, you know, people who don't experience schizophrenia, you know, say, you know from the outside, they say it's a horrible drug and nobody should have to take it.
00:16:15.897 --> 00:16:20.969
It's a horrible drug and nobody should have to take it.
00:16:20.969 --> 00:16:28.568
But you know I, as I said, I was hospitalized 15 times at Kerr Ball and probably about 10 of those times was because I stopped taking my medication.
00:16:28.568 --> 00:16:38.375
Because as soon as I stopped taking my medication, my symptoms would return and I would be in the hospital within two days to two weeks.
00:16:38.375 --> 00:16:52.836
And actually the last time I was in the hospital in 2025 was because I admitted myself, because I was self-aware enough to know I was psychotic, and it was because one of my medications stopped working.
00:16:52.836 --> 00:16:59.808
So I went into the hospital, got on new medication and everything and I was out within five days.
00:16:59.970 --> 00:17:07.615
But uh, you know I, I can't overstress the importance, at least in my case, and I'll be on medication my whole life.
00:17:07.615 --> 00:17:16.567
But you know, I mean someone with diabetes is going to be on insulin, probably most of their, all their life too.
00:17:16.567 --> 00:17:23.294
And there are a lot of uh illness, physical illnesses where I mean even, say, just blood pressure.
00:17:23.294 --> 00:17:36.332
You know, if you have blood blood pressure, it's recommended you uh take medication, uh, and however long it takes, and of course it is possible to get off the medications.
00:17:36.332 --> 00:17:39.719
Uh, in fact I've I've tried traded down.
00:17:40.326 --> 00:17:52.868
I was on like uh 30 milligrams of my antipsychotic for 40 years and in the last 10 years I've gone from 30 milligrams to 10 milligrams a day.
00:17:52.868 --> 00:18:15.147
And you know, I, I great, and but medication I just from my own experience, I you know I get very wary because you know, people say used to say to me there's nothing wrong with you, dale, you're the most normal person I've ever seen, you're the sanest person I've ever known, and say two things.
00:18:15.147 --> 00:18:16.595
One is you must have known some pretty crazy've ever known.
00:18:16.595 --> 00:18:17.038
I'd say two things.
00:18:17.038 --> 00:18:19.948
One is you must have known some pretty crazy people, then.
00:18:19.948 --> 00:18:25.898
And secondly, I'd say see me without my medication and tell me I'm sane.
00:18:25.898 --> 00:18:32.938
And so medication to me has been an essential foundation of my recovery.
00:18:34.885 --> 00:18:40.757
Well, for those diagnosed with schizophrenia, what are the dangers of drug and alcohol use?
00:18:49.952 --> 00:19:17.031
Well, you know, a lot of people say that when I was at Dartmouth, before I had my first break, I had a very successful freshman year at Dartmouth academically, but I was also doing major marijuana every day and also doing a lot of hallucinogenics like LSD, mescaline, lsd mescaline and mushrooms and psilocybin.
00:19:17.031 --> 00:19:37.980
And so my mother had a diagnosis, was herself mentally ill, and I feel that, you know, looking back, I feel that maybe if I'd just taken the marijuana that you know, I would have been okay and that's basically what a lot of doctors have told me.
00:19:37.980 --> 00:19:43.573
But uh, the fact is that the hallucinogenics took me over the point to psychosis and um.
00:19:43.573 --> 00:19:55.208
So, and I you know when, when I got to the program, as I said, I was in a program for five and a half years and I was smoking marijuana every day.
00:19:55.208 --> 00:20:31.148
I would go down the hill to the projects and buy like two or three joints every night, and so my doctor always said, you know, he ended up saying that marijuana was my nemesis, because he said every time I escalated my, my use of marijuana, I'd go to the hospital, which was true for a while, but uh, actually, curveball from I, I was smoking marijuana every day until the age of 52.
00:20:31.289 --> 00:20:46.179
So basically I had like 35 years where I was smoking marijuana every day and after a while I got so used to marijuana that it wasn't having that deleterious an effect on my mental health.
00:20:46.179 --> 00:20:59.576
But you know, but for a long time, especially if I stopped smoking marijuana and then I would go back and smoke a joint, I'd be almost immediately in the hospital almost every time.
00:20:59.576 --> 00:21:22.916
So you know, people think that self-medication is good and you know I'm not going to put down marijuana because I don't want to be a hypocrite, because I did love it for 35 years and I did give it up abruptly, cold turkey, in 2007,.
00:21:22.916 --> 00:21:28.298
So I've been straight, sane and sober since October 2007.
00:21:28.298 --> 00:21:31.131
But it does have a.
00:21:31.131 --> 00:21:55.808
You know, even if it's not a primary agent of psychosis, it does have a complicating effect on the whole process of recovery and it's probably, you know, I think one of the reasons why I didn't make as much progress as I did for a long time is just because my progress was being slowed down by my constant use of marijuana and beer.
00:21:57.913 --> 00:21:59.818
Well, talk about psychotic anger.
00:21:59.818 --> 00:22:07.935
Explain what psychotic anger is and how people with schizophrenia deal with psychotic anger.
00:22:09.585 --> 00:22:11.106
Well, that's a very good question.
00:22:11.106 --> 00:22:21.317
I'll give a practical example of psychotic anger.
00:22:21.317 --> 00:22:47.065
So I mentioned agnosygnosia and basically I was in agnosygnosia for the first 10 years of my therapy, until one day in September of 1984, I had a vision of the whole entire earth being incinerated in a thermonuclear holocaust and I called that the death of Dale.
00:22:47.065 --> 00:22:54.459
Basically, I feel that some agency, I'm not sure who, basically blew up my brain.
00:22:54.459 --> 00:22:57.278
You know people say you know drugs, blow your mind, my mind, my brain literally blew up my brain.
00:22:57.278 --> 00:23:04.553
You know people say you know drugs blow your mind, my mind, my brain literally blew up and I called that the death of Dale.
00:23:04.553 --> 00:23:33.431
And I feel that that was the recovery began, because not only did I see how sick I had been, saying I was God for 10 years, I was God for 10 years but I also felt that in that implosion Dale's whole basic personality was blown away, was blown out, including the delusions, including the schizophrenia and everything, and I became Dewey, who is my alter ego.
00:23:33.431 --> 00:23:49.876
But the pain of losing Dale was so great to me that I would react extremely angrily, almost madly, whenever anybody called me Dale and I'd say I'm not Dale, I'm Dewey.
00:23:49.876 --> 00:23:52.566
And you know people love Dale.
00:23:52.566 --> 00:23:56.088
You know, I mean Dale was a very good guy and Dale is a very good guy.
00:23:56.088 --> 00:23:58.592
You know, I mean Dale was a very good guy and Dale is a very good guy.
00:23:58.592 --> 00:24:09.741
You know, basically Dale's back now, but Dale was a very good guy and people were like taken back and they couldn't like make the transition from Dale to Dewey, as I was being forced to.
00:24:15.464 --> 00:24:27.574
So after the death of Dale, I went into the hospital three days later and, um, you know, I was uh in the, I was in the in the hospital and, um, I'm getting this is the point of psychotic anger.
00:24:27.574 --> 00:24:34.088
So I was uh passing a staff member in the hall and he said, hi, dale.
00:24:34.088 --> 00:24:35.792
And I just turned on.
00:24:35.792 --> 00:24:39.098
I started yelling at the top of my voice.
00:24:39.098 --> 00:24:42.054
I said I'm not Dale, I'm Dewey.
00:24:42.054 --> 00:24:47.065
And basically he's saying calm down Dale.
00:24:47.065 --> 00:24:53.634
And of course, every time he says Dale, I'm getting more and more angry and it was a furious rage.
00:24:53.634 --> 00:25:06.155
So within 15 seconds I was surrounded by five security guards and they pulled me away from the staff member and told me to go to my room.
00:25:06.155 --> 00:25:12.696
And so, long story short, they said you just bought yourself a ticket out of here.
00:25:12.696 --> 00:25:20.499
So I was afraid they were going to send me to Bergen Pines, which was the notorious county hospital.
00:25:20.499 --> 00:25:28.571
This was in Hackensack Hospital and they said, you just bought yourself a ticket out of here but luckily nothing came.
00:25:28.571 --> 00:25:40.839
You know, I stayed in Hackensack and everything, but I was just like so full of rage that you know it was like unbelievable.
00:25:41.644 --> 00:26:01.368
And you know this is what and it has to do with paranoia too, kerfol, because you know the paranoia comes and you know you can't see reality when you're paranoid and therefore you're living in a world of delusion and paranoia.
00:26:01.368 --> 00:26:04.875
And you know this is something that I talk about.
00:26:04.875 --> 00:26:14.325
A lot is, uh, you know, I think it's very unfair that every time there's a mass shooter, uh, that people immediately say what's his diagnosis?
00:26:14.325 --> 00:26:39.237
There, he must have mental illness and everything, because people can be filled with hate whether they're psychotic, you know, whether they have a diagnosis or not, but the fact is it's a 50% more likely that a person with serious mental illness will have violence perpetrated against himself rather than perpetrate and rather than do violence himself.
00:26:39.237 --> 00:26:42.912
So that's just something that people need to keep in mind.
00:26:42.912 --> 00:26:47.871
But, uh, you know, I, you know that that's just an exam.
00:26:47.871 --> 00:26:51.565
I mean, I very rarely experienced psychotic rage.
00:26:51.565 --> 00:27:00.559
I you know my, and my doctor said my, my illness was psychotic bliss, so I would just lose reality, being too happy most of the time.
00:27:03.386 --> 00:27:10.856
So for the caregivers of someone with schizophrenia, what should they do if the family member refuses treatment?
00:27:14.506 --> 00:27:17.054
Well, you can't really force them.
00:27:17.054 --> 00:27:21.767
It's Well one thing.
00:27:21.767 --> 00:27:32.865
Apropos of that, you know, I think it's more important at first to consider what should you do if your loved one, if your family member, goes psychotic.
00:27:32.865 --> 00:27:36.675
And I think it's very important to be prepared for something like that.
00:27:36.675 --> 00:27:48.868
And, you know, have like agencies that you're going to call, whether it the police, there's a mental health group in your part, in your area, or something.
00:27:48.909 --> 00:28:00.433
But, um, the it's a, it's a catch-22, because you can't force uh people to get treatment until they go psychotic.
00:28:00.473 --> 00:28:04.291
But once they go psychotic, then they're a danger to themselves.
00:28:04.393 --> 00:28:17.608
So and that, and you know, the other thing is, uh, you can't be committed to in a hospital until unless you're a danger to yourself or to others, and that's up to the interpretation of the courts.
00:28:17.608 --> 00:28:27.559
So, um, you know, uh, an answer to your question what can you do if they refuse treatment?
00:28:27.559 --> 00:28:44.340
You just have to like have patience and, uh, you know some people I, I know who, I, I know would like uh sort of like sneak the medication into their food and you know, not tell them and everything.
00:28:44.340 --> 00:28:47.307
I think that's where sneaking might be necessary.
00:28:47.307 --> 00:29:25.638
But, uh, it's ultimately it's a matter of responding, not reacting and also developing listening skills, because instead of just like getting frustrated that they're refusing to see a doctor, refusing to take their, it's much more a matter of like engaging them in conversation and helping them down, you know, just coming to see their point of view, because the more dialogue you have, the more communication there is, the more empathetic you can be and therefore, the more you can understand how to neutralize their objections.
00:29:27.786 --> 00:29:33.051
Well, tell us about any upcoming projects that you're working on that listeners need to be aware of.
00:29:39.719 --> 00:29:41.984
Well, as I said, I'm a poet.
00:29:41.984 --> 00:29:50.446
I have an archive of 5,000 poems, so I want to put out one or two books.
00:29:50.446 --> 00:29:57.266
I have five books on Amazon and I want to publish one or two more within the next year.
00:29:57.266 --> 00:30:24.105
And I also have a memoir which I wrote which is called Escape from the Ivy League, and that's the story of what happened to me at Dartmouth, about my first great psychotic break, and so I'm thinking about publishing that on KDP, self-publishing on Amazon, and basically I'm just like I'm trying to find.
00:30:25.125 --> 00:30:45.132
I'm working on building my business and helping people, you know, get over the fear of exposing themselves and telling me, you know, coming to me and saying you know I have this problem, say, my son is a schizophrenic and I don't know how to handle it.
00:30:45.132 --> 00:31:11.067
And so I actually have a Calendly link it's wwwcalendlycom slash DaleCoach55, where you can make an appointment for a 45-minute free consultation, and you know.
00:31:11.067 --> 00:31:22.670
So basically, I'm just trying to figure out ways, curtis, of how to get people to come out of the shell of their shame and guilt and get in touch with me.
00:31:25.016 --> 00:31:27.192
All right, we'll close this out with some final thoughts.
00:31:27.192 --> 00:31:32.332
Maybe, if that was something I forgot to talk about, that you would like to touch on, or any final thoughts you have for the listeners.
00:31:35.198 --> 00:31:38.743
Well, it's one of hope.
00:31:38.743 --> 00:31:47.663
Self-awareness is extremely important to recovery from any mental illness.
00:31:47.663 --> 00:32:26.828
One thing people have to know about is adenosine, and there's a great book called I'm Not Sick and I Don't Need Help by this doctor, dr Xavier Amador, a-m-a-d-o-r, and it's a story of his relationship with his brother who had schizophrenia and had agnosynogia for basically 17 years, and how he developed a good dialogue and basically rebuilt the bridges of relationship with his brother.
00:32:26.828 --> 00:32:34.107
And so I guess the most important thing I can say is don't lose hope.
00:32:34.107 --> 00:32:58.538
As I said, the four things love, hope, faith and patience I think are essential components of not only understanding and being a successful caregiver, but it's also an essential part of a recovery for the person who's going through the illness.
00:32:58.538 --> 00:33:02.548
Uh, so, um, that's about it.
00:33:02.548 --> 00:33:05.640
I, I just uh, you know, I, just I.
00:33:05.640 --> 00:33:34.489
It took me basically uh, 15 years to I mean, I talked about the death of dale but it really took me about 20 years to get out out of my delusions, and I guess that's one last thing I'd say is that if someone you have, you know, has delusions, then, you know, don't think it's just like a matter of like one or two bad thoughts or faulty thoughts or have, because delusion goes much deeper than that.
00:33:34.489 --> 00:33:48.127
Delusion is a structure at the very foundation of a person's identity and that's why I took that thermonuclear hit in my head to knock me out of my delusions.
00:33:48.127 --> 00:34:07.928
And although that might seem extreme, the fact is that you know it's an ongoing process to get through to someone who is seriously mentally ill and therefore you have to just take small steps and celebrate little wins.
00:34:09.675 --> 00:34:13.226
And sometimes you know you can bribe people.
00:34:13.226 --> 00:34:23.447
You know if people don't want to take their medication, for instance, or another thing that is that happens is self-care.
00:34:23.447 --> 00:34:26.275
You know people stop taking showers and everything.
00:34:26.275 --> 00:34:28.639
So uh, don't be above.
00:34:28.639 --> 00:34:30.663
Uh, a little bribery.
00:34:30.663 --> 00:34:38.143
If your loved one smokes and he's not taking his medication or he's not taking a shower, then make a deal with him.
00:34:38.143 --> 00:34:46.389
Say, uh, okay, I'll buy, I'll buy you cigarettes for the next three days if you take your medication.
00:34:46.389 --> 00:34:55.476
And uh, you know, and uh, take a shower, and it doesn't even have to be cigarettes, you can do it with the his favorite meal.
00:34:55.476 --> 00:35:05.610
You know, say I'll, I'll reward you with lasagna, which is your favorite dish, if you'll take your medication for the next two days.
00:35:05.610 --> 00:35:08.423
And tracking is also very important.
00:35:08.423 --> 00:35:14.588
You know if someone is reluctant to take medication, then try to keep track of what they're doing.
00:35:17.115 --> 00:35:24.538
All right, ladies and gentlemen, if you or somebody you know is dealing with schizophrenia, get with Dale Follow, rate, review.
00:35:24.538 --> 00:35:26.985
Share this episode to as many people as possible.
00:35:26.985 --> 00:35:30.695
Jump on your favorite podcast app Follow.
00:35:30.695 --> 00:35:33.264
Check out the show, share it, review it.
00:35:33.264 --> 00:35:42.201
If you have any guests or suggestion, topics or feedback for the show, curtis Jackson 1978 at attnet is the place to send them.
00:35:42.201 --> 00:35:44.686
Thank you for listening and supporting the show.
00:35:45.235 --> 00:35:46.557
Can I say one last thing?
00:35:46.557 --> 00:35:54.349
My website is wwwdewlivelovenet.
00:35:54.349 --> 00:35:55.431
Thank you, Curtis.
00:35:56.094 --> 00:35:58.704
All right and thank you for joining us.
00:35:58.704 --> 00:36:08.208
For more information on the Living the Dream podcast, visit wwwdjcurveballcom.
00:36:08.208 --> 00:36:15.079
Until next time, stay focused on living the dream, the drink Drink.
00:00:00.420 --> 00:00:08.330
00:00:08.330 --> 00:00:28.573
00:00:28.573 --> 00:00:35.273
00:00:35.273 --> 00:00:44.094
00:00:44.094 --> 00:00:49.741
00:00:49.741 --> 00:00:56.502
00:00:56.502 --> 00:01:02.984
00:01:02.984 --> 00:01:05.352
00:01:06.359 --> 00:01:07.584
00:01:07.584 --> 00:01:08.347
00:01:08.347 --> 00:01:09.743
00:01:10.987 --> 00:01:11.790
00:01:11.790 --> 00:01:14.588
00:01:16.081 --> 00:01:18.447
00:01:18.447 --> 00:01:18.989
00:01:18.989 --> 00:01:24.432
00:01:24.432 --> 00:01:35.206
00:01:35.206 --> 00:01:41.058
00:01:41.900 --> 00:01:42.381
00:01:42.381 --> 00:01:56.906
00:01:56.906 --> 00:02:08.830
00:02:08.830 --> 00:02:17.907
00:02:17.907 --> 00:02:33.151
00:02:33.151 --> 00:02:38.526
00:02:38.828 --> 00:02:44.760
00:02:44.820 --> 00:03:16.479
00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:17.442
00:03:17.442 --> 00:03:18.582
00:03:18.582 --> 00:03:29.068
00:03:29.068 --> 00:03:54.108
00:03:54.108 --> 00:04:02.173
00:04:02.173 --> 00:04:06.615
00:04:06.615 --> 00:04:35.502
00:04:38.567 --> 00:04:44.624
00:04:44.624 --> 00:04:49.230
00:04:49.230 --> 00:04:57.367
00:04:57.367 --> 00:05:00.026
00:05:01.790 --> 00:05:11.110
00:05:11.110 --> 00:05:20.100
00:05:20.100 --> 00:05:33.214
00:05:33.214 --> 00:06:04.206
00:06:04.206 --> 00:06:10.168
00:06:10.269 --> 00:06:44.884
00:06:44.884 --> 00:07:04.213
00:07:04.213 --> 00:07:12.918
00:07:12.918 --> 00:07:20.845
00:07:20.845 --> 00:07:22.911
00:07:23.740 --> 00:07:39.182
00:07:39.182 --> 00:07:49.055
00:07:49.055 --> 00:07:57.115
00:07:57.115 --> 00:08:02.372
00:08:02.372 --> 00:08:22.966
00:08:22.966 --> 00:08:36.216
00:08:38.321 --> 00:08:46.934
00:08:48.139 --> 00:08:57.860
00:08:57.860 --> 00:09:12.649
00:09:12.649 --> 00:09:17.109
00:09:17.109 --> 00:09:18.633
00:09:18.633 --> 00:10:14.402
00:10:14.402 --> 00:10:36.541
00:10:37.221 --> 00:11:21.383
00:11:21.383 --> 00:11:26.289
00:11:26.289 --> 00:11:30.355
00:11:30.355 --> 00:11:42.886
00:11:42.886 --> 00:11:53.354
00:11:53.354 --> 00:11:55.948
00:11:55.948 --> 00:12:06.134
00:12:09.480 --> 00:12:17.783
00:12:19.226 --> 00:12:21.952
00:12:21.952 --> 00:12:32.722
00:12:32.722 --> 00:12:36.048
00:12:36.048 --> 00:12:40.421
00:12:40.421 --> 00:12:46.573
00:12:46.573 --> 00:12:57.794
00:12:57.794 --> 00:12:59.667
00:12:59.667 --> 00:13:04.589
00:13:04.668 --> 00:13:44.746
00:13:44.746 --> 00:13:49.690
00:13:49.690 --> 00:14:01.544
00:14:01.544 --> 00:14:09.886
00:14:09.886 --> 00:14:29.833
00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:36.553
00:14:36.553 --> 00:14:46.684
00:14:46.684 --> 00:14:59.804
00:14:59.804 --> 00:15:04.024
00:15:04.024 --> 00:15:31.724
00:15:32.926 --> 00:15:34.288
00:15:34.288 --> 00:15:41.235
00:15:42.546 --> 00:15:59.378
00:15:59.378 --> 00:16:15.897
00:16:15.897 --> 00:16:20.969
00:16:20.969 --> 00:16:28.568
00:16:28.568 --> 00:16:38.375
00:16:38.375 --> 00:16:52.836
00:16:52.836 --> 00:16:59.808
00:16:59.970 --> 00:17:07.615
00:17:07.615 --> 00:17:16.567
00:17:16.567 --> 00:17:23.294
00:17:23.294 --> 00:17:36.332
00:17:36.332 --> 00:17:39.719
00:17:40.326 --> 00:17:52.868
00:17:52.868 --> 00:18:15.147
00:18:15.147 --> 00:18:16.595
00:18:16.595 --> 00:18:17.038
00:18:17.038 --> 00:18:19.948
00:18:19.948 --> 00:18:25.898
00:18:25.898 --> 00:18:32.938
00:18:34.885 --> 00:18:40.757
00:18:49.952 --> 00:19:17.031
00:19:17.031 --> 00:19:37.980
00:19:37.980 --> 00:19:43.573
00:19:43.573 --> 00:19:55.208
00:19:55.208 --> 00:20:31.148
00:20:31.289 --> 00:20:46.179
00:20:46.179 --> 00:20:59.576
00:20:59.576 --> 00:21:22.916
00:21:22.916 --> 00:21:28.298
00:21:28.298 --> 00:21:31.131
00:21:31.131 --> 00:21:55.808
00:21:57.913 --> 00:21:59.818
00:21:59.818 --> 00:22:07.935
00:22:09.585 --> 00:22:11.106
00:22:11.106 --> 00:22:21.317
00:22:21.317 --> 00:22:47.065
00:22:47.065 --> 00:22:54.459
00:22:54.459 --> 00:22:57.278
00:22:57.278 --> 00:23:04.553
00:23:04.553 --> 00:23:33.431
00:23:33.431 --> 00:23:49.876
00:23:49.876 --> 00:23:52.566
00:23:52.566 --> 00:23:56.088
00:23:56.088 --> 00:23:58.592
00:23:58.592 --> 00:24:09.741
00:24:15.464 --> 00:24:27.574
00:24:27.574 --> 00:24:34.088
00:24:34.088 --> 00:24:35.792
00:24:35.792 --> 00:24:39.098
00:24:39.098 --> 00:24:42.054
00:24:42.054 --> 00:24:47.065
00:24:47.065 --> 00:24:53.634
00:24:53.634 --> 00:25:06.155
00:25:06.155 --> 00:25:12.696
00:25:12.696 --> 00:25:20.499
00:25:20.499 --> 00:25:28.571
00:25:28.571 --> 00:25:40.839
00:25:41.644 --> 00:26:01.368
00:26:01.368 --> 00:26:04.875
00:26:04.875 --> 00:26:14.325
00:26:14.325 --> 00:26:39.237
00:26:39.237 --> 00:26:42.912
00:26:42.912 --> 00:26:47.871
00:26:47.871 --> 00:26:51.565
00:26:51.565 --> 00:27:00.559
00:27:03.386 --> 00:27:10.856
00:27:14.506 --> 00:27:17.054
00:27:17.054 --> 00:27:21.767
00:27:21.767 --> 00:27:32.865
00:27:32.865 --> 00:27:36.675
00:27:36.675 --> 00:27:48.868
00:27:48.909 --> 00:28:00.433
00:28:00.473 --> 00:28:04.291
00:28:04.393 --> 00:28:17.608
00:28:17.608 --> 00:28:27.559
00:28:27.559 --> 00:28:44.340
00:28:44.340 --> 00:28:47.307
00:28:47.307 --> 00:29:25.638
00:29:27.786 --> 00:29:33.051
00:29:39.719 --> 00:29:41.984
00:29:41.984 --> 00:29:50.446
00:29:50.446 --> 00:29:57.266
00:29:57.266 --> 00:30:24.105
00:30:25.125 --> 00:30:45.132
00:30:45.132 --> 00:31:11.067
00:31:11.067 --> 00:31:22.670
00:31:25.016 --> 00:31:27.192
00:31:27.192 --> 00:31:32.332
00:31:35.198 --> 00:31:38.743
00:31:38.743 --> 00:31:47.663
00:31:47.663 --> 00:32:26.828
00:32:26.828 --> 00:32:34.107
00:32:34.107 --> 00:32:58.538
00:32:58.538 --> 00:33:02.548
00:33:02.548 --> 00:33:05.640
00:33:05.640 --> 00:33:34.489
00:33:34.489 --> 00:33:48.127
00:33:48.127 --> 00:34:07.928
00:34:09.675 --> 00:34:13.226
00:34:13.226 --> 00:34:23.447
00:34:23.447 --> 00:34:26.275
00:34:26.275 --> 00:34:28.639
00:34:28.639 --> 00:34:30.663
00:34:30.663 --> 00:34:38.143
00:34:38.143 --> 00:34:46.389
00:34:46.389 --> 00:34:55.476
00:34:55.476 --> 00:35:05.610
00:35:05.610 --> 00:35:08.423
00:35:08.423 --> 00:35:14.588
00:35:17.115 --> 00:35:24.538
00:35:24.538 --> 00:35:26.985
00:35:26.985 --> 00:35:30.695
00:35:30.695 --> 00:35:33.264
00:35:33.264 --> 00:35:42.201
00:35:42.201 --> 00:35:44.686
00:35:45.235 --> 00:35:46.557
00:35:46.557 --> 00:35:54.349
00:35:54.349 --> 00:35:55.431
00:35:56.094 --> 00:35:58.704
00:35:58.704 --> 00:36:08.208
00:36:08.208 --> 00:36:15.079