Madness Radio: Beyond Meds Gianna Kali

Congratulations Gianna and Radio Madness for getting the word out. Job well done.

Fid

Hi Will,

I want to share my story with you, as you asked me on Facebook. During my childhood I underwent several traumas due to the fact that there was a lot of violence between my parents. At the age of 12 I started to smoke marihuana, growing up between outcasts, hippies and punks, rock 'n roll kids, in a lost generation in the nineties. Later on other drugs followed, like ecstacy, cocaine, amfetamines and so on. I did heroin a couple of times but I didn't like the drug. So I know the dangers and possibilities of drugs, and it should be punished be law but under the supervision of the health care department. I didn’t know we had schizophrenia in the family, I realised that when at age 18 I got hospitalised in a severely psychotic state. After six months I went home experiencing the worst fears a man can get. I also did a lot of psychedelic mushrooms, never dropped acid, and I guess the psychedelics where the trigger towards a total collaps of the ego. My identification with Jesus and Buddha was the beginning of a spiritual process with a tendency of studying the human consciousness and spirituality. Several psychotic and manic states followed, and I felt a heavy tendency towards meditation and yoga which resulted in a spiritual emergency when the kundalini energy awoke in me. This was a heavy trip and due to the fact that there was no guidance from psychiatry, this ended in a suicide attempt, also after being psychology attacked by an agressive indiviual, while I was so hypersensitive. I’m still visiting a psychiatrist and I’m studying psychology myself. I had a lot of help from people who are the founders or co-founders of the Theosophical Society in Belgium, they study the works of Blavatsky and Alice Bailey. I also have a lot of people from the spiritual emergency network of Stanislav Grof around me, they even help me financially with my education. I work as a volonteer, building websites for artists and I write for a local newspaper in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, all of this is volonteer work. I know I am a highly sensitive person and I think that for a minority of the population societies rat race is going to fast. I’ve also been active as a singer-songwriter and poet which helped me to go through my depressive states. I have several certificates in computer language from college and I hope to combine all my knowledge for the work I want to due in the future: writing, art, music, healing, psychology, psychiatry and so on. You can listen to my music for free at www.myspace.com/kristopop1983

I’m also in contact with Sean Blackwell from the You Tube Channel Bipolar Or Waking Up which is a very interesting channel. I read a lot about transpersonal psychology.

I'm glad to have several famous and unfamous artists in Belgium around my as my friends. There is also a link between bipolar and psychosis in artistic environments. Now I live a quite sober life. Most of the drugs I don't like anymore, so except to some recreational use of substances, I like it more to live a sober life. I even don't drink much alcohol. Even marihuana is a trigger for sensitive people. My only big addiction is nicotine, that's all, but for the rest I've found love and peace in my heart. I worked in high school in projects around psychiatry and the prevention of substance abuse and that was all very funny work to do. My goal is to study for my bachelor of arts in psychology and later on maybe I study further for a masters degree. But besides that, the most important think is to enjoy life, reduce stress, be a good person, honest and not corrupt with an open heart. I live like a modern anarchistic buddha, without dogmas or rules. Our soul will command us what is wright and wrong. Everything is in our heart. I hope I can do something on the stigma on mental illness, because I can proove that there is a life after being drugged on antipsychotics.

My spiritual journey was a result of psychosis trigger by mind-altering drugs, but I think it can be more safety if you have a good teacher or transpersonal psychologist or psychiatrist through guided meditation and yoga. However I believe Aurobindo was right when he said that we have to experience everything that's arising because it's in our karma and we have to make the best of it. Besides the tremendous pain and suffering, it made me a more whole and loving person. I needed these experiences to go further with my destiny: do something for a better mental health care with the understanding of altered states of consciousness, psychosis in relation to spirituality. I had a lot of help from the works of professor David Lukoff and John Weir Perry, and also Loren Mosher from Soteria House, these people made me think it is possible to live a normal live with a sensitive nervous system. Ken Wilber was also great to read! I also believe art as a way of living is the best way to cure mental distress. My future goal is to guide people with the same experiences, as a volonteer or with sharing my story. The next project is working on a book with Gil Semedo, one of the most famous artists of the Portuese speaking countries. I met him a couple of years ago and we became good friends.

I support madness radio, this information is necessary!

Kind regards,

Kristo

I live like a modern anarchistic buddha, without dogmas or rules. Our soul will command us what is wright and wrong. Everything is in our heart. I hope I can do something on the stigma on mental illness, because I can proove that there is a life after being drugged on antipsychotics.

Hi Gianna,
I loved your quote - I'm not longer a psychiatric patient - I only have life problems. Or something like that. :)
Thanks for letting me hear your voice and God bless,
Bevy