A national organization, with a branch in Ann Arbor, is celebrating its 60th year of using alternative solutions to help those with emotional stress. Instead of using doctors or drugs, Recovery works together to solve problems.
"Meetings consist of demonstrations of the program," said Shirley Sachs, Recovery's executive director. "Through example, we take trivial aspects of everyday life to help members overcome their symptoms."
Members are not diagnosed by Recovery, although their individual doctor may recommend they attend the meetings. Some members are victims of chronic nervousness, which has symptoms that may mimic heart attacks or cause sleep disorders.
"A common symptom is that it's hard to keep your mind focused in class, sleeping too much or too little, waking up in the middle of the night with your mind racing," said campus outreach liaison for Recovery, Cheryl Schirillo, who organizes college involvement with the organization.
The Recovery program was founded by Dr. Abraham Low in 1937. Meetings are based on readings from his book, "Mental Health Through Will Training."
"The leaders are all lay persons - not professionals," Sachs said. "We don't try to diagnose what is wrong."
Recovery has banned the use of trained personnel because they may scare off members from meetings, Sachs said. Members who have overcome their problems serve as role models for new members.
"Many students have said when they first experienced problems with depression or anxiety they thought it wasn't a big deal," Schirillo said. "Most of their friends had felt down or had the blues once in a while, but they snap out of it.
"There are people who are prone to depression. Most develop problems between the ages of 18 to 23 and they can develop into problems that are harder to deal with when not taken care of," Schirillo said.
Recovery administrators said that because Recovery is a nationwide program, its services are more accessible to help members.
"One of the reasons that students can attend groups on campus is that if they go home for the summer or for vacations there are many times when there are groups in their hometowns," Schirillo said.
The Ann Arbor Recovery chapter meets Monday nights at 7:30 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church on Washtenaw Avenue. Members of the group said its nine-member size is unusually large for the organization.
One group member, who asked to remain anonymous, joined Recovery after several years of psychotherapy.
"I'd been in physiotherapy 10 years and the money was running out," she said. "I was getting disillusioned with that. I came once (to the group) and eventually started coming back under influence of the group and Donald. Now my mental health comes from within, rather than someone else."
The group's leader, Donald, said he was introduced to the group in 1972 through his ex-wife. After attending a meeting and not getting anything out of it, Donald left. He returned to the group in 1988 after his ex-wife recommended the group's literature.
"I tried it again and it took hold," Donald said. "After six months, they asked me to lead the group."
Although Donald was a licensed mental health professional, he said was allowed to take over the group because he was no longer practicing.
"In 1988, I started to lead the group, it was very small with a lot of women," said Donald, noting that he believes the group has improved his ability to mentally cope with problems. "It's possible that when you are very tempermental, emotional you can't really think. When you can think more, you are more intelligent."
One group member, who asked to remain anonymous, joined Recovery after several years of psychotherapy.
"I'd been in physiotherapy 10 years and the money was running out," she said. "I was getting disillusioned with that. I came once (to the group) and eventually started coming back under influence of the group and Donald. Now my mental health comes from within, rather than someone else."