How to avoid psychosis

Niek, do you still experience psychoses sometimes?

People often ask me this question after I share my story about how I healed from schizophrenia. And if so, what steps do you take to prevent it?

After an extremely transformative three-day seminar in Brussels, I returned home to Mechelen. During those three days, I met hundreds of new people, participated in over twelve hours of training each day, and all that with only four hours of sleep per night. My morning consisted of a light breakfast, and I fasted for the rest of the day.

The next day, back in Mechelen, I accomplished an incredible amount of work and delivered motivational coaching sessions. I even received feedback from my clients that this “new Niek” was even better than before.

Via Facebook and WhatsApp, I received several messages and compliments from people who wanted me to guide them or collaborate with them. My confidence—and my ego—skyrocketed.

And suddenly… I heard a ringing in my ears, felt my heart pounding in my chest, and realized I was feeling manic.

At that moment, I faced a choice: would I launch a rocket to Hollywood, or would I ground myself and prevent falling into another psychosis?

Since I stopped taking antipsychotics four years ago, I’ve faced this choice a few times. Want to know more about how I healed during my 7-year healing journey?

I remember this vividly from when I lived in Leuven. I had recently been promoted to manager and was responsible for a team of 15 people. I worked an average of 10 to 12 hours a day, went through a breakup, and was living alone for the first time.

Due to time constraints, I spent the first few nights sleeping on a yoga mat. And yet, I seemed to have endless energy and felt unstoppable. But that was deceptive because a psychosis was lurking.

What I did back then to reconnect with my body, and what I recently applied again, are these 7 steps, summarized below:

The 7 Steps To prevent a new psychosis:

Step 1: Neutralizing the environment.

I remove all external influences and stay home. I put my phone on airplane mode, don’t leave the house, and avoid social interactions. It’s time for silence and awareness. I eliminate anything that might give me an extra dopamine boost.

Step 2: Grounding the physical body.

I make sure to eat foods that are very grounding, like red meat. For vegans, heavy foods like potatoes and root vegetables can work. I also eat foods that promote digestion, like fruit, and drink plenty of water. I avoid coffee, gluten, and sugar. Additionally, I supplement with magnesium and melatonin to relax further.

Step 3: Clearing external chaos.

If my living space is cluttered, I clean everything up to ensure there is no visual chaos around me.

Step 4: Clearing internal chaos.

A silent meditation is too much for my overactive mind. What I do instead is listen to deeply calming affirmations. During the day, I may do this while walking, and in the evening, while engaging in light household chores. Would you like to receive these affirmations for free? Send me a message.

Step 5: Cleansing the energetic

body.I soak my feet in a salt bath, as salt absorbs negative energy. Additionally, I burn palo santo to cleanse my space. To my scientific followers: sorry, but not sorry.

Step 6: Cleansing the physical body.

I take a long, warm shower to relax even further.

Step 7: Sleep and the sexual body.

I’ve been practicing tantra and semen retention for years, but when my energy needs to ground it also needs to be released... So in other words : , I unleash the dragon. For those still on antipsychotics, I don’t recommend semen retention, as it can be dangerous if you haven’t learned how to properly manage this life energy.

If I didn’t follow these steps, I’d end up back in a psychiatric hospital in no time. If I’m unaware of the early symptoms and they escalate too far, these steps unfortunately won’t be enough anymore.

However, I can teach you how to become aware of these signals.

Not long ago, I posted that I would no longer write about this topic. But as my former travel companion always said: “When you make plans, God starts to laugh.”

If you know people who could benefit from this information, please share it. Do you want to be guided by someone like me, who embodies this knowledge and hasn’t just learned it theoretically from a book? Send me a message.

Are you a parent and want to learn how to support your child in the right way? Send me a message.

Soon, I’ll post about how the relationship with my mother has transformed. That post is already prepared!

Stay tuned!

We are currently living in a time of rapid change. Outdated systems, as we know them, are failing faster and faster.

There’s a reason why my psychiatrist once told me:“Niek, I really don’t know how you did it.”

But I did it. And if I can do it, so can you.

My transformation began the day I realized that no one could save me except myself. Sometimes, you have to die a few times to be reborn.

I won’t be able to save you either. But what I can do is give you the tools to learn this.

Are you ready to learn?

For everyone currently struggling with mental challenges:

I send you lots of

love and light,

Niek De Graef