Sailing and Mental Health

[fuentes]

Originally Posted by tomfl

I suspect we all have our own demons. Back when I was a kid I sailed with my Dad who was a medical doctor. Part of the reason he had a sailboat was to get away from phones (this was back in the 1950s and 1960s) ringing which for him signaled he had to go to work no matter what the time. Even a short trip from Miami out in Biscayne Bay allowed him to get away from it all so to speak. Part of that seems to have rubbed off on me; only now that means getting out of cell tower coverage.

I have to wonder about some of the comments about what happens when a big storm blows up and it may, or may not, be too much for the skipper to contend with. Just my two cents but I would bet even a level headed completely sane skipper might get the creeps if the wind and waves got bad enough. On the other hand some folks might just be crazy enough to ignore the possible dangers and concentrate on keeping the water out of the boat and the mast side up.



How one deals with the sea, be it solo or with a crew, seems to be more dependent on their personal demons than some text book definition of sanity.

When things get "nasty", I concentrate on what needs to be done to stay afloat. There is plenty of time later to "panic" and/or change my shorts.

[honor628]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

Right on!...I worked in Mental Health as well as a Chemical Dependency facility. Most of these people feel out of control most of the time. The last thing they need is the challenges that can take place while sailing days on end.

I am going to beg to differ. At the age of 45 I laid in bed wanting to die. I emailed in my "take this job and shove it", laid in bed and prepared to die. The best thing that ever happened to me was becoming homeless and starting therapy. I have been a functioning bi-polar person my whole life and went over the deep end. In intensive day therapy I had an encounter with someone who was visiting to share her story. He words of getting in touch with your unbroken self. It is my mantra now. I started swimming and sailing again. That was 4 years ago and since then I have swum several open water races, 2 were marathon swims, I race on a sailboat over the summer and am now the proud owner of a 27' Columbia sailboat. YES I do get triggers by the daunting task of refitting the boat but I have tools to get through this. Sailing and swimming have kept me alive. I admit I do struggle with motivation to get it done but every time I don't let my brain talk me out of doing something, makes the battle shorter the next time because I learn that it is just my disease trying to win.

If you are interested in following to see if I "crash" or this whole mind body thing and unbroken self is the answer you can follow my FB page, www.facebook.com/UnbrokenSelf .

I do get that it is NOT the answer for everyone but for many. I am planning on offering free sails to anyone suffering with addiction or mental health once she is in better condition.

SAIL ON!

[jamesdavis]

I think Joshua Slocum's self-titled book, "Sailing Alone Around the World," provides excellent view into solo sailing and well-being; after all, he was at it for 3 years.
A great read for all sailors and wanna-be sailors, like me.

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by HankOnthewater

I came across this link: Out of the blue: The healing power of the sea - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

It explains one's mental health can be (possibly) improved by being out on the water.

I would say a very good initiative.

Very good if harbour sailing is involved .. however...

Offshore it does not work.

A year ago I shipped crew who had lost his wife a few years earlier and had gone through a rocky patch.

I was assured that all was OK, and he was on nil zero nada medication for anything....

So away we go.... and out comes the bag of pills.....

Then a few weeks later in a bit of a blow he goes catatonic and advises me he suffers from chronic depression ... and has no meds for that..... we had to cope with this waste of space for another 3 weeks....

They had this figured out over a hundred years ago... A piece in an old copy of the 'P&O Pocket Book (1908) ' advises 'It so happens that those given to the abuse of drugs and alcohol are recommended to take a voyage; but no greater error could be commited than to send these cases to sea. The conditions on board are so exactly suited for the practice of the indulgence that the state of the patient is almost always worse at the end of the voyage. The same remarks apply to those who are mentally unsound.'.

[Gadagirl]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Day tripping maybe.. but a multi day passage not so sure.. and definitely not solo..

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

Right on!...I worked in Mental Health as well as a Chemical Dependency facility. Most of these people feel out of control most of the time. The last thing they need is the challenges that can take place while sailing days on end.

There are plenty of studies about the effects cause by solitary confinement in mental institutions and prison systems that don't bode well for the mentally ill let alone the mentally stable. I would think that confined on a boat, solo, for a certain length of time time would produce similar results. Getting on the water for a few hours, a weekend, even a week. yes, I'd agree would be beneficial. In solitude much longer? not sure that would be beneficial. So I agree with both of these opinions.

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by honor628

I am going to beg to differ. At the age of 45 I laid in bed wanting to die. I emailed in my "take this job and shove it", laid in bed and prepared to die. The best thing that ever happened to me was becoming homeless and starting therapy. I have been a functioning bi-polar person my whole life and went over the deep end. In intensive day therapy I had an encounter with someone who was visiting to share her story. He words of getting in touch with your unbroken self. It is my mantra now. I started swimming and sailing again. That was 4 years ago and since then I have swum several open water races, 2 were marathon swims, I race on a sailboat over the summer and am now the proud owner of a 27' Columbia sailboat. YES I do get triggers by the daunting task of refitting the boat but I have tools to get through this. Sailing and swimming have kept me alive. I admit I do struggle with motivation to get it done but every time I don't let my brain talk me out of doing something, makes the battle shorter the next time because I learn that it is just my disease trying to win.

If you are interested in following to see if I "crash" or this whole mind body thing and unbroken self is the answer you can follow my FB page, www.facebook.com/UnbrokenSelf .

I do get that it is NOT the answer for everyone but for many. I am planning on offering free sails to anyone suffering with addiction or mental health once she is in better condition.

SAIL ON!

Well done mate, I admire resilience, a rare quality today.

Sent from my vivo Y35 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by Gadagirl

There are plenty of studies about the effects cause by solitary confinement in mental institutions and prison systems that don't bode well for the mentally ill let alone the mentally stable. I would think that confined on a boat, solo, for a certain length of time time would produce similar results. Getting on the water for a few hours, a weekend, even a week. yes, I'd agree would be beneficial. In solitude much longer? not sure that would be beneficial. So I agree with both of these opinions.

Left alone with ones own mind can be a real problem. I lived with a Gieshla Buddhist monk once ( long story) he used to laugh at me and say "you have a mind like a rogue elephant, it goes where ever it wants". The day today distractions and company help us be directed. In saying that, I do enjoy the periods of solitude that come with singlhanding.
I think we all have mental illness, its just the degree to which we have it that varies :-)

Sent from my vivo Y35 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by honor628

I do get that it is NOT the answer for everyone but for many. I am planning on offering free sails to anyone suffering with addiction or mental health once she is in better condition.

SAIL ON!

Great post! Great story!

SAIL ON

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by daletournier

Left alone with ones own mind can be a real problem. I lived with a Gieshla Buddhist monk once ( long story) he used to laugh at me and say "you have a mind like a rogue elephant, it goes where ever it wants". The day today distractions and company help us be directed. In saying that, I do enjoy the periods of solitude that come with singlhanding.
I think we all have mental illness, its just the degree to which we have it that varies :-)

Originally Posted by Gadagirl
There are plenty of studies about the effects cause by solitary confinement in mental institutions and prison systems that don't bode well for the mentally ill let alone the mentally stable.
__________________________________________________ ___

Yes and a good example of that is Donald Crowhurst.

The book Outerbridge Reach is a fictional account based on his failed Round the World single handed race attempt.

I don't recommend it to single handers...............sailing offshore especially those with overactive imaginations and high energy

[fhansen]

Sailing and Mental Health

I can certainly relate to this and even though everyone is different, and has their own circumstances, there is something healing about being on the water.

I am now a almost 5 year survivor of the deadliest form of Encephalitis, and for the first few years did not even know who anyone was, even my own family, even after care in Hospitals. You can call me the missing, damaged brain guy, I can even see it on the MRI scans now.

Long story short, now unable to work, my wife thought it would be perhaps a good form of treatment to get back into sailing again. Last year we picked up the fixer upper and it has been maybe challenging at times, but when we are out on the ocean, even for a day sail, it puts my mind at ease.

So, I would recommend to anyone who has any form of mental health issues, that sailing or any time by the ocean heals as well.

[knockabout]

M-A-D =manic aggressive and dangerous / nature is like that
some say to shorthand small keel boats off shore you need to be mad / but it is not an absolutely necessary requirement (the skill can be learnt) what type of madness drives men to sail the vendee or Sydney - Hobart in bad weather

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by fhansen

Sailing and Mental Health

I can certainly relate to this and even though everyone is different, and has their own circumstances, there is something healing about being on the water.

I am now a almost 5 year survivor of the deadliest form of Encephalitis, and for the first few years did not even know who anyone was, even my own family, even after care in Hospitals. You can call me the missing, damaged brain guy, I can even see it on the MRI scans now.

Long story short, now unable to work, my wife thought it would be perhaps a good form of treatment to get back into sailing again. Last year we picked up the fixer upper and it has been maybe challenging at times, but when we are out on the ocean, even for a day sail, it puts my mind at ease.

So, I would recommend to anyone who has any form of mental health issues, that sailing or any time by the ocean heals as well.

Another story that puts things in perspective....great to hear your up and running.
Its so cliche, but life is short ,it can change and does, girlfriends sister (42) died this week.
Mental illness is delaying living, assuming you have enough time to fulfill your desires at some later date, we a further down the road than we think.

Sent from my vivo Y35 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by PortClydeMe

Actually, I know much more than "nothing" about the topic. However, since you have a PhD in psychology from an ivy-league school, please share. I highly doubt it, but there might be some things that I don't know about.

By the way, back in my generation, we simply referred to dependencies as "addictions". Alcohol, opiates, narcotics, chemicals in general... it's all the same. We never used the term "fear based". That is, unless you maybe meant a fear of not getting a fix. To me, fear based sounds a little bit like "millennial generation" English. Ahhh, but I digress.

Please carry on

Furthering your ignorance you have tried to define my education and age. I doubt you really want to know the answer to either since you have been so single minded. But allow me to entertain you so you can take another cheap shot. My major at the University of California, Santa Cruz was Psychology, Human behavior, Drug and Alcohol studies. I'm well into my 60's and no one really cares what you use to call peoples dependencies.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by honor628

I am going to beg to differ. At the age of 45 I laid in bed wanting to die. I emailed in my "take this job and shove it", laid in bed and prepared to die. The best thing that ever happened to me was becoming homeless and starting therapy. I have been a functioning bi-polar person my whole life and went over the deep end. In intensive day therapy I had an encounter with someone who was visiting to share her story. He words of getting in touch with your unbroken self. It is my mantra now. I started swimming and sailing again. That was 4 years ago and since then I have swum several open water races, 2 were marathon swims, I race on a sailboat over the summer and am now the proud owner of a 27' Columbia sailboat. YES I do get triggers by the daunting task of refitting the boat but I have tools to get through this. Sailing and swimming have kept me alive. I admit I do struggle with motivation to get it done but every time I don't let my brain talk me out of doing something, makes the battle shorter the next time because I learn that it is just my disease trying to win.

If you are interested in following to see if I "crash" or this whole mind body thing and unbroken self is the answer you can follow my FB page, www.facebook.com/UnbrokenSelf .

I do get that it is NOT the answer for everyone but for many. I am planning on offering free sails to anyone suffering with addiction or mental health once she is in better condition.

SAIL ON!

yes...but you didn't go from your bed wanting to die to sailing. You became inspired, sprung into action, educated yourself, sought help and recovered to a point where you became functional. And that is commendable.

[MarkJ]

It's a bit funny reading advice here from people without (known) problems to people who have.

It's a bit like seeing a pregnant woman and telling her diet tips.

And the people who profess to know something about these conditions stand in the corner screaming at each other.

Its just funny.

I have a number of friends with 'depression/bipolar etc'. I use '' as they're pretty broad terms, arnt they? Each person is an individual, and each of my friends with it are affected in a different way. Each responds in different ways. So I guess some would not like sailing long passages, but I guess some would relish it, and the further from people the better.
Someone mentioned Crowhurst. Because he did what he did it does NOT mean every person under treatment will do the same.

BTW Winston Churchill was perused by the Black Dog, so don't tell me they can't be very, very high achieving. http://www.bipolar-lives.com/winston...epression.html