Looking at the smiling girl in the photo, it's hard to imagine that she was sick with schizophrenia. Yes, it was “she was sick”, contrary to popular belief that this disease cannot be defeated. Here is Arnhild Lauveng, a successful practicing psychologist and writer from Norway. She managed to overcome her illness and now helps others to fight this disease.
Who is Arnhild Lauweng?
Arnhild was a simple Norwegian girl - she studied at a regular school, had conflicts and made friends with her peers and dreamed of becoming a psychologist. In adolescence, she began to notice changes in her worldview - she began to hear voices and sounds, to see animals. The disease developed rapidly, and soon Arnhild was treated in one of the hospitals for the mentally ill. For ten years she tried to cope with the disease and now she can say that she managed to defeat schizophrenia. This seems impossible, since this disease is recognized by modern doctors as incurable. But acting psychologist Arnhild Lauweng insists onreverse. Now she is engaged in scientific research in the field of psychology and fights for the rights of the mentally ill throughout Norway. In her books, she describes her path and reflects on the causes of the disease. Only two of them have been translated into Russian. This is Arnhild Lauweng's book "Tomorrow I…" describing her time in an educational institution.
The book begins with these words:
I used to live my days as a sheep.
Every day the shepherds gathered all the department to take the flock for a walk.
And angrily, like dogs, they usually barked at those who were behind and did not want to come out.
Sometimes, urged on by them, I would raise my voice and bleat softly as I wandered through the corridors in the general crowd, but no one asked me what was the matter…
Who will listen to what the crazy people are muttering!
I used to live my days as a sheep.
Having gathered everyone into one herd, they drove us along the paths around the hospital, A slow herd of dissimilar individuals that no one wanted to distinguish.
Because we've become a herd, And the whole herd was supposed to go for a walk, And the whole herd - to return to the house.
I used to live my days as a sheep.
Shepherds trimmed my regrown mane and nails, To better blend in with the herd.
And I wandered through a crowd of neatly trimmed donkeys, bears, squirrels and crocodiles.
And peered into what no one wanted to notice.
Because I lived my days as a sheep, Meanwhile my whole being was rushing to hunt in the savannah. And Iobediently walked where the shepherds drove me, from the pasture to the barn, from the barn to the pasture, Walked to where they thought a sheep was supposed to be, I knew it was wrong
And I knew that all this is not forever.
For I lived my days as a sheep.
But all the time was tomorrow's lion.
The second book by Arnhild Lauweng - "Useless as a Rose" - is a little less known in Russia. It is another confession and honestly talks about the problems in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia, attitude towards them and the chances of recovery.
Early years
In his books, Arnhild Lauveng hardly talks about his childhood. It is known that she was born on January 13, 1972 in Norway. At the age of five, the girl lost her father - he died after a long battle with cancer. As Lauveng later said in an interview, the death of her father would be one of the catalysts for her illness. Then, experiencing the pain of loss, the little girl began to blame herself for what had happened. In order to survive the loss of a loved one, she decided to go into a fantasy world and convinced herself that she was able to wield magic that affects the lives of others.
A little more is known about the relationship between Lauveng and his mother. And although the psychologist does not directly say anything bad about her and, on the contrary, is grateful to her for her care and love, it can be assumed that the relationship between them was tense. In particular, it is known that Lauveng was bullied at school, which, according to her, most often happens with children who do not receive love in the family.
"Harassment can affect anyoneanywhere and anywhere. But, perhaps, something still unites the victims - they have weak social ties. If the parents of a child have a lot of friends, relatives, and he grows up in a comfortable social environment, plays with other children from childhood, he is unlikely to become a victim of bullying."
- Arnhild Lauveng in an interview
Youth
At school, the girl began to think about a career in psychology. Studying in middle school, the girl began to be bullied by her peers. In psychology, this is called bullying. In the book Tomorrow I Was a Lion, Arnhild Lauweng describes the first signs of the disease, which begin to appear at the age of 14-15 years. These are fear, rejection, suicidal thoughts, and then a distorted perception of reality and sound hallucinations. The psychologist believes that bullying was also a catalyst for her illness. She believes that psychological abuse is much more difficult for a person than physical abuse, and therefore children who are bullied are more prone to mental illness.
She notes that if she started writing books just now, given all her experience and knowledge, she would pay more attention to the problem of bullying and her personal experience in this matter.
Disease
So, the girl began to notice the first signs of the disease at the age of 14. At 17, she decided to be admitted to a hospital for the mentally ill. She called the era of struggle with her disease the “wolf era” - after the objects of her hallucinations. It took the girl almost 10 years to get rid of schizophrenia, but when she first got intoa medical institution, there was no question of a cure - the doctors conservatively insisted that it was forever, not taking into account that a small percentage of patients still go into a stage of lifelong remission.
Arnhild Lauweng's illness manifested itself in hallucinations and a desire to mutilate oneself. She saw wolves, rats, and sometimes other animals, heard strange sounds. Often a strange lady appeared to her, whose outfit she describes as both white and blue - such as a shadow cast by a silhouette could be. This woman was for her the embodiment of sadness. Whenever Arnhild saw glassware (or other items made of breakable material), she could not resist the temptation to smash it and injure herself with the shards. With these symptoms, she began her treatment.
Hospitalization
Medicine in Norway is at a fairly high level, but at the same time, the system of treatment of the mentally ill is far from ideal. During her first hospitalization, Arnhild ended up in a poorly funded hospital suffering from a lack of staff. Dangerous patients were sent there, suffering from acute psychoses and capable of injuring not only themselves, but also those around them.
"Nothing terrible happened to me in the hospital. Of course, such a serious illness brings with it a lot of hard things, but staying in the hospital did not bring any horrors with it, mainly thanks to the attending physician, who I got. It turned out to be a young woman, still completely without experience, but she was an idealist and an intelligent person, and most importantly, she had humanity andcourage. In addition, she understood the importance of seemingly optional things."
- Arnhild Lauweng, "Tomorrow I was a lion"
A woman fondly remembers her doctor, a young specialist who saw in patients not only sick people, but also personalities. In the first days of her stay in the hospital, she felt very lonely. One day, a walk around the hospital courtyard was canceled due to rain, and Arnhild burst into tears because she could not go outside in her favorite weather. Tears in such institutions were treated with indifference or with scientific interest, trying to understand the dynamics of the patient. But the doctor that day turned not to the Arnhild patient, but to the Arnhild person, sincerely interested in the cause of her tears.
To console the girl, the doctor, under her own responsibility, let her go for a walk alone. Then Arnhild decided that in order not to let down the doctor who had treated her with such kindness, she would not give in to the call of voices in the street, run away and harm herself. As Arnhild Lauweng later notes in "Tomorrow I Was a Lion", it was hope and will that helped her cope with the disease.
Recovery Phenomenon
Despite the fact that schizophrenia is an incurable disease, cases of recovery do occur. However, here the opinions of doctors are divided: many of them believe that not a recovery, but a long-term remission is possible.
In the hospital, young Arnhild was immediately made clear that she had a chancealmost not. So she spent her youth in them - from 17 to 26 years old. The shortest hospitalization was a few days or weeks, long ones lasted for several months.
She was given the standard medical treatment for her case, consisting of strong drugs. But not only did they not help, but sometimes they acted overwhelmingly and only added to the desire to cripple oneself.
Once a girl was even sent to a nursing home - as a terminally ill person, to while away her days under the supervision of medical workers. Then she was already dreaming of studying, she wanted to change something, but she could not find the strength in herself.
A social worker helped the girl get out: she found her a job as a teaching assistant at the university. Arnhild started every morning with a bike ride to her work. Then she came to the conclusion that two things are important for recovery: will and hope. When she had a goal - to finish the university and the opportunity to do it, she, in her own words, began to get better.
By an effort of will, she forced herself to ignore the urge to cut her body, by an effort of will she forbade herself to follow the voices and pictures. Arnhild notes that recovery was not an instant process. It was a long journey that she was able to walk with dignity.
Turning Points
She hasn't had a seizure in a long time and thinks she's cured. She notes two turning points that gave her strength: when her mother stopped hiding breakable dishes from her, and they drank tea together fromchina service, and when she was able to throw out a business card from her wallet, which gave the addresses of her relatives and told what to do if she suddenly had a seizure. She talks about it in interviews and writes in her books.
Arnhild's attitude to schizophrenia: the genesis of the disease and ways of treatment
"The reason I am writing this book is because I have had schizophrenia in the past. It sounds as unbelievable as if I wrote that "I had AIDS in the past" or "I had diabetes in the past" "After all, a "former schizophrenic" is something that is simply hard to believe in. This role is not provided for anywhere. In the case of schizophrenia, people agree to recognize the possibility of a misdiagnosis. It is possible for schizophrenia to occur without appropriate symptoms, suppressed by drug treatment, it is also possible that a person with schizophrenia has adjusted to his symptoms or is now in a period of temporary improvement All of these are perfectly valid alternatives but none of them apply to me I had schizophrenia I know what it was like I know what the world around me looked like, how I perceived it, what I thought, how I behaved under the influence of the disease. I also had “temporary improvements”. I know how I perceived them. And I know how worth it now. This is a completely different matter. Now I am he althy. And it must be admitted that this is also possible."
- Arnhild Lauweng, "Useless as a Rose"
Now the girl is working on developing a method for treating patients with this terribleailment. In her opinion, the disease can "doze" for a long time, transmitted through genes. In order for it to wake up, stress is most often needed - the death of a loved one, bullying, and other diseases.
She says there is no universal cure for schizophrenia and in some cases medicine is powerless. But at the same time, it is impossible not to give people hope and put a stigma on them as terminally ill. The method that helped her may not be useful to other people. Therefore, she is working in the social sphere, working to change approaches to the treatment of patients.
Problems in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia
In addition to scientific work, Arnhild is fighting the attitude towards patients with schizophrenia, trying to change the approach to their treatment in the hospital and the hostile attitude towards patients in society.
She notes that the degrading treatment of patients in educational institutions only exacerbates the symptoms and the underdeveloped system of rehabilitation after treatment.
Contribution to psychiatry
After her recovery, Arnhild graduated from the University of Oslo and worked as a clinical psychologist. She holds a PhD in Psychology and was a longtime postgraduate student at NKS Olaviken where she worked in mental he alth.
In 2004, Lauveng received an award for her contribution to improving mental he alth care.
Books by Arnhild Lauweng
According to her words, in a short period shewrote "many books". A total of 11 of her works have been published. The most popular are not her scientific publications, but her autobiographies, where she talks about her illness and the path of recovery in a simple and accessible language. "Tomorrow I was always a lion" by Arnhild Lauweng has been translated into many languages, including Russian. According to readers, this is a poignant and honest story of courage, struggle and hope.
Translated and her other work - "Useless as a rose", which tells about her struggle and being in a medical institution. Unfortunately, most of her work has not yet been translated into Russian.
