About Mary Ellen Copeland
I experienced episodes of severe mania and depression for most of my life.
With the lack of help available to me at the time, and out of frustration, my
first research project was on how people with psychiatric symptoms get well and
stay well. Prior to my research and the implementing of self-help strategies, I
underwent numerous hospitalizations and medication trials that weren't helpful.
I have achieved long-term wellness and stability by using many of the coping
strategies I learned through my research. For the last ten years, I've been
studying how people who experience psychiatric symptoms relieve these symptoms
and get on with their lives.
I wanted to share what I had discovered through my research and started
publishing my findings. You may have read some of my books:
The Depression Workbook: A Guide to Living with Depression and
Manic Depression,
Living without Depression and Manic Depression: A Guide to
Maintaining Mood Stability,
Wellness Recovery Action Plan,
The Adolescent Depression Workbook,
The Worry Control Workbook and
Winning Against Relapse. I'm also the co-producer of the video
Coping with Depression and producer of the audio tape, Strategies for
Living with Depression and Manic Depression. I have two new books,
The Loneliness Workbook and a book on relieving the effects of
trauma, entitled "Healing The Trauma of Abuse," written with Dr. Maxine
Harris. All of these resources are based on my on-going study of the day-to-day
coping strategies of people who experience psychiatric symptoms, and how people
have gotten well and stayed well.
A Bit About My Personal Life
I am married, but have only been married to my husband for the last four
years. I was married twice previously --once for twenty years and once for five
years--to men who were abusive. In those days, I didn't know that I had any
value and that I should not allow myself to be treated badly. I have now
learned those lessons well and my marriage is wonderful. However, I have
regular appointments with a wonderful counselor who knows me well and who helps
me build my self esteem--to cherish myself-- and reminds to take very good care
of myself.
My husband and I work together. I write and teach about mental health self
help and recovery. He takes care of administrative details, book sales and
travel arrangements. We have a small farm and he manages our gardens and
orchard.
My husband and I have seven grown children, a foster daughter and twelve
grandchildren. Several of them live nearby and we enjoy rollicking family times
together. I am sure my depression and mood instability have affected my
children. Some of them have to work very hard to keep their moods stabilized.
The good thing about that is that they know how to do it. And they know it is
up to them, with the help they need from others, to do it for themselves.
I am trying to curtail my travel so I can spend more time at home. I am
doing this by holding seminars in a nearby inn. These seminars are teaching
participants basic recovery skills and how to share these skills with others.
My goal in this work is to spread the word about recovery, self help and the
Wellness Recovery Action Plan as widely as possible.
Self-help can work effectively either by itself or in conjunction with
therapy and/or meds. In my view, the treatment scenario and the effectiveness
of self help strategies depends on the willingness of the person to work hard
on managing their symptoms, their preferences, and the cause and severity of
the symptoms. In my work I do not advocate for or against any treatment
protocol. I firmly believe that the person who experiences the symptoms must,
if at all possible, determine the course of their own treatment. While this may
be impossible when symptoms are very acute, that responsibility should be
returned to the person experiencing the symptoms as soon as possible. If the
person has a good crisis plan, they can stay in control even when their
symptoms are out of control and they cannot make decisions for themselves.
In my own case, I use self-help along with counseling. I work every day to
manage my symptoms. I have used psychiatric medications in the past, but have
had allergic reactions to those that would be most helpful to me. In an
emergency, I would use specific psychiatric medications to relieve the symptoms
quickly.
I do work closely with a nutritionist and a naturopathic physician and, with
their guidance, have made adjustments to my diet and take recommended food
supplements and amino acids.
Here's what I hope you get from my site...
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