Recovery and Mental Illness

Remember you are not define by your mental illness. Your hope becomes your recovery. Your strengths and positive coping strategies empower your destiny to recover.

Recovery is possible if you believe that you are not your diagnosis. The road to recovery is not easy. Hope, strength, support, determination, and education on mental illness can help an individual with a mental illness recover so that they can live a productive and gratifying life in their community. Some individuals with mental illness can work, attend and graduate from college, buy a home, and have families.

Hope equals maintaining a mentally, emotionally, and physically healthy lifestyle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                                  Written By: Tracy Goudeau, MS

Remember you are not define by your mental illness. Your hope becomes your recovery. Your strengths and positive coping strategies empower your destiny to recover.

Recovery is possible if you believe that you are not your diagnosis. The road to recovery is not easy. Hope, strength, support, determination, and education on mental illness can help an individual with a mental illness recover so that they can live a productive and gratifying life in their community. Some individuals with mental illness can work, attend and graduate from college, buy a home, and have families.

Hope equals maintaining a mentally, emotionally, and physically healthy lifestyle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This poem was  inspired by the struggle  with mental illness and the subsequent recovery of a young woman very dear to me.

I’ve always wanted to express my love and support for her and let her know that she’s been in my heart and  mind every step of the way.  This is a message of hope for her and for anyone struggling with mental illness.

Here is a song for you, my beautiful girl

A song for a rare, delicate pearl

You’ll always be Mom’s and Dad’s baby doll

So never fear a tall wall

Above the dark clouds, the sky is always blue

A beautiful rainbow will always come through

The moon is bright in shadowy nights and

Stars sparkle, like precious stones, far in the heights

If you close your eyes and stretch your hand

You’ll be able to catch one of them

Catch it and carry it with you, so you’ll never be blue

Let that light brighten your spirit

Let it be the key that will set you free

Free from worries, free from fears

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My name is Carrye and I have struggled with self-harm for over 20 years.  I am a 35 year old wife, mother and career woman. I have not self harmed in almost a year and a half. I have found hope in my situation, love for myself and acceptance that I have a mental illness and that is part of what makes me ‘me’.

I have nothing to be ashamed of and so much to be proud of. I am in recovery and I am not alone. I have been diagnosed with depression, borderline personality disorder, bipolar tendencies, anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder. I have come so far in my journey with the help of medications, a psychologist and a psychiatrist.

My greatest concern about my recovery at this point is how to educate others on the importance of love and support for those living with mental illnesses. I hope to inspire others to share their stories.  Because of the nature of self-harm, it can be difficult to talk about because of triggers. I never want to say or do anything that could cause anyone to feel the need to harm. I’ve learned that every day that I go without self-harming is a day to be celebrated. And I do celebrate – I count my blessings and all that I have to be thankful for.  

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 I’m 32 years old, from New Orleans, a Mother, Wife, Nursing Student, Survivor, and a member of #NAMI! I am living with mental illness daily. I have multiple diagnosis, so do many of the people close to me, including my very own child, mother, father, and Fiancée. I am helping #fightstigma by educating people and reminding US that it is #OK2Talk 💚 I want to reach as many people as I can. I want to be the voice of those who never had the chance, I want to remind everyone that we are not alone nor do we have to be silent… No Shame, #NOSTIGMA! We all deserve help. WE ALL DESERVE TO BE HEARD! My wounds are invisible BUT THEY ARE THERE.

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Hi, my name is Chris Esposito and I have experience with mental illness.  My condition came on late in life, in my 40’s.  Up until that point, I had been an exemplary student (valedictorian), superstar professional at a Big 4 accounting firm (making partner in 10 years) and otherwise exemplary family man.  In my mid-40’s, I began to experience symptoms of mental illness, including delusional thinking, paranoia, mania, depression among other things.  I was admitted to mental health facilities for several incidents.  My diagnosis was uncertain.  At first, I was diagnosed as schizophrenic which was troubling in and of itself.  I battled alcoholism during the same period which exacerbated my condition.  I became extremely depressed over a period of 4 or 5 years and had suicidal thoughts during that period. I would have started the car in my garage with the door closed.  That was how I had envisioned ending my life. Initially, the only thing that saved me was hormone therapy (testosterone).  I had been in invega, wellbutrin, latuda (along with the TD), and ultimately found consistency with invega.  Eventually, after reducing my alcohol intake dramatically (although not quitting entirely), I was able to come off invega and only use it on a maintenance basis when I feel my symptoms.  I had gained significant weight between the drugs and alcohol, along with poor eating habits.  When I reduced my alcohol intake, I was able to lose weight and coming off the invega also helped.  I subscribed to Noom and with their psychological treatments and weight loss philosophy, the weight melted off.  I am 50 pounds lighter today and in good physical and mental health.  I count my blessings every day.  I want to provide hope to all who feel hopeless.  Recovery is possible.

The idea of having a Bipolar Disorder stung me for a long time. When I’m feeling down, sometimes I feel the pressures of the stigma revolving around my mental illness. I always felt like there was a “normal” Valerie or a status quo that I had to

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The Mental Illness Blues
by Ethan Hutchins, October 10, 2017

    Having a major mental illness is very challenging! To those of you who face similar struggles as me, I hope this essay gives you a sense of comfort knowing that other people relate to your struggles.  If you feel intense symptoms, please seek help and find someone to talk with so that you don’t have to go through it alone.  To those of you without mental illness, I hope this essay shows how hard our lives are so that you will have more compassion and empathy for us.
    Many people experience a few minor mental health symptoms during their lifetimes, but luckily for them, the symptoms go away and allow them to continue living their lives undisturbed.  On the other hand, some of us are stuck with the type of major mental illness which overwhelmingly interferes with our lives.  It is hard to concentrate while our emotions and minds race around much busier than the average person’s.  We might be sitting still, but we are kept busy working hard to calm our minds or emotions in order to feel contentment or comfort.  It’s as if we are fighting an internal battle.  Mental illness is an invisible disability that isn’t as obvious as missing a leg or an arm. The symptoms drain our energy and make it hard to work full time jobs.  Some onlookers who lack compassion see our lack of energy and think that we are being lazy, but this is not true.  Trust me: it is exhausting (both mentally and physically) to struggle so much! Imagine what this must be like! When physical sickness strikes us, we become even more debilitated.  For instance, having a common cold on top of depression can make it extremely hard to get out of bed or to feel the slightest joy. 

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