Prelude

I sat and watched Christmas come and go, with as much quietude and open mindedness as I could conceive. I heard not very much of a Merry Christmas coming or going as a greeting or departing note, and smiles were not as tinsel or lights upon a tree. The children where I lived were somewhat quiet and as Christmas grew closer, so the silence grew.
I was reminded that my own life had changed that I had changed for the better, new job, quaint apartment, new acquaintances, and my life was different. I was curious and looked into myself, the struggle I had with drug addiction and alcohol, the kinds of people I associated with who were no different than my old self, the late hours and on-going days spent on the streets following shadows into dismal places, and the love lost of family and once ago true friends. I saw that it was Christmas, and I saw time unfolding into the New Year and I beheld the new challenges in my life, of facing fears and letting go of the olden dreams and the fearful nightmares of failure and loneliness.
When you enter into Recovery, your world slowly changes. The hallucinations are images as fearsome as the words which painted them, yet you stand before them and eventually you diminish them as reading a book and a clear pane of glass appears. You lift yourself up from the bent over crouch of carrying such a heavy load that weighted every footstep and thought and notice the load has become lighter, you have written the words in the sky and seen what to set aside and leave behind as painful reminders in the new world you are searching, never again wanting to touch the nest of wasp in the dark sheaves hidden among the rafters.
You wonder and smile in the mirror and it’s all good, self esteem and respect have a new acquaintance, and it’s you, happy to know a gift can be priceless as believing in oneself or others who have chosen to overcome the first step of Mental Disability and continue the traveling into their sobriety not matter how long the journey.
Written by,
Donald Sammons
December 26, 2009

Freedom

Recovery: Choice: Freedom
In the year 2004 there was founded a “Freedom Commission on Mental Health”. Their final report was about Recovery, being the “common, recognized outcome of Mental Health Services”. There were topics and reports written on subjects of Recovery such as, Recovery in Different Cultural Aspects, the differences of Mental Health and Addictions recovery and topics pursuing the individual in Recovery, the family, community, organizations as well as providers.
It was stated during this commission that, “Mental Health Recovery is a journey of healing, a transformation for a person with a Mental Health illness to able to live a meaningful life in a community of his or her choice while striving to achieve potential.
Recovery is: Self Direction
Empowerment
Strengths Based
Peer Support
Self Esteem
Responsibility
Hope

Self management and control over one’s recovery is a part of recovery which is a part of the experience. Responsibility is a rung in Recovery of the consumer, in making decisions and maintaining attitude when making adjustments in one’s life. When it comes to submitting yourself to medication, to help gain control of the self and adhering to the principals set forth by you the consumer, the doctors and staff help gain control over the illness which interferes with your health you have made a step to becoming refined without the discord of abandon.
Recovery is not easy, it is choice which leads to freedom from the barriers of mental instability and helps gain the strength to move on into other stable realms of life, through Hope, building self-esteem and sobriety.
By Donald Sammons

Health

I wrote about meditation and exercise. The third one I will cover today is health. That is very big with those that have mental health issues. The research says those that are mentally distressed live 25 years less than the rest of the population. We do not die earlier because of mental distress, but rather from heart disease or complications of diabetes. To top that off, how many watched channel 4 news? Dr. Dave Hnida said that certain medications like blood pressure; beta blockers, etc. cause weight gain. If you take atypical medication, you lose either way. If they do not cause weight gain other medications will. I know I have a long way to go to fight for my health. Although I have taken certain steps to eating healthier, I eat oatmeal or honey nut cheerios for breakfast to get a good percentage of my grains. I switched from white bread for lunch to all grain bread. I am going to start bringing a meal for lunch, because processed meat is not good either. I also switched from cooking with vegetable, or canola oil, to olive oil. These items are more expensive, but can you put a price on your health? I eat bananas and pears for snacks, until the other fruits such as cherries, hits the super market from Chile. I eat salads after my meal like the Japanese unless at a restaurant, then before which makes you fuller faster. I also snack on nuts with sea salt, until I find quantities without salt.
I drink mostly water or Coke Zero, which does not have the artificial sugar, or corn fructose syrup, which is a real culprit of weight gain. I would really like your tips and comments on better ways to be healthier.

Serendipity

Serendipity
Reality before Christmas
Reality in Recovery
Reality in Drug Addiction
Reality of Mental Disability
Reality of the New Year


Serendipity: the seeming gift of finding something good, it is luck, or good fortune in finding something of worth.

How do we keep our promises? How do we survive, the torn, worn and weary of mind and the diseased of body, degenerating and wanting to live. We find we have a long way to go, those of us whom have strayed and have literally destroyed our minds, others who have become punished, through war, at home, through dereliction, find seeking solace a mere impossibility.

Take the time to look into the future of those seeking recovery, the storm has begun to quiet the realm of the destitute. Where there was fear, there becomes hope through caring hands and minds. Sometimes there is laughter, sometimes defeat, yet we can rise through learning a new way to react to the outside world and strengthen ourselves by knowing our old behaviors and those of others. We can rid ourselves of our fears, by believing in someone one who believes.

Trusting is the reason we give others a chance, because we care to strip away the barriers which cause our hearts and minds to become clouded over. For with the promises others bequeath we may become failures without understanding, with trust, there is always a tomorrow.
By Donald Sammons
P.S. Check out our new Outcomes pages.

Perseverance

You probably read an earlier post I wrote called MY RECOVERY. Well I will go from where I am today and some of how I ended up here. My present jobs for MHCD are research assistant and I scan medical records into electronic form. I never dreamed I would be here. I am extremely happy today working for MHCD. Although I did believe I would work full time someday. It all started step by step. My first dream was to go to college and learn computer. All I learned was software. I could not go further, because I lacked math skills. I would learn it than forget it an hour after I learned it. I have not explored it further whether it was the medication at the time. Since then I have been on a new medication which I do know helps me think clearer. I also work on my memory. Well I then switched to Human Services and took up alcohol and drug counseling. I did not take mental health, because I wanted to separate the two from my own distress. For my internships I went to private practice again to separate from the two. The last place I interned for before I graduated really turned me off. I did not even want to counsel after that. I then applied and was accepted into Graduate school of Public Affaires and studied Public Administration. I had new hope that things would still work out. All I knew was I wanted a better life than the first I had before my mental distress. I graduated in 2005, and was ready to work. Read my earlier post for more on that. What I did learn is to achieve your goal or dream. You have to have perseverance, hope, and self determination. Those are also the steps to recovery. Today I have more confidence and with exercise, meditation, and self reflection. I am learning about me and how to use the skills I have. To work on the one’s I do not have. For me this second life is much better than the first. I know with the tools I have learned that what I have material and spiritual will not be taken from me this time.

Excerpts on Spirituality

Spirituality means different things to different people and all express their spirituality in different ways. Spirituality can help keep mental life in a working perspective which can be good and help people beyond the bad scenarios of their life.
Spirituality can mean faith or a way of understanding. A person’s belief in a higher power such as God or Christ, or nature or any power greater than one’s self is Spirituality, a hidden part of our life.
As people who require Mental Health treatment, we need a service of the Mental Health system which responds to our spiritual needs. We require a system in Recovery which lets us openly express our lives in a spiritual context. Consumers of Mental Health need help in understanding and exploring the importance of Spirituality and their associations with others with whom they share their lives.
There is a twist in such soul searching and belief in Spirituality in Mental Health and that some people may not feel well about their spiritual experiences and any beliefs these people may have might not be positive in their Recovery. Believing you can Recover is spiritual and we can all learn from one another, coupled with faith we have the beginning of a foundation which will give us understanding into Mental illness and greater support, as well as an ability to lead a healthier life.
Spirituality is knowledge, which leads our lives through expression.
By Donald Sammons

Meditation Technique

This technique is also out of the book Beyond Fear by Miguel Ruiz. This meditation is to take inventory of your feelings. “The inventory is a meditation exercise. An inventory is not an examination of conscience. There is no judge or victim. It is a review of feelings. Ways to initiate this exercise might be: to put a candle in your room and look at it while focusing on your breath; to look deeply into a mirror; to sit in a darkened room with your feet on the floor and your hand in your lap; to lie down with a blanket over you with your hands crossed over your chest; or to sit on the floor with your arms wrapped around your bent knees while leaning back against a support. These are all techniques for going into a light trance state.” Also the book says you can mediate with your eyes open or closed. “Meditation becomes a way of life. It is a prayer. It is one of the greatest methods for cleaning the mind, not the only method, but it is one of the most powerful and easiest.” This is a way to meditate and help your mental health. Miguel talks a lot in the book about breathing techniques, because that is our source of life. Do you mediate if so what techniques do you use?
By Charles