Enriching Your Income and Your Life

An effective approach for consumers/survivors

David Chernochan

I feel so fortunate to be part of a community of mental health consumers/survivors. In my experience, we cleave together, are always happy to see each other and provide a wealth of personal support. It’s within this close-knit community that I’ve been able to improve my financial situation.

Walking a Financial Tightrope Into the Future

Trudy *

Our roller-coaster journey began in earnest about seven years ago. After moving to Vancouver on a whim in August 2003, our son Paul* was hospitalized in June 2004 at age 28. At first he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but it was changed to schizoaffective disorder (an illness that combines the symptoms of schizophrenia and a mood disorder).

Measures of Our Worth

Frank G. Sterle, Jr.

“What do you do?”

“What do you mean?” I reply.

“I mean, what do you do for a living—what’s your job?”

Already I can see the conventional mindset about to challenge my value as a member of the community . . .

I’m left to reluctantly respond, “I’m currently unemployed.”

Bipolar Disorder. Reckless Spending

Pat Merrett and Marguerite*

Marguerite says: “My life is so much better since I cleared up my money problems. Without the tremendous dedication of my friend at MDA, I don’t know what I would have done. I’ve been volunteering for 12 years at MDA. It is very healing to be with people who care.”

Joyous Living

Catherine St. Denis

I am 45 years old and was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) after making an attempt on my life about six years ago. Since then, I’ve worked hard to heal and be happy. Right now I’m the happiest, healthiest woman I’ve ever been. I feel vital and vulnerable and strong. My symptoms are under control; most times I consider myself without symptoms at all.

Don’t Call Me ‘Borderline!'

Elizabeth Bogod

Recurring Themes in BPD Recovery

Lisa Marie Sterr

It’s Okay to Ask for Help

Robin Rebeiro

I’ve always considered myself a strong person emotionally. The idea of asking for help made me feel that I was somehow weak, and this was a side of myself I never wanted anyone to see. But a couple of years ago, I decided that I did need help—after trying for a long time to convince myself that I didn’t.

My Portfolio of Support

Ian Chovil

View From the Ruin

Julianne Kim

Life Through Depression - Depression Through Life

Ken Lam, as told to Stephanie Wilson

I was born in 1932, in Hong Kong. I have two older brothers, one younger brother and one younger sister. My father had a successful business as a wholesale herbalist. He was a stern and dominant man, somewhat like a dictator in the house. As a child, I was scared of him, scared to talk to him. My mother smoked, played mah-jong and went shopping with friends.

She was very active, but did not need to do housework because we had three live-in servants. It was a very typical middle-class family.

Jarnail and Pritam

Gary Thandi, BSW, MSW

Jarnail* was a proud man who had a difficult time admitting that his alcohol use was becoming a problem. What started as an occasional drink in the evening had now become several glasses of scotch throughout the day. He knew plenty of men in his village back in India who had an alcohol misuse problem, but he had managed to avoid that fate for most of his 65 years. Why, after recently immigrating to Canada, did it rear its ugly head?

When Life's Demands Take Their Toll

Changeways for depression

Pat Merrett

My husband Joe couldn’t figure out why this was happening. He was 58 years old and was sitting in the backyard crying. And it wasn’t the first time.

In July 2009—seven years later—Joe attended his first session of the Changeways program. This is a weekly group program based on cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT). It teaches problem-solving and lifestyle management skills as related to negative thoughts, social interaction, stressors and relapse prevention.

In looking back, Joe has come to realize that he has lived with depression for most of his life.

From Pain to PTSD

Running the gamut of CBT

Lynda Marie Neilson

I had a serious motor vehicle accident nine years ago while working for a very high-paced software company. I was in Ottawa—far from my home in Vancouver—driving to a client’s suburban location. Another driver wasn’t paying attention when changing lanes and rear-ended me at high speed. I ended up in a multi-car accident involving nine vehicles. Numerous ambulances and fire trucks were called. I had to wait on the side of the road in the minus 40 degree weather, hearing sirens wail and wail as they tried to get through the backed-up traffic.

Conversations with Myself

Danielle Raymond
This article is dedicated to Danielle’s little sister, Shannon

If you had asked me when I was 16 if I thought I’d be sharing my life with an eating disorder, I’d probably have said not likely. I may have added something about not having the strength or the willpower to defy hunger. I had no idea that within a year I’d be popping diuretics like Tic Tacs and weighing my worth in pounds. Like so many other young women—and men too—I wandered unknowingly into the arms of an eating disorder. We’ve been inseparable ever since.

Should We Have Been More Aware? A mother and son share their story

Epilogue: Mom’s View

Gina*

All those cliché sentiments about high school being the “best years of your life”—well, the opposite has been true for my son. Imagine navigating high school while coping with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). That has been Matt’s journey.

Matt was always a cheerful, active, well-liked boy with an easy infectious laugh. He liked skateboarding, swimming and hanging out with his friends. But by August 2005, he was beginning to worry excessively. When, just a couple of weeks into his grade eight year he told me he was afraid the computers at school would ‘get him in the temple,’ I knew we were in trouble.

Should We Have Been More Aware? A mother and son share their story

How Cannabis Changed My Life

Matt*

It started in the summer before high school. I mysteriously developed strange vibrations in my neck and head that caused pain and headaches—and fear. It was a turbulent summer in many ways: parents breaking up, a bad plane ride, general angst about the coming school year. I felt an increasing need to protect my neck and my brain. I stopped doing anything that required me to move my neck and head. Anything that vibrated or had frequencies—electronic stuff like computers, TVs, microwaves, for instance—made me anxious and I avoided them.

Marijuana: Help or hassle?

Emily Smith*

Related Resource:
McManis, S. (2009, May 24). US CA: Pro-, anti-marijuana forces cite their studies. The Press Democrat. Media Awareness Project: www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09
/n559/a05.html.

I’ve been a nurse for a very long time, in acute and long-term care, public health and health education for professionals and non-professionals of all ages. Over the years, I’ve noted that some people benefit greatly from alternative medicines. But in some cases, patients are restricted from pursuing health alternatives. Cannabis, or marijuana, is a good case in point.

Alternatives: Miracle Marijuana

Michelle Rainey

At the tender age of 15 I started to experience severe stomach pain, nausea, cramping and diarrhea; a cycle that, I didn’t know then, would repeat my whole life. Nobody seemed to know what it was or how to treat it, and my symptoms persisted with no relief for over two years. After many uncomfortable and painful tests, I was eventually diagnosed with Crohn’s disease by my gastroenterologist, who specializes in diseases of the bowel. There is no known cause or cure for Crohn’s disease, also known as inflammatory bowel disease.

Cannabis and Me

A cautionary tale

Anita Smith

In January 1998, when I was 27, I began hearing voices. The first voices I heard told me they were going to kill me. I literally ran out of the warehouse studio I was living in and into the street. I was petrified. I rode the busses all night, trying to escape the voices—but they followed me. I couldn’t figure out how these voices could observe me, hear me, know me. I decided they used ‘mind technology’ to do this. The voices had names and histories—some of them were intriguing, others terrifying.