The phone had already rung a few times when Mr. Schmied finally picked up. He had been very busy at the time, having given two short presentations on depression at the Swiss Handicap Trade Fair in Lucerne over the previous two days. As the president of the “GLEICH UND ANDERS Schweiz” association, which aims to promote and support mental health for all, he is in great demand.
He also works part-time as a peer worker. These are people who have recovered from a mental illness and who are now using their experiences to help others affected. He has always been a busy and performance-oriented person, which is also how he ran his own hotel with 22 employees, before he was the victim of a serious traffic accident which suddenly tore him out of the here and now.
“I fell ill with COVID in the midst of my post-traumatic stress disorder”
His body recovered from the accident and the wounds healed, but his psyche had to contend with severe depression from then on, which developed into post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD can develop immediately after a major event or sometimes years later. Often, those affected withdraw or become disinterested, feel as if they are strangers in their own lives and try to suppress the stressful event.
The beginning of a very physically demanding journey
In January 2021, Mr. Schmied learned of his COVID-19 infection. It was to be a long and, above all, hard road – once again! He spent 21 days in isolation, suffered a pulmonary embolism and finally had to be oxygenated in hospital. Today, he is happy that he was not intubated.
“Psychosomatic symptoms combined with Long COVID – it was too much.”
Mr. Schmied recovered slowly, and although he was still struggling with fatigue, among other things, his mind was stronger and he started working again much too soon. He seemed to have had a successful return to work following his COVID infection and had his PTSD symptoms under control to some extent. But just under 10 months later, at the end of November 2021, came the big crash where everything stopped working.
“I went back to work much too soon”
Based on the symptoms, burnout was the first suspect. However, examinations by a specialist then showed that his left lung was under functioning as a result of COVID. After the diagnosis of Long COVID with fatigue and depression, Mr. Schmied was admitted to Klinik Barmelweid.
The stay at Klinik Barmelweid brought Mr. Schmied back to life, step by step. In addition to a Long COVID clinic, he also attended group sessions for psycho education and was part of a group in which members dealt with their sensations of anxiety and panic. His psychosomatic complaints were treated with creative approaches, which led him to attend painting therapy and occupational therapy. The knowledge and awareness of not being alone was very valuable.
Resilience with the help of chickpeas
During his treatments in the clinic, Mr. Schmied also practiced self-reflection and self-care in order to increase resilience in his day-to-day life. To achieve this, Mr. Schmied learned the “10 chickpeas trick”, which he still uses successfully to this day. Ten chickpeas remind him every day of how important it is to know your own boundaries and how to avoid crossing those boundaries.
“I taught myself about self-care and self-reflection”
The trick with the 10 chickpeas or “the balls of happiness”
Mr. Schmied carries his “balls of happiness” (10 chickpeas) in his left pocket every day. They are intended to serve as a tool for him when he oversteps his limits. When he notices that he has exhausted himself in a situation and has reached his limits, he moves a chickpea from his left pants pocket to his right.
“Taking time in the evenings to reflect on the day”
In the evening, he counts the chickpeas in his left and right pockets and then looks back on the day in peace. This gives him time to analyze the “unusual events” or the situations in which he “overreached” and consider why he moved the chickpea from one pocket to the other. This allows him to plan his pacing or the energy reserves in more detail should this specific situation occur again.
“I always have my chickpeas with me: they remind me to listen to my body and recognize my limits.”
The importance of self-reflection and self-management
Mr. Schmied now knows the early warning signs of exceeding his limits very well and is convinced that if he does not pay attention to these early warning signs, the next crash will not be far away. Today, he works as a peer worker with a workload of 40% and sometimes reaches his limits. In addition, he bears a great deal of responsibility with patients, which means that he has to repeatedly force himself to take breaks or is made aware of this personally by the head physician. And when all this fails, a chickpea makes its way from his left pocket into his right pocket and reminds Mr. Schmied once again of the importance of self-care and self-reflection in his daily life.
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