Episode 2: The Personal Toll of Stigma: Navigating the Maze of Caregiving for Mental Illness
By: Carolann Introduction: In our journey to understand the complexities of caregiving for those with mental illness, we will explore the personal impact of stigma. As caregivers, we often find ourselves balancing love, duty, and societal judgment. This post examines...
Episode 1: Acheron’s Legacy: From Renowned Educator to Tragic Victim of Systemic Neglect
Episode 1: Acheron's Legacy: From Renowned Educator to Tragic Victim of Systemic Neglect By: Carolanne Introduction: My name is Carolann, and I lost my beloved partner in December of 2023 to complications from mental illness and alcohol use disorder. This is the...
Addiction Treatment: a state of neglect
By: A sibling/caregiver/nurse My parents are retired. They worked their whole lives to provide for their children, including drives to Disney Worldat March break in a Ford caravan, summertime camps, and all of the day to day demands of looking after three children......
Overcoming The Stigma Of Substance-Induced Psychosis
By: Kat E If you told me 3 years ago that I would be riding the wave of cannabis induced psychosis with my teenage son J, I would look at you with complete bewilderment. Even though I’ve worked in the mental health & addiction field for years, I wasn’t...
It’s not my fault, it was an accident, I didn’t know.
My son Nicholas My beautiful boy was perfect in every way but one. His brain was broken. I knew it from day one and I was ready to do anything to help him, anything I could. As it turned out, that was going to be nowhere near enough to save him. A mother’s heart...
God why me?
By: Joanne Helm On a very cold day this year, I came home from work, sat on my bed with tears in my eyes, and asked God: why me? Believe it or not a voice in my head boomed out: why not you Joanne? Like many of you, I took my child’s mental illness,...
My Journey with My Son
By: A Toronto Mother We started noticing a change in our son at 14. The checkboxes for mental health red flags we are instructed to look for in our children were all there: School refusal? Check. Self-isolation? Check. Excessive sleeping? Check. Decline in...
The Case for Common Sense
By: Kathryn Eve When I was a teen, I developed a real problem with alcohol and drugs right out of the gate. My experience with addiction was fast and furious. It quickly went from being fun to just problems. Of course, I didn’t see my substance use that way. I...
Tyler’s Story
Hi! My name is Tyler, and I am in long term recovery from alcoholism and addiction. This is a significantly shortened rendition of this wild ride I like to call life. But before we get into all of that, let’s start at the top. I grew up in two loving households...
Andrea’s Story
Five years ago I decided it was time to find recovery and take my life back. Five years ago today I took what money I had and used it for gas instead of dope like I originally planned to do. I drove 2.5 hours away from where I was quickly dying. It sure wasn’t...