Hi,

I would like to share my mental health history to enable others to seek help and not give up hope. My start of mental health issues started when I was about 17 years old. I had OCD like symptoms and was given medication. I also had anxiety which was treated the same way. Some years later I was told I had attention deficit disorder . By now I was frustrated with all the diagnoses and was frustrated. Some years later while switching meds I spent 16 weeks in 2 mental hospitals.

I became a Christian soon after all this and prayed for relief of symptoms. I haven’t felt better but I try to help others who are struggling with similar conditions. I am recently divorced and have 2 great sons ages 13 and 17.
I am available to help those who need help. I am not a health care professional but I am intuitive and maybe can direct you.

God bless all

Gary kleiner

My name is Darren LaBrecque from Bro-Hun Ministries an advocacy to mental illness within the church. As for my “handicaps”, they are A.D.D, Anxiety/Panic Disorder, Learning Disability, Cerebral Palsy-Scoliosis and depression. I came from an abusive alcoholic background where I was the brunt of my brothers and fathers jokes. I was the stupid kid who would never amount to anything, but I beat the odds and did what most people would deem impossible. My father told me when I graduated high school at age 20 it took him long enough; I wish I never had a “retard” for a son.

Life has always been a challenge for me, but I never gave up! My mom, my sister and me moved to West Springfield, Massachusetts in 1986 and then to Brattleboro, Vermont in 1987. I worked many different jobs, because my disabilities “which I was in denial of” got in the way. So I began drinking to cover my disabilities up. I became a “closet drinker” or “weekend drinker” consuming in one day what most people consume in entire week. I met a girl and moved back to Massachusetts again not keeping jobs for very long and this continued while dating a few different girls until 1996 when I moved to Tennessee with an old friend. I lived in Tennessee from 1996 until 2003 moving to Connecticut in 20003 and back to Massachusetts in 2004 to live with my sister. While living with my sister I met and fell in love with Noel who became my wife.   I felt called to advocate for those who struggle with mental illness in the church too effectively equip church leaders and fellow strugglers of mental illness in proper communication skills.

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I suffer from 3 disorders which make life harder. Adhd and anxiety mainly affect me. Sometimes I’ll make a dumb mistake and then instantly apologize ten times and call myself dumb and an idiot. I have trouble with others. On the bus there are a ton of 8th grade hot girls (who by the way have BF’s and are straight and I’m a girl). And I used to call them hot and I would get into fights and stuff because I would lose my shit. I never get anxious about tests, but if a teacher makes an empty threat I am sobbing and panicking. I take two pills a day which I need. I wish I was normal. I will always say the wrong things and criticize myself for it. I am much better than I used to be. When I was in kindergarten my crush stopped being my bff and bullied me and I was friendless. In 1st grade I would get in trouble everyday. This is not all of my stuggles over the years but some.

I would like to offer  my story about  mental illness.   I am  52 feeling good now.  But that was not always the case.   I has been suffering from mental illness pretty much since I was young. Maybe age 10.  I knew I was different but never quite got it.  I suffer from anxiety and depression.  I never  realized how much  anxiety I had! I do believe most people don’t.   Depression is well known but anxiety is so much more.   We need to address both together!  

Mental Illness is not something that is new to my family. Out of the 4 of us, we all have at least 1 mental illness. My mother struggles with Anxiety, my father and sister are both alcoholics living with Bipolar Disorder. As for me, what don’t I have? At 4 I was diagnosed with ADHD. At 13, Major Depressive Disorder, at 20, an eating disorder not otherwise specified. And at 22, Generalized Anxiety Disorder. A lot for any one person to handle.

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My name is Amanda and I struggle with mental illness on a day to day basis. I’ve been diagnosed with OCD, depression, anxiety, and ADHD. Like many others, I struggle with a variety of mental illness. After many doctors appointments, mental breakdowns, and a pharmacy full of trial and error of medications, my mental status has went from being rock bottom to almost completely manageable. There is hope out there for everyone but it usually takes a lot of time and patience. I am beyond happy with the amount of medical resources that are out there for people with mental illness to utilize, however I wish there were more public awareness. Mental illness is a real thing and many people just believe that people like me are “crazy”, which is really not the case at all. I have a chronic illness that I didn’t ask for. It was what I was handed in life so I’ve had to learn to make the best out of the situation. My illness is no different than other chronic illnesses. If more of the population were made aware of mental illness then less people would be ashamed of their illness and more likely be open about their problems and seek medical help. I feel there has not been enough education or awareness given to the general public. Mental illness is something that is real and is here to stay, so it is more than important for awareness to increase. On another note, I would like to encourage everyone struggling with any type of mental illness to never give up on anything. Throughout my struggles, I have managed to balance caring for my 3 children, school, and a full time job. I’m not going to lie and say it has been easy because it hasn’t been. I have trusted in God and just told myself repeatability to never give up. I could go on and on and on about everything I’ve been through but I’m not because one, you will be reading for days and two, I have found it’s better to push your hardest to overcome your battles and avoid dwelling on things that can’t really be reversed. The best advice I can give is to be happy, live happy, and know that you can do anything you put your mind to. Just remember you can overcome any kind of obstacle or speed bump in life. Yes, it would be easier if the whole world understood our problems, but for now, until there is more awareness, we’ve got to help each other and lean on God and on the people who love us. I wish anyone with any extent of mental illness the best of luck. I can only pray that one day more people will be more understanding to these illnesses.

I have an entire volume of experiences that make up my complete story and that of my family.  Today I am inspired by the story about the police being called and subsequently shooting the “patient” with mental illness in “I Heard His Mother’s Screams”.  I agree that there needs to be some other level for response in emergencies when parents or caregivers need to call for assistance.  Our local police force reacts in much the same way, although we have not had any shootings at our house, thank God.  

When my son RH was around 16-17, while I was at work, the police came to the house to talk to him.  He went into the kitchen (of our small row home) and they thought he was going to “run”.  They cornered him in the doorway, and he struck one of the officers on impulse when he says the officer hit or touched him, first.  Five police officers from 3 different departments showed up, they tackled him to the ground in the kitchen, split his ear open on a plastic cat food container that broke during the struggle, they tazered him multiple times, and from the descriptions from his brother and friend who saw the whole thing first hand, held him down while yelling at him to get up, and while kicking him.  

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My name is Jennifer. I am bipolar. I am not ashamed to admit that I have a mental illness. It is a disease, just like any other disease, it’s nothing to feel ashamed of. I have manic episodes, high anxiety, depression, chronic pain, mood swings, etc. I am currently on Social Security Disability for mental illness. I’m 41 years old & Ive lost every job I have ever had because of my illness. I was never fired for missing work or not doing a good job. I was always fired for issues pertaining to getting along with co-workers or customers. My mood swings, depression & anxiety took over my life. It ruined my marriage. Until I was diagnosed & medicated properly, I was suicidal. 

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I have always struggled with mental illness. Always. I was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity when I was four. After being raped by my school bus driver when I was eight, I developed non-violent psychosis, including visual and audible hallucinations, and a separate personality in my mind to cope. I first became depressed and suicidal when I was twelve. I went without mental treatment until I was 24, at which time I voluntarily admitted myself to a partial hospitalization mental health program for two weeks. I was diagnosed with Depression, Borderline Personality Disorder, and got an official PTSD diagnosis. I was lucky enough to become the patient of a psychiatrist and a clinical therapist. I received counseling and medication to help maintain functionality.

But nothing was helping. I did my own research and started going to school to get my degree in Psychology, and self-diagnosed myself with Bipolar II. My psychiatrist didn’t think it was, and instead of prescribing the mood stabilizer I requested, she instead gave me an anti-depressant and an anti-psychotic. It helped some of the time, but I was still dealing with my depressive episodes and hypomania. At 27, after attempting suicide for the 12th time, I voluntarily committed myself to the in-patient mental health program at the same hospital I went for the partial visit for three days. After sitting with the psychiatrist there for several hours, going through everything in explicit detail, she agreed that I was dealing with Bipolar II instead of Depression. I was taken off the anti-psychotic and given a mood stabilizer.

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My family and I live in New burgh, N.Y where is the love and support for the caregivers and families in our city? Do we have to travel to Middle town or Goshen to attend support groups or obtain well needed information that we desperately need especially during a crisis or legal issue? I have four family members in my household with mental Illness and/or physical disabilities/illness that makes it almost impossible for me to get a 2 hour meeting that takes 30 minutes to get to and 30 minutes to get back home, I cannot leave my family alone and no one I know is willing or capable to sit with them or manage them for any given period of time. I don’t own a car because I am unable to work I can’t afford to take everyone on the bus or in a taxi and if I could the time and effort would be tremendous on us all. I have one son with Paranoid Schizophrenia and Heart Disease with a Pacemaker. Defibrillator implant and Mental Retardation, One adopted son with Autism, A.D.D and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome  his brother who is Epileptic with ODD, Bipolar with Psychotic features and A.D.H.D and then my life partner who 55 years old suffered a stroke, has C.P.O.D, P.T.S.D, and Sciatica. How I manage is a question I cannot answer. 

Thanks