Meditation allows me to have more inner peace in spite of troublesome thoughts that may occur and in spite of the difficult circumstances that I sometimes experience. It causes me to seek relief through mental exercises and not through the escapism of alcohol or illicit drugs. Meditation gives me the hope that I can feel better when suffering. Meditation allows me to fall right to sleep at night.

Beginning in 1983, I pioneered my own system of meditative techniques. However, these methods differ from those that are widely taught, and would not be practicable by most people with or without a psychiatric illness.

Nonetheless, most individuals can discover some type of mindfulness exercise that works for them. This can begin with reading books about meditation. (I would recommend any book authored either by Thich Nhat Hanh or by The Dalai Lama. There are other good authors as well, but I do not have space to list them here.)

When you are in a challenging or difficult situation, one in which you do not completely control what happens, it is helpful to put your mind at ease and to not generate so much worry. Meditation allows me not to be as worried so much about the outcome of situations. Meditation allows me to behave in a more disciplined, more organized, and more "appropriate" manner compared to how I would be without meditation.

I often have the intellectual awareness that my worries are unnecessary and unrealistic. Converting this awareness into actually not being worried is the challenging part. When I have worry and yet realize that it does not point to a genuine threat, and when I pinpoint the worry and understand what it is about, it can prevent me from taking action on this illusion. Preventing myself from acting on a false worry is a good thing.

Although a natural human instinct, worry is usually counterproductive for your survival. Meditation, when practiced over time and with great effort as well as skill, is all about not being bothered, worried, angry or upset in situations in which most people would be upset and would be reacting.

Part of the idea behind meditation is that your emotions come from you. Other people do not actually "make you mad" or "make you upset." These are emotions that are created by the software in your head, and you are free to change that software.

Meditation does not cure mental illness. However, it can help you deal with the challenges that life gives you as a person living with mental illness.

If a mental health consumer is too impaired to practice meditation, it doesn't stop family members who must live with and take care of that mental health consumer from undertaking practices of mindfulness. Meditation can increase one's level of patience. And this doesn't have to entail walking on eggshells.

Meditation may bring up suppressed or unrecognized emotions, and these emotions could be difficult to deal with. Thus, it is important to be stabilized first. Meditation can allow someone to see things with more accuracy. This can allow coming out of denial concerning facts that are not idyllic. This could either be overwhelming or it could facilitate a better outcome.

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ON MENTAL ILLNESS: On Meditation