Therapies I GOT After I Was Suddenly Attacked From Behind & Strangled By A Stranger In A Dutch Hospital

Index

I Never Used Drugs, I Never Misused Alcohol & I Do Not Smoke, But Still I Was Told I Had Had A Psychose NAO

In 2010 when I was working as a datamanager at VUMC in Amsterdam (read the blog Datamanager VUMC) I went on 3,5 week vacation with the Transsiberia Express including one week touring in Mongolia. In Mongolia I got the scare of my life and was sent to a mental health hospital there. Back in The Netherlands the health professionals told everybody I just needed to rest, but a so called friend thought I was her and I had to be in psychiatric hospital. She kept sending health professional on me to get me admitted. After I was admitted as a voluntary patient to be observed at UMC Utrecht one of the worst things that can happen to a person happened to me. I was suddenly attacked from behind by a stranger and strangled. After the staff of UMC Utrecht pulled the hands of the client with TBS of my neck I was put in front of a mirror to see the prints of his hands on my neck and they went their way to have a meeting about how to keep themselves safe. After this incident I was put on Zyprexa (read the blog Zyprexa made me sleep all day)  and sent to Altrecht.

Psychoeducation 1 & 2 & 3

After I was admitted voluntary for observation I did all kinds of tests that pointed out that I didn't have a psychosis, but they could not look in the past so they kept the diagnosis Psychose NAO. They told me I could fill my time with learning about psychosis by following psychoeducation. I like to learn and had nothing to do waiting to go back to work and my house so I joined the psychoeducation group. The group was very strange. They couldn't concentrate for more than one line in the book and kept asking to go back to their room, bed or to go smoke. I had never before been in a psychiatric hospital and found this very strange. After most of the group left I went on with psychoeducation. I finished psychoeducation 1 & 2 & 3 there before being strangled by a stranger.

Vaktherapie

Besides Psychoeducation I could join 'Vaktherapie' and psychomotor therapy. 'Vaktherapie' is time that can be used to make handicraft, do nothing, go on the internet, or make something to eat. I was asked if I could cook and make something from Curaçao where I was born and largely raised. I made Pastechi (read the blog Pastechi). I also made earrings and a necklace saying 'life'.

Psychomotor Therapy

At home I am used to filling my time with work, tennis, reading, gardening, visiting friends, resting, etc. But in a hospital, especially in the psychiatric part my time isn't mine anymore. It is something I couldn't get used to. I'd never been hospitalized before. I hardly saw my general practitioner before 2010, because I didn't have anything. Besides reading scientific papers about psychosis and books from the hospital library I could join another therapy, Psychomotor Therapy. It was sports like the sports I got at my Business Economic Studies, but instead of networking with sports there was an instructor giving sports with therapy.

Psychoeducation 4

After I was strangled by a stranger at UMC Utrecht I was sent to Altrecht for therapy, to get rid of the medicine they put me on and to get back to work. No words about the attack and being strangled by a stranger was sent to Altrecht by UMC Utrecht. When I started at Altrecht the transfer wasn't even done (yet). My psychologist had to get the information himself from them. I started there in a group with psychoeducation, but I had already had psychoeducation at UMC Utrecht. It is still the summer of 2010.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Besides filling in a lot of tests again, different tests than at UMC Utrecht, I started my first individual therapy in my life, cognitive behavioral therapy. It was about how I reacted and could react in short.

EMDR

Because there was a trauma in Mongolia I could have the EMDR therapy with my psychologist. EMDR is about getting the tension out of the occurrence. It is a therapy that asks a lot of the patient, because I was always tired after a session. The EMDR was also done on some minor events in my youth. It is about training myself in dealing with the tension when something similar like Mongolia happens. I didn't get EMDR on the attack with strangulation in UMC Utrecht, but nowadays I can calm myself in almost every situation when tension arise.

Guided Meditation, Bodyscan & Mindfulness

Mindfulness isn't for me, guided meditation I can do sometimes, but bodyscan sticked with me. I was introduced to it by my psychologist and my psychiatrist repeated the bodyscan again. The bodyscan is about noticing my body parts and concentrating on them without judgment and getting the tension out of my body and mind.

Writing My Story About My Mental Health

After EMDR was finished I was talking to my SPV'er and psychiatrist instead of my psychologist. This is somewhere in 2011 after my father had died. I browsed the website of Altrecht and I found a therapy about writing about what happened to me. It was by email and the whole Mongolia occurrence was dealt with in that story.

WRAP

I stayed in therapy till the start of 2017 with the same spv'er, psychologist and psychiatrist. In the beginning of 2017 I was sent back to the general practitioner. In 2014 after getting back from my 5,5 months sabbatical in the Pacific I encounter WRAP and asked if I could do that therapy too. My SPV'er told me that the only group starting at the moment was a drug WRAP group and if I didn't mind being in this group I could start now or I would have to wait till a group with another constitution would start. I decided to start in the drug WRAP group. WRAP stands for Wellness Recovery Action Plan. During this training I developed a personalized wellness plan. Because it is an individual plan with the things I have to deal with and my daily wellness it was okay to be in this group although I deal with other issues then the others in the group. I kept improving this plan for years and using it when necessary like I try to do with all the tools I got during all the therapies.

Therapeutic Writing Course

After the therapies and talks with the psychologist, SPV'er and psychiatrist ended in the beginning of 2017. I came across therapeutic writing at CIVAS, an online course. I like to write and wanted to see if I still could write. The writings weren't focused on what happened or therapy but just write (van je af schrijven).