Close to people | Stories from Bethel
Back in the centre of life through a project
And suddenly nothing worked anymore: a personal event threw Christian Reiß off track. At the age of 32, he became so severely ill with schizophrenia that he had to move into an inpatient facility run by Bethel.regional. "It all started in 2012, when I became mentally ill," explains the 42-year-old from Dortmund. "I first lost my job and then my family due to my illness. I fell into a deep hole." He had help from a therapist, but that wasn't enough. "I could no longer live alone in my flat, I couldn't see a way out. When you have an illness like that, you need support."
Christian Reiß initially received support in outpatient form. He was also assigned a legal guardian. "A social worker then showed me several inpatient residential facilities for people with mental illnesses when I couldn't manage on my own. I particularly liked Bethel.regional's Echeloh home in Dortmund. I thought it might be a good fit," recalls Christian Reiß. The trained "technical information assistant" has no recollection of his early days at Haus Echeloh, except that the staff were very friendly and communicated with him as equals. "I felt safe, but I had a lack of prospects and a lot of anxiety."
"I thought this could be something bigger."
The daytime programmes, especially the internet group, which was supervised by Andrea Gerards, the current head of the PIKSL Laboratory Dortmund, turned his life around. "I often slept during the programme, partly due to the medication, but Andrea Gerards always kept me motivated," says the Dortmund native. Andrea Gerards also remembers the early days well: "When I met Christian, he was very introverted and was basically just happy when a programme came to an end. From conversations with other participants, I recognised his potential and feared that he would just be bored. We quickly built up a good relationship and when I introduced him to the PIKSL project, he immediately agreed to take part."
The key moment for an overall improvement in his health was the founding of the PIKSL Lab Dortmund in June 2019. "I took part in workshops that introduced the PIKSL mentality. There was a spirit of optimism. I thought it could become something bigger," reports Christian Reiß. The man with an interest in technology helped to set up and support the PIKSL laboratory. He was initially able to volunteer in the "PIKSL" project according to his interests. The project team is inclusive, without hierarchies.
Andrea Gerard is proud of the positive development: "Before the opening, he supported me with all our hardware purchases thanks to his extensive expertise. Christian became more and more open-minded and later took on topics such as virtual reality as well as film and photo productions on his own. He has become almost indispensable for the PIKSL lab." He was able to develop his strengths here. "It's a really nice job, since then I feel completely stabilised and can work under pressure again," says Reiß. A year ago, he took up part-time employment at the PIKSL laboratory in Dortmund. Outpatient care was cancelled at the same time.
Today, Christian Reiß is back in the centre of life and his legal guardianship has also been lifted: "I'm doing better than before the illness. I'm happy in my job, in life - with everything."
Text: Tanja Lenz-Urbach | Photos: Frank Linke, Helen Rademakers, Gregor Thomas
This story simply told
Christian Reiß fell ill with schizophrenia. His mental illness caused him to lose his job and his family. He moved into a Bethel centre. There he got to know the "PIKSL" project. This project supports people with disabilities in dealing with new media. Christian Reiß is actively involved there. He has been doing well ever since.
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Offers & services
PIKSL stands for "Person-centred interaction and communication for more self-determination in life". PIKSL labs are open places where people with and without disabilities develop social and technical innovations. The labs offer everyone the opportunity to try out new media. From the first steps on the Internet to the independent design of media products.
