Hello everyone, my name is Christian O’neal Coleman I developed a passion for work in the helping professions about 5 years ago. Good mental health is key for overall functioning in life and life would simply be hard to live without a healthy mind. I know. If you or a loved one has a mental illness, I’ve been there. I had a low point in my life; a low point I never thought I would rebound from. However, I bounced back and from then on, I decided to embark on both a personal and professional journey to help people who have to take mental illness with them throughout their life journey. In conclusion, I want to let everyone know that happens to be reading this that if you have a mental illness of any kind, you may think you are alone BUT you are not! There is help out there, tons of resources for you. Also, if you are someone who knows someone who may be experiencing a mental illness in their life, you may not always know what to do for that person but always remember this: a pat on the back, a hug or any other cordial act of reassurance is often times more than enough to put a smile on someone’s face.

Please know and always remember that YOU ARE NOT ALONE :-)

Thanks for reading everyone and please be well!

Hello, I have always thought that sharing my story with the mental health community is important to bring hope to others that are just like me.

I’m a 37 year old divorced mother of two boys. I have been in therapy of some kind or another since I was 7 years old. Mental illness runs in my family as well as substance abuse addiction. I believe I was born with my many disorders that progressed and worsened as I got older, abused illegal drugs, prescribed medication and had my children. In my early childhood I showed all the many signs of OCD. I also grew up in an extremely chaotic family where my mother suffered terribly with her own mental illness that was never acknowledged or treated and an emotionally absent father. My two older siblings coped with this by using and abusing drugs and my older sister was put into rehab when I was seven. My older brother simply moved away and is still an addict today covering up his own mental health issues. My younger sister was extremely emotionally disturbed and would act out violently towards my parents but especially towards me. She would later become a drug addict for many years and thankfully entered recovery 4 ½ years ago.

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Hello.  We all can live a great, purposeful life managing Bipolar Condition or any mental health situations. 

The social stigma of mental illness used to bother me to no end…and contribute to my problems!  I’m over that now, but I prefer to call it Bipolar Condition vs. “Disorder”.  I also prefer to discuss Mental Health vs. “Illness”.

My story in general: 

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There has always been a stigma around mental health; I see news reports that if the person who committed a crime had a mental illness, they automatically blame the person’s mental illness for what happened. This NOT always the case and most likely wouldn’t be if we had proper mental health care for everyone that needed it.

I was diagnosed with bipolar and depression seven years ago, and see my psychiatrist and counselor regularly. I hold a full-time job, internship, and am pursuing my master’s in communication and digital media. In no way does having bipolar and depression slow me down in life to the point that I can’t achieve my goals. Featuring people that have mental illness and are doing well in life seem to never be shown in ads or on television. I would love to change this because I am someone who takes medication regularly, and successfully lives a normal life!

I just want to put it out there that if you have a mental illness, you too can live a fulfilling life, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!

I became a Christian when I was 11 years old in the Methodist Church I grew up in. At the age of 24 after the birth of my second child, I developed severe postpartum depression. At the time, there was little or no understanding of this condition called depression by the Christian community or even by Mental Health practitioners. I was often told by, I hope, we’ll meaning but often uneducated friends and family to study my Bible and Pray more to cure myself. Even worse I was blamed my acquaintances, friends, and family for my illness and my failure to make it go away. Why didn’t I just get over it, pull myself up by my bootstraps, grow up, and stop feeling sorry for myself! People often avoided me because they didn’t want to acknowledge that mental illness is real or out of their own fears and ignorance.

Applying this type of stigma does not help a person who is struggling with depression or other mental illnesses. It does not hep anyone! Unfortunately Christians often want to blame Demons or Evil for a person being mentally ill. I frequently got calls from other church members who were struggling with depression because they felt safe talking to me because I would not condemn them for their problems as other friends and family members often did.

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My name is Brittany, and my mental health story is quite the roller coaster, but I am deeply hoping that someone somewhere will read this and find hope in it. 

I’m not sure I could tell you exactly when I knew I had a mental illness, everything for me started at such a young age. I knew something was wrong, I just didn’t know it was out of the ordinary. I was raised in a cult or a sect called branhamism. It took me a long time to utter those words, I was always taught that it was just church. I thought that this was what church meant. I won’t delve too deeply but to paint a clear picture it was a church that believed women should wear ankle long skirts, shouldn’t cut their hair, and should live at home and serve their husbands. There was no worldy music allowed, no makeup, tattoos or peircings, no nail polish, no birth control, the list goes on and on. The church greatly preached the end times over and over, drilling it into your head three times a week. I was raised in this church, this was all I knew.

So, from a very young age I began to develop severe anxiety. The first panic attack I can remember was when I was about 5 years old, possibly 4. I over heard my mother in the kitchen speaking with my older sister. I cannot remember the exact conversation except the words of my mother that still ring clearly in my ears. She said to my sister, ‘Brianna, in order to make something right that you have done wrong, you have to tell the person you have done wrong against.’ This may seem like simple advice, but to a five year old, it was the most terrifying information in the world. I immediately went to my room to think things out. Now, there was no one I had truly done wrong against at 5 years old but things seem a little different when you’re that young and don’t truly know right from wrong yet. My wrongs were not the wrongs of others. This is because my entire perception is skewed, but we will get to that soon. My wrongs looked more like bad thoughts. For instance, sometimes I would wonder if Jesus had private parts (which sounds very silly now but at 5 this seemed like a valid thought). However, because my church was very against sex as a whole (it was taught as a necessary evil once you were married) anything in relation to it sent me into a terrible panic. I would stay up all night, panting, crying, cold sweats, just staring at the ceiling for hours in absolute fear at 5 years old.

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I thought that I had accepted my mental illness long ago.  After all, I was taking medication and attending counseling after being hospitalized for months in a state psychiatric hospital.  Here I was an “advocate” for mental health but refused to disclose to anyone that I was suffering.  It wasn’t until I moved back to my hometown and got involved as a mental health advocate for NAMI that I realized what exactly accepting a mental health diagnosis meant.

Accepting meant that I was going to no longer stigmatize myself for being ill.  A condition, is a condition, is a condition.  I wouldn’t treat someone with diabetes any differently for being ill so why was I holding myself up to such a ridiculous standard?  Accepting meant that I was not afraid to stand in front of a group of 20 strangers and disclose what I thought was my biggest secret in order to educate the community.  For so long I wanted change to the system, change to mental health care.  The only way that change is going to happen is if we all accept our conditions and reduce the stigmatization.  Through acceptance and education comes change.

That change is exactly what I am seeing in myself and my community now.  After going through facilitator training for the NAMI Connection Recovery Support Group program I started a support group for adults with mental illness in my community.  I now sit on the advisory board for my mental health agency and my local NAMI affiliate as a mental health consumer.   I am no longer afraid to say that I have a mental illness and advocate for those who have not yet reached that stage in their recovery or are unable to advocate for themselves.  There is help and there is hope.

Because I had no history of a mental illness, physicians were unable to diagnosis a variety of unexplained medical symptoms. As I came to understand the mental health aspect of my illness, I was able to direct my own recovery. I would like to see more understanding of the intricate balance of physical and mental health. Discussion of functional motor disorders should focus more on the very real connection between the physical and mental. Terms such as “psychosomatic” imply the symptoms are made up—making the person feel inferior. This furthers negative impressions of mental health and hinders recovery.

For me, difficulty with swallowing was the first symptom. I regularly ran six miles before I had a medical test to determine the cause of the sensation of food feeling “stuck”.  After the test, I struggled to get off the couch. Despite further medical testing, there was no explanation for stomach muscle spasms after eating ½ cup of puree food. Also, walking was reduced to a slow, deliberate shuffle. For nine months, I struggled with walking and eating, then I was able to eat solid food with no difficulty. In the next five years, there would be months when I could maintain physical activity. Then physical symptoms such as weakness, shortness of breath, rapid heart rate would develop. There was no pattern for the appearance of symptoms. In time, symptoms would resolve spontaneously only to return. Symptoms progressed to depression and panic attacks.

After years of medical testing and sporadic counseling, I decided to ignore all physical symptoms. I joined a gym and told class instructors as well as my personal trainer about my medical history. They advised me in what should be a reasonable amount of physical activity. I adhered to a schedule and kept moving through a one hour fitness class. The instructor may do 20 repetitions and I did 5. In time, determined effort became fluid movement. Five months into an exercise routine, I ran a 5K. Two months later, I ran a 10K.

Recovery came as I faced the stigma. I was not “less than” because this happened to me. It was not possible for me to “just get over it” and move on. I had to address the physical, mental, spiritual and social aspects of my life. When I accepted the mental component as opposed to believing it was merely physical, I discovered what worked. I returned to my previous level of activity. The “runner’s high” is back.

In this six year journey, I was told many times, “It’s just the way it’s going to be. You have to learn to live with it.” But, I believed it was possible to return to work, to clean my house, to return to activities I enjoyed. More was possible if only I would keep trying, keep searching.

Mental illness can be masked behind very real physical symptoms. On the flip side, physical symptoms which defy medical diagnosis are often dismissed as being psychologically based. I believe individuals should pursue a physical diagnosis, seek counseling, and attend to spiritual and social matters. If physical symptoms persist, a decision should be made. Is it possible that paying attention to physical symptoms hinders recovery? If a person feels safe in assuming symptoms are not physiologically based, a course of recovery should be pursued.  Make a plan and stick with it. Results will not happen quickly. But full recovery is possible.

A Mothers Determination and Love

Beth Albaneze, CTRS CPRP

I am writing to tell you a story about Alberta and her 42 year old son Eric who has been diagnosed with chronic mental illness. Alberta is an RN at the oncology unit at suburban Hospital in Bethesda Maryland.  Alberta has exhausted her efforts navigating the mental health system. She contacted House Calls to help get her son’s life back. She could not accept that the day program where he had been for over seven years (after many years in a state hospital) was all there was for him. She even wrote the President of the United States.

Alberta described Eric as a popular active high school student, he was on the football team, had a girlfriend and many many friends. His life turned upside down in his senior year of high school when he became depressed which led to his first onset of psychosis. He had been distraught over his girlfriend and suffered a couple of concussions playing football and also during an altercation with aggressive strangers.

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