I never meant for someone to read what I wrote and think that I was giving some kind of general prescription. Obviously “simple and predictable” wouldn’t work for a person with high arousal thresholds. However, for a person like me, it does work. I get majorly wacked out when I’ve got a million things going on, I don’t know what’s coming, and I don’t have time to think. For a person like my high-energy sister, she gets bummed out when she doesn’t have a million things going on. She thinks I’m ultra boring and I’m inclined to agree. But I’d rather be boring than crazy.
Also, we need to remember that something like depression is more conducive to self-cure than something like anxiety or schizophrenia. Sometimes a change of scenery or being around the right people is all you need to feel more hopeful and energetic. But if you have a panic attack every time you step outside or you’re hearing voices every hour of the day, all the “Put on a happy face!” in the world ain’t gonna help.
While there’s a lot of junk in the self-help section of the library or book store, many of those books are basically cognitive behavioral therapy in a slightly different package. A person who reads those books (or web sites) and applies that advice to his or her life can certainly work toward curing, or at least successfully coping with certain mental illnesses.
I doubt this is true for disorders like bipolar or schizophrenia, but for something like depression, which often responds better to therapy than drugs anyway, I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of people have pulled themselves out of it without the help of a therapist – through self help, support groups, or even religion.
I think there are lot of variables here, but I think in ‘certain cases’, with the right level of support, confidence reinforcements, good advice and uplifting experience it would help.
As for the medication, what my therapist tell me is that the medication helps to prepare one for therapy. The hope they have is that with therapy, I can go on without the med. It’s like having painkillers before re-hab.