Schizophrenia and Faith

The True and Living God created this vast boundless universe. He also created this earth with all the plant life and animal life. He also created mankind.

I personally believe that it is possible to have a personal relationship, fellowship, and communion with the Great God of Creation. We can do this through the avenue of faith. It is because of my faith and relationship with God that I have survived schizophrenia and addiction. I have literally been to hell and back. It is because of God's love, compassion, grace, and mercy that I am even alive. According to the laws of science I should be dead a hundred times over. Because of all the suicide attempts and all the accidental drug and alcohol overdoses I should not be alive.

During all that pain, suffering, torture, and torment my faith in God is what got me through it all. I carried it all to God and left it with Him. I literally poured out my heart to God with tears in my eyes. I also had faith in God that some day things would improve and get better. I had the dream that some day I will get well and become a productive member of society. I dreamed about going to school and working again some day. By my faith in God I kept my dreams alive.

Then at the appointed time God made my dreams come true. I went to the Beacon Unit at the Rehab in Waterville. The Doctor there found the right medication that actually worked. While there I attended the Work Center. I took upgrading, woodworking, job development, and personal development. By doing that I fulfilled my dream of going to school.

A few months after graduating from the Work Center I landed a full time job at a candle factory. I worked there full time for five years. After the five years I got laid off. Since then I have landed a job putting flyers together. I also have two writing jobs. I write for the Schizophrenia Newsletter published by the Kentville Chapter of the Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia. I also write for the Mental Health Perspective Newsletter published by the Kings County Chapter of the Canadian Mental Health Association.

There is one more thing that I can't forget to mention. While living at the rehab I met my present wife. We will be married for seven years on September 1st. We are going to go to Moncton to celebrate our anniversary. We are going to eat out at the Swiss Chalet and we are going X-mas shopping.

If it was not for my living faith in the Living God I would not be where I am right now in my life. I would either still be living in my own hellish psychotic world completely cut off from reality or I would be in the grave right now.

It is my faith in God that brought me through all the pain, suffering, torture, and torment unto the other side of the light. Before I lived in total darkness but now I am living in brightest light possible. The light couldn't get any brighter.

I am very grateful and thankful to God for all that He has done for me. It's all because of God that I am where I am at in life right now. I cannot express in words just how grateful and thankful that I am.

I would like to end by saying if you are a consumer suffering from any form of mental illness take courage and put your faith in the True and Living God and He will in His love, compassion, grace, and mercy help you through all the pain, suffering, torture, and torment and bring you through the darkness into the other side of the light.

I believe that it is God the Great Physician who can bring healing to those suffering from mental illness. He will use medicine, psychology, and spirituality. Believe in God. There is hope.

The Mental Health Perspective Speech

Here is a speech I delivered at the AGM Meeting of the Kings County Chapter of the Canadian Mental Health Association. It is about the reasons why I am glad and grateful about being part of The Mental Health Perspective Newsletter.

The Mental Health Perspective Speech

I would like to begin by stating that I am very grateful and thankful to be given the opportunity to be part of The Mental Health Perspective consumer led initiative.

Being part of this initiative gives me the opportunity to fulfill my passion in life for writing and helping others. I personally believe that the reason for all the pain, torture, and torment I have experienced in life due to my mental illness and addiction with drugs and alcohol is to share my experience, strength, and hope with others.

I can empathize with those who suffer from mental illness and/or addiction. I can relate to my fellow consumers. I can combine the facts of mental illness with my personal experiences and try to be of help to others.

I have literally been to hell and back many times over. I know what it is like to live in my own little world completely cut off from reality. I was completely alone in life. Even when I was in a situation for socializing I was completely cut off from the outside world and felt like that I was all by myself in this world. It was like that I was the only person existing in this life. There was no one else experiencing life but me. It was a life of torture, torment, pain, and suffering.

I am just grateful and thankful that I have been delivered from that hell and been brought back to reality and experiencing what it is like not to be alone and now having that oneness and connection with others.

I write about mental illness so that I can be of some help to my fellow consumers. To inform them about the facts surrounding mental illness and to give them hope that recovery is truly possible.

Although I must confess that some people never recover completely due to the nature of mental illness. But if I can help them in some way learn to cope and to deal with the issues surrounding mental illness I have fulfilled my mission in life.

Even though some people never recover completely they can still find meaning, happiness, and purpose in life. They can still become productive members of society.

Another reason I write about mental illness is to try and be of help to the family members of those with mental illness. I personally believe that sometimes the family members suffer more than those that actually have the mental illness. Family members find it very difficult to deal with and cope with their loved ones illness. Illness in the family causes a great psychological torment deep within their hearts, minds, and souls. If I can help them in any way to achieve healing within then I have also fulfilled my mission in life.

Another reason that I write about mental illness is to try and stamp out the stigma towards those that are ill. Stigma is a very real obstacle for consumers to overcome. I personally believe that stigma causes more pain and torment than the illness itself.

We have come a long way in stamping out some of the stigma but we still have a long ways to go. I personally feel that one of the ways to stamp out stigma is to educate society about the facts of mental illness and to dispel some of the myths that are believed out there amongst society. If I can dispel some of the myths and remove some of that stigma within the minds and hearts in some individuals of society then I have fulfilled my mission in life.

In conclusion this project is of great value and very beneficial to me as an individual. It is also of great value and very beneficial to the mental health community and to society as a whole.

Everyone recovers at different rates and different levels and some barely recover at all. Despite all this it is still possible for consumers to find happiness, contentment, and peace of mind. There is hope.

Direction in Life

I personally believe that consumers are quite capable of finding direction in their lives. When we have the right medication that keeps our positive symptoms under control we are able to think rationally, logically, and organize our thoughts so that they are connected and make sense. Because of this we are able to have organized direction in our lives. We don't have to aimlessly wander around in life not knowing where we are heading in life. We can have objectives to focus on in life. We are able to have a plan and follow it. I personally believe that if we fail to plan we plan to fail.

We need to decide what we want to accomplish in life and draw up a plan to follow to make it a reality. We need to draw up a plan with long term goals, mid term goals, and short term goals. They say that most successful people in life had a plan to follow. They knew all their goals and objectives and simply worked on them. As a result of this they became successful at achieving what they wanted to accomplish in life. They were not aimlessly wandering around in life but had direction in life.

If my reader is a consumer you can be successful in life, you can find direction in life, and you can fulfill all your dreams and aspirations in life. Just decide want you want to accomplish in life, draw up a plan, and start working on it. You need to be 100% focused on your objectives. You need to drive out all distractions out of your mind. All you should think about, and all your daily activities should be on making your plan a reality. Focus, focus, focus. That's the key to success.

I have been doing a lot of thinking about what I want to accomplish in life. I have a good idea of what I want to do with my life. Now all I need to do is take my own advice I have been sharing in this article and draw up my plan and get down to some serious business. I need a plan to be 100% focused on. Drive out all distractions out of my mind and make my objectives a reality.

This will not be easy. It will be very difficult. But the end results will be worth all the hard work. I personally feel that having direction in life, focusing on our plan, and working on that plan will bring joy and happiness in life.

I believe that happiness is a result of being successful at what we want to accomplish in life.

Decide what you want to accomplish, draw up a plan, focus and work on that plan and bring direction and happiness into your life. I certainly am.