10 Things Nobody Tells You About Recovery From Mental Illness

A lot of mental health content focuses on managing mental illness, but if you're planning to leave it behind you, there are some interesting challenges to expect along the way.

(It's called THE MIND WORKOUT in the UK and Australia/New Zealand, DAS MIND-WORKOUT in Deutsch, ENTRENA TU MENTE en español)

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[sulemanqamar]

Hahaha I remember first reading in your book how it completely freaked you out not having anxieties because you had nothing to fuel you/no purpose. And I was like "no way, I'd love for that to happen to me, what's he talking about."

And then it happened. And I was like "oohhhh."

Great video! The wilderness is exciting

[Tangentbordsblues]

I wish my nervous system weren't that nervous.

[Emmaexisting]

I just graduated from college yesterday and I wanted to thank you, Mark, for your book and the insights that you’ve shared. Instead of giving up, I chose to challenge myself by living on my own and completing college a year early. It was hard but I’m proud of where I’m at now in my mental fitness and I want to acknowledge that it all started with the courage your book fueled within me last year. Thank you for everything you do to serve others.

[potatomuffin]

Mark,

I can't express how much my life has changed because of you and your videos, your book, and your free acceptance field guide. I had to unsubscribe and stay unsubscribed as watching them had become an extreme compulsion. I do come back now time to time just to see what I have missed. You've been a part of my journey for 6 years now.

Recovery is possible!

Your content is Gold, as is your methodology.

Thank you so much for all of this.

[ScottJ_Moses]

I definitely just experienced the bit where you mentioned the nervous system has to catch up to where you are with recovery.

My brain sent me the old thought I used to struggle with, and lately, I’ve not been engaging with them at all which has been exponential in my recovery, although symptoms of panic started to rise. I accepted and allowed, and it died down, like it always does, but I found it strange because I don’t engage with the thought anymore. It’s more of an after thought at this point.

[BriJo]

Wow! This is absolutely something that no one talks about and something I've been struggling with and felt very weird or just confused? I didn't know how to express it and I felt a little guilty for even feeling these things. Thank you so much for putting this video out and using the analogies that you used. I don't want to hype you up too much but I don't think you're getting the recognition that you deserve because this content is life-saving and it's free. You're doing this because you care ..that's obvious... Thank you so so much and please keep putting content out if you want to. You are helping a lot of us very silent and shy suffers🧡🙈✨

[yo_its_javi]

"Happiness that doesn't depend on disaster." Thats beautiful 👏

[mikes]

Another great video that came at quite an opportune time for me. I think this really triggered a feeling in me that I am confident enough in my recovery to share some of what I’ve experienced on this journey. Just typing that I realized how compulsive that is to wait for a feeling of being recovered enough lol, but hey we’re still on the journey!

Around the same time I started “recovering”, but really growing, I had started to watch the famous anime series one piece. I don’t know if I was in the mental space to finally open up to these ideas, or that they found me at the right time, but getting into that anime has helped turn my understanding of recovery into something so simple. Our main character in OP is Monkey D. Luffy, virtually the opposite of the OCD archetype, he doesn’t run from any battle or emotion, does everything without thinking and over confidently trusts that everything will be ok. The funny thing about it is that he often shows that things turn out ok because of his own personal ability, something that ran quite contradictory to my beliefs about myself for the longest time. More important than anything though is the belief which Luffy embodies that “dying while doing what he truly believes in isn’t such a bad thing”. This simple sentence drilled into my head what is in my opinion the essence of recovery.

The whole struggle with OCD is that I allowed my journey to stop because things about it scared me. I now have compassion for this child who was unable to cope with uncertainties and a lack of confidence that wasn’t his fault. Compassion aside though, the real tragedy is that this child had run away so many times from himself that he had forgotten who he is or what he wanted from this life, maybe he never knew. The step to recovery was listening to our idiotic protagonist in One Piece and just looking for adventure. I have started traveling this year and I have went on a number of adventures, each time getting a stronger taste to life, and each time grieving something lost, learning something new, or sometimes both together. I’ve started to explore without judgment, sometimes feeling like Mark had mentioned that I’m losing control and that I’ve resolved to lose myself in this race car heading toward hell, but explore I continue, with more emotions and love than ever before. It’s all worth it because every day I’m taking more steps to the adventure that I PICKED, the dream that I DESIRE to see into fruition, and any pain or big bad fear that finds me will still be ok, because this is what I wanted and picked. The irony of it all is that when I hadn’t taken any risks in life I ended up with a life filled with fear and not worth living, one that I constantly questioned going insane, or whether there is any purpose to it all. The life I live now is filled with opportunity, hope, and a genuine childlike curiosity about experience. I still experience fear around those old fears from time to time, because they ARE scary! But scary things will not stop me from adventuring and seeing my dreams come into fruition.

I write this quite emotionally, feeling an intense hope, and a powerful compassionate sadness for the years in which I felt less emotion, years that I felt weak. For years I tried to think my way to growth that could only be attained experientially. I refuse to let the child within cry anymore tears alone by himself, and I will continue to support him on his journey wherever he goes. This is his life, and today I have the maturity to realize both the beauty and the importance of a child’s dream.

I can write a lot more about recovery, but if I could give one message to anyone it’s to start treating life as an adventure. Be naive if you must, but this life isn’t worth living without doing what we love. If you don’t know where to start, put on your pirate hat and embark on any one of the infinite experiences and adventures this life holds, navigate this way and YOU WILL find what you’re looking for.

I want to just share the beautiful words of the first one piece intro which distills this whole comments message:
“Come aboard and bring along,
All your hopes and dreams.
Together we will find everything
That we’re looking for.

One Piece

Compass left behind,
It’ll only slow us down.
Your heart will be your guide,
Raise the sails and take the helm.

That legendary place,
That the end of the map reveals
Is only legendary,
Till someone proves it real.

Through it all,
Through all the troubled times,
Through the heartache
And through the pain.
Know that I
Will be there to stand by you,
Just like I know you’ll stand by me.

So come aboard and bring along,
All your hopes and dreams.
Together we will find everything
That were looking for.
There is always room for you,
If you want to be my friend.

We are!
We are
On a cruise!

We are! “

[MsLiv]

The part about being ok with doing compulsions sometimes really resonated with me. Sometimes I still ruminate and even though it's not the best use of my time, that's ok. I become aware of it and actively try to do something else. Whereas there was a point where trying to stop ruminating basically became a compulsion. Like if I can't stop ruminating, i'll always have OCD and I'll never be happy. I was terrified of it and if I did it I felt like a failure.

[romantheroman]

Wow what an ending for the series. I remember how hard ir was for me accepting that recovery is not perfect and clean. I am not yet there, but I can already imagine hoe scary having nothing to fix is. I will share my experience if I am that far in life one day :D
Thanks for the support Mark. I really pulled myself out from a huge pond full of mud thanks to your videos and books

[magictone]

Many Psychologists don't tell You exactly why You are experiencing many things when You only have as they say one problem, they only listen and give the medication considering that it will fix it You. They don't tell You emptiness can cause this problem, or tell You to change your lifestyle, You alone learn from your own experience on mental issues that it changes from one to another, that anxiousness is connected to OCD, all connected to social insecurities, that OCD thoughts change from one to another, everything is connected because simply it's in your mind, Beautiful and strong people like You dear Mark who can understand and address the things at its place, I remember when I told my psychiatrist that my awareness can be an enemy, he didn't really understand. When You are already an aware person and when the illness has a name for You, You became more afraid that You will do these bad things, your mind will keep wandering, will keep thinking weird stuff, the trick is to understand this doesn't define You, and this is not true. these horrible thoughts are not You, to remember You are not alone, this illness doesn't mean that You are weak, it can mean the opposite, that You are really strong. On another hand, spiritual people has more struggles in this, psychiatrist won't really understand about energy, energy draining and energy obsorbing... etc... Sorry if I talked a lot Mark, just wanted to share some thoughts on my experience, Thank You so much for all your hard work, determination, care and kindness. With respect, kindness, courage and Love, Ghounwah 💗

[ocdhelp]

So true about the nervous system! This is so rarely talked about.

[findingmyway]

I love you man. Im dealing with bdd from age 15 and i tried my luck in age 18 - 19 after self dignosis and back than for some reason (now i know but i had a gut feeling ) they gave me the wrong diagnosis beacuse i didnt came from a family with alot resources and money and basicly immigrent style family witch doesn't undertstood back in the day (and still learning ) the subject of mental health i did it alone and i was a victim of bad service. in the age of 18 - 19 in the public health care and they gave me bs treatment and therapy witch was cut short eventually and sent me to life to earn more problems and trumas im dealing with today but now at the age of 29 im curentlly getting the full help that i need getting to know finaly what was really dealing with and it called bdd with alot of tools and knowlege and im still recovering thanks god and remember its started in the age of 15 its never to late to take care of yourself and dont ever give up onyourself this is a journey and you will allways find new things. therapy i belive is a life thing we will allways need therapy in our life. Im sorry for my english im from israel and i just want to say you are a bllesing man. Thank you !

[leakindt]

There's such a dearth of information on this topic. It is amazing and fascinating how hard the brain works to get us back into compulsions. The impulse to avoid/control/change feelings is SO STRONG. 4 years into my recovery journey and I am reading though your book a second time. Not as a compulsion, but because I know there's a lot of depth there I didn't have the emotional bandwidth to understand the first time around. And wow, so many new layers of wisdom have been revealed! Thank you for that and for all that you do. Your integrity for truly wanting to help others (vs maximizing advertising dollars) does not go unnoticed!

[alonakimhi]

Thank you for all the generousity, the wisdom and the deep sense of possibility that you’ve shared now theres hope breathing within me like an embrio, subtle and shapeless and yet very much alive.

[Peace-]

Ive been struggling with mental illness since years now. I dont know i went to dschinns storys to understand it more (Somehow i think its that) cause today in the night till almost morning was crazy Stuff said but then again it can be my mental getting better. God i am in IV right now at the moment my grandmother said i should continue on with IV cause i broke my Feets and i deserve that Money but i dont know about that. I dont know what to say to my psychologist. Right now i am 100% back and feeling good. This is crazy.

[likithsreddy]

It's so annoying i think i'm finally free of OCD and boom one day i wake up i have the worst anxiety and compulsions... anyways thanks mark for these videos can't Stress how much they help me!

[bobhill]

Great video. I think it shows that WHY is more important than WHAT. Everything can be done as a unhealthy compulsion. Unhealthy way of judging and avoiding unhealthy compulsions is still an unhealthy activity.

[jordanborba]

Excellent video, Mark! Thank you for helping us navigate the wilderness of recovery! I consider myself “recovered” because I am doing everything I’m wanting to do in life. I got on my horse for yesterday and didn’t think twice about it. That was the first time I got on without being afraid I was going to fall and break my neck! That’s just one layer of my onion. I’m working through the other deeper stickier layers, but not putting life on hold to do it! If you’re afraid to do something today, go do it! Even if it’s just today! I used to be terrified to stay home alone. Now I’m doing it constantly and not even thinking about it. But In order for me to not be afraid anymore— I had to do it afraid. ALOT! And it was worth it!!! Keep up the great work!

[Amina-cwem]

This is so crazy! I was about to post a comment yesterday to you about this exact topic and if you could cover it one day -- and it's already here?! Not even 24 hours later. I got really lucky lol.