Overview: Use of street drugs (including LSD,methamphetamine,marijuana/hash/cannabis) and alcohol have been linked with significantly increased probability of developing psychosis and schizophrenia. This link has been documented in over 30 different scientific studies (studies done mostly in the UK, Australia and Sweden) over the past 20 years. In one example, a study interviewed 50,000 members of the Swedish Army about their drug consumption and followed up with them later in life. Those who were heavy consumers of cannabis at age 18 were over 600% more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia over the next 15 years than those did not take it. (see diagram below). Experts estimate that between 8% and 13% of all schizophrenia cases are linked to marijuna / cannabis use during teen years. It is also notable that some research suggests that alcohol abuse is a stronger predictor of psychotic symptoms than regular cannabis use (by a factor of four).
To read more click on this link.
Schizophrenia.com - Marijuana Cannabis and Schizophrenia
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Schizophrenia Daily News Blog: Schizophrenia and Drug Addiction may Co-Occur Due to Disturbance in Part of the Brain
Psychiatric problems often occur comorbidly, or in association with one another. A common comorbid disorder in association with mental illness is drug addiction. It has been hypothesized that this may be because people who suffer from mental illness are more susceptible to drug use and addiction because of their compromised mental state and/or the difficulty they experience in dealing with their illness. A new study further investigated this comorbidity, and found that a connection between mental illness and drug addiction may exist prior to the development of either. Specifically, the study examined rats and found that those with a damaged amygdala at birth were more likely to exhibit adult behavior that was abnormal in relation to fear, as well as, an increased sensitivity to cocaine.
To read more click on this link.
Schizophrenia Daily News Blog: Schizophrenia and Drug Addiction may Co-Occur Due to Disturbance in Part of the Brain
To read more click on this link.
Schizophrenia Daily News Blog: Schizophrenia and Drug Addiction may Co-Occur Due to Disturbance in Part of the Brain
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Homeless suffer more from mental illness, says report
OTTAWA -- When a homeless person is hospitalized, more than half of the time it is because of a mental disorder, according to a new report on the relationship between mental health and homelessness.
To read more click on this link.
Homeless suffer more from mental illness, says report
To read more click on this link.
Homeless suffer more from mental illness, says report
Looking for answers - Nova Scotia News - TheChronicleHerald.ca
Philip McLean went to the first day of an inquiry into Howard Hyde’s death with one thing on his mind — a call for a total ban on the use of stun guns.
"I knew Howard and to me he wasn’t a violent person and I feel like the use of the Taser is the wrong thing for anyone in general, really I’m against it," Mr. McLean told reporters at Halifax provincial court, where the inquiry opened Wednesday morning.
To read more click on this link.
Genome Study Points to New Schizophrenia Clue - Mental Health Disorders on MedicineNet.com
FRIDAY, Feb. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Large, rare structural changes in DNA called copy number variants may play a role in schizophrenia, according to U.S. researchers, who said their findings support a sharp change of direction in genetics research on schizophrenia.
To read more click on this link.
Genome Study Points to New Schizophrenia Clue - Mental Health Disorders on MedicineNet.com
To read more click on this link.
Genome Study Points to New Schizophrenia Clue - Mental Health Disorders on MedicineNet.com
Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Share Genetic Links | Brain Blogger
The exact causes of many psychiatric illnesses are not known, and few risk factors exist for many of them. Scientists have long been trying to decipher the genetic from environmental factors that influence the development of psychiatric illnesses. Many studies have reported that certain mental illnesses run in families, but are there common genetic causes, or are they distinct pathologies? Now, a new study in The Lancet may shed some light on the genetic link between bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
To read more click on this link.
Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Share Genetic Links | Brain Blogger
To read more click on this link.
Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Share Genetic Links | Brain Blogger
Friday, February 20, 2009
Self Esteem
I had the privilege of sitting in on a talk on self esteem. The most important concept I took away with me is: Believe in Yourself. We are all capable and able people. We all have the ability to be successful in life concerning our goals and objectives. If we believe in ourselves we will be successful at our work, our marriage relationships, our relationships with our family and friends, our hobbies, our spiritual life, and anything that we attempt to do in life. If we do not believe in ourselves we will not succeed at anything in life.
There was three points the speaker tried to instill in our minds. We a able, lovable, and worth it. We are able to accomplish anything that decide to do in life. We are very lovable people. We are worthy. We are important and we deserve to be here. We deserve to be loved and to be respected. We are valuable to society. We can make this world of ours a better place to live for our fellow human beings.
Another thing I learned is we are able and capable to think for ourselves and develop our own opinions on things. Some people tend to allow others to think for them and take on the opinions of others instead of developing their own opinions on things. We are all quite capable of being independent and thinking for ourselves and forming our own opinions on things. Once we decide on our opinions on certain issues our opinion is important enough to shout it out at the world and make the world sit up and notice. If we are courageous enough and speak out with self confidence and just shout out our opinion at the world we can see changes made concerning the subject matter of your opinions. We can change the world's attitude towards things and convince them to take notice and consider what we are saying. That's how we see change in the world concerning the particular issue being proposed to society. If the mental health community gets together and start shouting out at the world this might help stamp out that awful stigma against consumers. We can change societies attitude towards mental illness.
If we have good self esteem and believe in ourselves we can leave our mark on this world and leave behind a legacy after we pass on from this world. I heard a quote from the movie Alexander the Great. He said "when it's all over all that matters is what we have done." If we believe in ourselves enough we can become great at whatever we attempt to do. We can become the best at whatever we do in life. We can have our part in the direction the world takes on certain issues. We can influence the world and create changes in the course of history. We are able and capable to accomplish great things in life and we are capable of convincing the world that our opinion counts and should be considered. This is the backbone of all revolutions that history has enforced upon us. People that believe in themselves and are not afraid to speak out and fight for what they believe in. We consumers need to rise up and fight to have that stigma removed from society. We need to rise up and fight for our rights as Canadian Citizens to be imputed unto us. We are just as important as the next person and we truly deserve to be treated with love, respect, given employment opportunities, be able to find a place to live, not being treated as outcasts of society. We deserve to be accepted by society and be able to live in the community and become a part of that community.
We have all the right to rise up and speak out and change societies attitude towards mental health consumers. Once again we are important to society and we deserve to be accepted by society. We are all capable of becoming productive members of society and contribute great things to society.
Believe in yourself and you will see a big change in your life. You will be able to live life to the fullest and have a ball doing it. Develop good self esteem and you will love life and love being alive, and you will accomplish great things in life. Try believing in yourself and you will definitely see some results. Have a great and wonderful life.
There was three points the speaker tried to instill in our minds. We a able, lovable, and worth it. We are able to accomplish anything that decide to do in life. We are very lovable people. We are worthy. We are important and we deserve to be here. We deserve to be loved and to be respected. We are valuable to society. We can make this world of ours a better place to live for our fellow human beings.
Another thing I learned is we are able and capable to think for ourselves and develop our own opinions on things. Some people tend to allow others to think for them and take on the opinions of others instead of developing their own opinions on things. We are all quite capable of being independent and thinking for ourselves and forming our own opinions on things. Once we decide on our opinions on certain issues our opinion is important enough to shout it out at the world and make the world sit up and notice. If we are courageous enough and speak out with self confidence and just shout out our opinion at the world we can see changes made concerning the subject matter of your opinions. We can change the world's attitude towards things and convince them to take notice and consider what we are saying. That's how we see change in the world concerning the particular issue being proposed to society. If the mental health community gets together and start shouting out at the world this might help stamp out that awful stigma against consumers. We can change societies attitude towards mental illness.
If we have good self esteem and believe in ourselves we can leave our mark on this world and leave behind a legacy after we pass on from this world. I heard a quote from the movie Alexander the Great. He said "when it's all over all that matters is what we have done." If we believe in ourselves enough we can become great at whatever we attempt to do. We can become the best at whatever we do in life. We can have our part in the direction the world takes on certain issues. We can influence the world and create changes in the course of history. We are able and capable to accomplish great things in life and we are capable of convincing the world that our opinion counts and should be considered. This is the backbone of all revolutions that history has enforced upon us. People that believe in themselves and are not afraid to speak out and fight for what they believe in. We consumers need to rise up and fight to have that stigma removed from society. We need to rise up and fight for our rights as Canadian Citizens to be imputed unto us. We are just as important as the next person and we truly deserve to be treated with love, respect, given employment opportunities, be able to find a place to live, not being treated as outcasts of society. We deserve to be accepted by society and be able to live in the community and become a part of that community.
We have all the right to rise up and speak out and change societies attitude towards mental health consumers. Once again we are important to society and we deserve to be accepted by society. We are all capable of becoming productive members of society and contribute great things to society.
Believe in yourself and you will see a big change in your life. You will be able to live life to the fullest and have a ball doing it. Develop good self esteem and you will love life and love being alive, and you will accomplish great things in life. Try believing in yourself and you will definitely see some results. Have a great and wonderful life.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
My Photography Business
I have decided to start up a photography business. I am learning how to become a photographer. I am going to take photographs and sell them. I am going to specialize in black & white photos of people. I got a real good camera for x-mas. It is Canon Digital Camera. It is an excellent camera and it takes real good pictures. The camera takes the pictures in color but I have software that can convert the color pictures into black & white. The pictures turn out really good. I am going to create a new blog for my photography business. I will be posting my photographs on it. If people want to purchase a photo they will be able to contact me via e-mail and work something out to get the picture to them. I will also be selling my pictures in craft stores and any other retail outlet that will sell my pictures. I am really excited about my new adventure. I will have to come up with a name for my business and register it with the proper authorities. Wish me luck. Bye for now.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Is Marijuana Harmless?
There is much debate over whether marijuana is harmless or not. Some believe that it is harmless and some believe that it is harmful. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. We all perceive things differently. For every expert that says one thing there is always an expert that says the opposite. So, you have all these experts that cannot agree with each other. Which expert do you believe? Believe the one that you think is right.
I am no expert on the subject of marijuana. I do have an opinion on this matter though. I personally believe that marijuana is very harmful to a person, especially if someone has a mental illness. There have been documented cases where people who use marijuana heavily can develop psychotic symptoms. Using marijuana can cause psychotic episodes. In fact the medical profession has a hard time discerning whether the person is truly suffering from psychosis caused by mental illness or whether the person is suffering from psychosis caused by using marijuana. The symptoms for both are exactly the same.
Based on my own personal experiences marijuana does cause much harm to a persons mental, psychological, and physical health. I have experienced more hallucinations just by smoking marijuana than people using chemicals such as LSD and other mind altering substances. I remember one time after I had smoked approximately a half an ounce of marijuana I experienced what I believe was a psychotic episode. I was listening to music and I was facing my window. The stereo was right in front of me below the window. I could see Jesus hanging on a cross on the pole of the record player. The stereo was moving side to side and moving towards me and away from me all at the same time to the beat of the music. The curtain was open and I could see spirits dancing around up in the sky. There was blood pouring out of the curtains on each side of the window. To me this is definitely a psychotic episode. The weirdest thing about the whole thing was that I thought that this experience was totally normal. I didn't think that there was nothing wrong with my mind and that experience. To me it was an everyday experience.
There were also many psychotic experiences that I have had as a direct result of my schizophrenia without smoking any marijuana. I was always psychotic either from using marijuana or from the symptoms of my mental illness. I definitely have a co-concurrent disorder. I suffer from the disease of schizophrenia and the disease of addiction. As far as I am concerned marijuana is not harmless. It can cause much damage to a persons mental life and it can also cause medical problems. One joint contains the same amount of tar as seven cigarettes. Heavy smokers are putting a lot of tar into their lungs. It has been documented that heavy marijuana users suffer from various types of lung diseases. Marijuana is harmful both mentally and physically. A person could give me all the so called rational and logical reasons why marijuana is harmless and cannot harm you mentally or physically until they were blue in the face and it would not have any effect upon my mind. My mind is firmly fixed on the fact that marijuana is harmful both mentally and physically. It is not a safe drug to use despite the fact that is known as a soft drug. As far as I am concerned you cannot divide drugs into soft or hard drugs. A drug is a drug regardless of what kind it is. All drugs change a persons perception of things. Whether so called soft or so called hard drug. All drugs are harmful to a person.
If you suffer from any form of mental illness I strongly suggest that you try to avoid using drugs whether it is marijuana or any other type of drug. It will increase your auditory and visual hallucinations. They will be more severe while using drugs than they would be without having drugs in your system. Not only that when a person is using drugs their anti-psychotic medication does not work very effectively. The medication simply does not work. If you suffer from a co-concurrent disorder I would strongly suggest that you seek treatment for both your mental illness and your addiction. There is hope. You can recover. I have been recovering from both my schizophrenia and addiction since February 2000. I got clean and sober in December 1999 and I have been recovering from my schizophrenia since February 2000. I am enjoying recovery from both my mental illness and addiction. My life is wonderful. I love life. I love being alive. I have been living life to the fullest and having a ball along the way. I now live in reality and no longer suffer from any form of psychosis. All because of the right medication, psycho-social treatments, and because I am not using drugs at the present moment. If I were to start using drugs again I would develop psychosis again very quickly. I would be living in the hell of psychosis for the rest of my life. I love living in reality and having clear, rational, and logical thought processes. My mind is just as clear as someone without a mental illness. If I never told anyone I had a mental illness they would never know that I was ill. To the rest of humanity I appear as a person no different than anyone else. Why? Because I have been taking my medication and avoiding the use of any drugs, including alcohol. Alcohol is a drug too. We should also avoid the use of alcohol as well. In fact alcohol can interact with your medication and cause severe medical problems. I believe that the only way to recover is by complete abstinence from all drugs including alcohol.
That is my opinion.
I am no expert on the subject of marijuana. I do have an opinion on this matter though. I personally believe that marijuana is very harmful to a person, especially if someone has a mental illness. There have been documented cases where people who use marijuana heavily can develop psychotic symptoms. Using marijuana can cause psychotic episodes. In fact the medical profession has a hard time discerning whether the person is truly suffering from psychosis caused by mental illness or whether the person is suffering from psychosis caused by using marijuana. The symptoms for both are exactly the same.
Based on my own personal experiences marijuana does cause much harm to a persons mental, psychological, and physical health. I have experienced more hallucinations just by smoking marijuana than people using chemicals such as LSD and other mind altering substances. I remember one time after I had smoked approximately a half an ounce of marijuana I experienced what I believe was a psychotic episode. I was listening to music and I was facing my window. The stereo was right in front of me below the window. I could see Jesus hanging on a cross on the pole of the record player. The stereo was moving side to side and moving towards me and away from me all at the same time to the beat of the music. The curtain was open and I could see spirits dancing around up in the sky. There was blood pouring out of the curtains on each side of the window. To me this is definitely a psychotic episode. The weirdest thing about the whole thing was that I thought that this experience was totally normal. I didn't think that there was nothing wrong with my mind and that experience. To me it was an everyday experience.
There were also many psychotic experiences that I have had as a direct result of my schizophrenia without smoking any marijuana. I was always psychotic either from using marijuana or from the symptoms of my mental illness. I definitely have a co-concurrent disorder. I suffer from the disease of schizophrenia and the disease of addiction. As far as I am concerned marijuana is not harmless. It can cause much damage to a persons mental life and it can also cause medical problems. One joint contains the same amount of tar as seven cigarettes. Heavy smokers are putting a lot of tar into their lungs. It has been documented that heavy marijuana users suffer from various types of lung diseases. Marijuana is harmful both mentally and physically. A person could give me all the so called rational and logical reasons why marijuana is harmless and cannot harm you mentally or physically until they were blue in the face and it would not have any effect upon my mind. My mind is firmly fixed on the fact that marijuana is harmful both mentally and physically. It is not a safe drug to use despite the fact that is known as a soft drug. As far as I am concerned you cannot divide drugs into soft or hard drugs. A drug is a drug regardless of what kind it is. All drugs change a persons perception of things. Whether so called soft or so called hard drug. All drugs are harmful to a person.
If you suffer from any form of mental illness I strongly suggest that you try to avoid using drugs whether it is marijuana or any other type of drug. It will increase your auditory and visual hallucinations. They will be more severe while using drugs than they would be without having drugs in your system. Not only that when a person is using drugs their anti-psychotic medication does not work very effectively. The medication simply does not work. If you suffer from a co-concurrent disorder I would strongly suggest that you seek treatment for both your mental illness and your addiction. There is hope. You can recover. I have been recovering from both my schizophrenia and addiction since February 2000. I got clean and sober in December 1999 and I have been recovering from my schizophrenia since February 2000. I am enjoying recovery from both my mental illness and addiction. My life is wonderful. I love life. I love being alive. I have been living life to the fullest and having a ball along the way. I now live in reality and no longer suffer from any form of psychosis. All because of the right medication, psycho-social treatments, and because I am not using drugs at the present moment. If I were to start using drugs again I would develop psychosis again very quickly. I would be living in the hell of psychosis for the rest of my life. I love living in reality and having clear, rational, and logical thought processes. My mind is just as clear as someone without a mental illness. If I never told anyone I had a mental illness they would never know that I was ill. To the rest of humanity I appear as a person no different than anyone else. Why? Because I have been taking my medication and avoiding the use of any drugs, including alcohol. Alcohol is a drug too. We should also avoid the use of alcohol as well. In fact alcohol can interact with your medication and cause severe medical problems. I believe that the only way to recover is by complete abstinence from all drugs including alcohol.
That is my opinion.
Opinion
Every human being is a unique individual. We all have our own thoughts, ideas, and opinions on things. Whether it be recovery from mental illness, recovery from addiction, politics, economics, religion, philosophy, current affairs in the news, history, and many other things in life.
There will be people that will agree with us and there will be people that will disagree with us. We need to be tolerant of those who do not agree with us. We should not be biased and prejudiced against those who disagree with us. We need to have our own opinions and let others have their own opinions. Not everyone can agree with each other. Despite all this humanity must learn to get along with each other. Although if you look at history that is not possible. Mankind is full of hate, anger, and resentment. Man loves to hurt and kill his fellow man. We cannot do anything about that. Despite that fact we as individuals can show love, compassion, grace, and mercy to our fellow man. An individual can be an example to the rest of mankind. We have no control over what other men do but we have control over what we do. We as individuals can make our mark on this world and make this world a better place to live. We cannot change the world but we can change ourselves.
What does all this have to do with schizophrenia and recovery? Much every way. There is a myth out there that mental health consumers are violent people and commit evil deeds towards our fellow man. We can change that myth by being examples to society that we are not violent, evil, wicked people. We can show that love, compassion, grace, and mercy towards others to show society that this myth of violence, evil, and wickedness is just a myth and not based on facts.
Another thing is that we might have a mental illness but we are still human and have many good qualities within ourselves. We can truly be an example to the world and make this world a better place to live for those that do have contact with us personally. We can show people that we are not crazy, insane, violent, evil, and wicked people which most of society believes that we are. We are human just like the rest of humanity. We all have assets and liabilities. We all have good things about us and we all have bad things about us. We all have the ability to show those good qualities and able to change the bad qualities. We are all fully human and fully alive. We can all live a life of goodness towards our fellow man. We can all truly be a good example to the world.
We all have our own thoughts, ideas, and opinions about things. We can share these things with our fellow man. Some might agree and some might disagree. Despite the differences we all have good thoughts, ideas, and opinions about things that would be beneficial to our fellow man. No matter what your opinion is have confidence in your opinion and share it with others. It just might help someone along their path in life. You are just as important as the next person and your opinion is just as important as the next person. Don't be afraid to share your opinion. Your opinion counts just as much as the next fellow. Have faith, hope, and courage in yourself and speak out your opinion and have faith, hope, and courage that your opinion will be beneficial to your fellow man. Be strong and speak out. Don't suppress your opinion but be fearless and shout it out at the world. You will be surprised at the outcome.
By speaking out our opinions we can help stamp out that awful stigma against consumers. We can change societies attitude towards those of us that have a mental illness. If we speak out we can see improvements made in the mental health field that would be very beneficial to us consumers. We all need to rise up and fight for our rights as Canadian citizens. Like the old saying goes: The squeaky wheel gets the grease. If we all start making a lot of noise society will stop and listen and maybe change their attitude towards mental illness.
Personally everything I write on my blogs no matter which one it is is just my personal thoughts, ideas, and opinions about things. You can agree or you can disagree. Regardless I will have faith, hope, and courage that my opinion will make it's mark on the world. That my opinion will help change things and be of benefit to my fellow man. Regardless of the subject matter I am talking about. I will rise up and shout out my opinion to the world and make them sit up and take notice. Hopefully it will make this world a better place to live. Shout out your opinion too and make a difference in this world of ours. If you shout it out loud enough people will take notice and listen. Thus making a difference in this world. Once again don't be afraid speak out.
There will be people that will agree with us and there will be people that will disagree with us. We need to be tolerant of those who do not agree with us. We should not be biased and prejudiced against those who disagree with us. We need to have our own opinions and let others have their own opinions. Not everyone can agree with each other. Despite all this humanity must learn to get along with each other. Although if you look at history that is not possible. Mankind is full of hate, anger, and resentment. Man loves to hurt and kill his fellow man. We cannot do anything about that. Despite that fact we as individuals can show love, compassion, grace, and mercy to our fellow man. An individual can be an example to the rest of mankind. We have no control over what other men do but we have control over what we do. We as individuals can make our mark on this world and make this world a better place to live. We cannot change the world but we can change ourselves.
What does all this have to do with schizophrenia and recovery? Much every way. There is a myth out there that mental health consumers are violent people and commit evil deeds towards our fellow man. We can change that myth by being examples to society that we are not violent, evil, wicked people. We can show that love, compassion, grace, and mercy towards others to show society that this myth of violence, evil, and wickedness is just a myth and not based on facts.
Another thing is that we might have a mental illness but we are still human and have many good qualities within ourselves. We can truly be an example to the world and make this world a better place to live for those that do have contact with us personally. We can show people that we are not crazy, insane, violent, evil, and wicked people which most of society believes that we are. We are human just like the rest of humanity. We all have assets and liabilities. We all have good things about us and we all have bad things about us. We all have the ability to show those good qualities and able to change the bad qualities. We are all fully human and fully alive. We can all live a life of goodness towards our fellow man. We can all truly be a good example to the world.
We all have our own thoughts, ideas, and opinions about things. We can share these things with our fellow man. Some might agree and some might disagree. Despite the differences we all have good thoughts, ideas, and opinions about things that would be beneficial to our fellow man. No matter what your opinion is have confidence in your opinion and share it with others. It just might help someone along their path in life. You are just as important as the next person and your opinion is just as important as the next person. Don't be afraid to share your opinion. Your opinion counts just as much as the next fellow. Have faith, hope, and courage in yourself and speak out your opinion and have faith, hope, and courage that your opinion will be beneficial to your fellow man. Be strong and speak out. Don't suppress your opinion but be fearless and shout it out at the world. You will be surprised at the outcome.
By speaking out our opinions we can help stamp out that awful stigma against consumers. We can change societies attitude towards those of us that have a mental illness. If we speak out we can see improvements made in the mental health field that would be very beneficial to us consumers. We all need to rise up and fight for our rights as Canadian citizens. Like the old saying goes: The squeaky wheel gets the grease. If we all start making a lot of noise society will stop and listen and maybe change their attitude towards mental illness.
Personally everything I write on my blogs no matter which one it is is just my personal thoughts, ideas, and opinions about things. You can agree or you can disagree. Regardless I will have faith, hope, and courage that my opinion will make it's mark on the world. That my opinion will help change things and be of benefit to my fellow man. Regardless of the subject matter I am talking about. I will rise up and shout out my opinion to the world and make them sit up and take notice. Hopefully it will make this world a better place to live. Shout out your opinion too and make a difference in this world of ours. If you shout it out loud enough people will take notice and listen. Thus making a difference in this world. Once again don't be afraid speak out.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Deleted Web Site
I have just accidentally deleted a whole web site. I have good reason to be upset. It was my schizophrenia notebook. I had a fair amount of content on it. Some of it had some really good articles on it. I am not going to be upset about it. I just take it as God's will for whatever reason He had for it. I don't know the reason why but I am just going to accept it. There is nothing that I can do about it. What's done is done. I am not going to start another one in its place. I'll just focus on this blog and my Google Sites web site. I have one on Google Sites called: Schizophrenia Information Online. I also have a site on schizophrenia on Google Page Creator. These are the sites I have on schizophrenia. I also have a site on Live Spaces with some articles on schizophrenia. Some of the articles on this site are about other subjects as well. So: I will just keep working on the ones I still have. Hopefully the ones I still have will be beneficial to my readers. The purpose for my sites on schizophrenia is to bring faith, hope, and courage to my fellow consumers, family and friends of consumers. I also hope to educate the general public about schizophrenia with the purpose of stamping out that awful stigma that exists in society towards those with schizophrenia. We have come a long way in successfully stamping out that stigma but we still have a long ways to go. I do have that faith, hope, and courage in my heart that things will improve for those with schizophrenia. We will succeed.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Just for Today
I have written a couple of entries on this blog about my day, what I did that day, what happened that day, and how I got through that day. You might be wondering what that has to do with schizophrenia. Much every way. Recovery from schizophrenia is all about living life, being successful at your goals and objectives, and just getting through your day. If we consumers can accomplish this then we can truly say we have been recovering from our illness today.
I will be writing more entries on this blog just about how my day went. I will share my experience, strength, and hope on that particular day. We can only live one day at a time. Today is all we need be concerned about. We can effectively handle today's problems today. We cannot handle tomorrows problems today. We need to live in the hear and now. Live and deal with the moment. That makes us more successful in enjoying life, dealing with our problems, and just having fun in life. Just for today I will experience recovery.
I will be writing more entries on this blog just about how my day went. I will share my experience, strength, and hope on that particular day. We can only live one day at a time. Today is all we need be concerned about. We can effectively handle today's problems today. We cannot handle tomorrows problems today. We need to live in the hear and now. Live and deal with the moment. That makes us more successful in enjoying life, dealing with our problems, and just having fun in life. Just for today I will experience recovery.
Learning New Things
As life goes on we tend to learn new things. I learned something new today concerning my writing. I need to learn how to self edit my work. Up to this point in time I have been writing the first draft and then immediately publish it. I have not been doing any editing, revising, or polishing up. I personally believe that if I can learn to do this my writing will improve 500%. From now on when I write something I am going to edit it before I publish it. Hopefully this will improve my writing skills. It will take practice though. Like the old saying goes practice makes perfect. My way of communicating with others is through my writing. If I can improve my writing then I will be able to communicate with others more effectively. To me this concept is very important because I can share my experience, strength, and hope with others more effectively. It will also make my writing more pleasurable to read.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
A Good Night
I took sick last Saturday. It was in my chest. All I did was cough. It was a dry heaving cough. I missed a whole week of work without pay. That's not good for my pocket book. I went to the Doctor today. He told me that I had a viral infection. He gave me a puffer to take. I was going to go to work tomorrow but the doctor told me not to go. He wants me stay home all weekend. He did say that if I was feeling up to it to go back to work on Monday.
Earlier this evening a friend of Kim and I popped in. We all decided to watch a movie. My friend, Kim and I watched it. It was called The Siege. Denzel Washington, Annette Bening, and Bruce Willis were the main actors. It was about different cells of terrorists attacking different locations in New York City. It was a edge of your seat type of movie. You didn't know what was going to happen next. Denzel Washington played an FBI agent. Annette Bening played the part as an insider in Islam circles. Bruce Willis played the bad guy as a General in the US Army.
I will not give away the story but if you like a good action packed thriller I highly recommend this movie. In an earlier entry on this blog I talked about having fun. Well that is just what I did tonight was have some fun watching a good movie. Watching this movie took my mind off of my sickness and the fact that I haven't worked all week and am going to lose a good chunk of money.
I have to go out for a bit tomorrow to pick up some cat litter but I am coming right back home. I am not going to go anywhere for the rest of the weekend. I am hoping to be well enough to go to work next week. I cannot afford to miss any more work. If I do I will be in dire straits concerning the monetary situation. Even if I not feeling up to par I am thinking about going anyway. Hopefully I will be able do the work I am supposed to do and still do a good job.
I will find something to do for the rest of the night to keep my mind off of these problems I have just been talking about. Something on the computer. I love doing things on my computer. If it was possible I would love to have a career involving using computers. I get much fun and pleasure out of doing things on the computer. If I had a job on computers it wouldn't be a job at all. It would be just having fun and a good time. I wouldn't even consider it work at all. I would consider it just having a blast. Maybe some day I might go to collage and take some computer courses and get a job in that field. I would still engage in my writing career on the side. I love writing and want to continue with this passion I have in life. I do have a deep rooted passion for writing and public speaking. I deliver speeches when given the opportunity. All the speeches that I have delivered were on mental illness and my personal experiences with mental illness. I just love to share my experience, strength, hope with others. With the purpose of helping my fellow consumers, family and friends of consumers, and educate the general public about mental illness with the purpose of stamping out that awful stigma against the mentally ill by society.
Overall I had a great night and I hope that my readers have also had a great night. Bye for now. Till the next time.
Earlier this evening a friend of Kim and I popped in. We all decided to watch a movie. My friend, Kim and I watched it. It was called The Siege. Denzel Washington, Annette Bening, and Bruce Willis were the main actors. It was about different cells of terrorists attacking different locations in New York City. It was a edge of your seat type of movie. You didn't know what was going to happen next. Denzel Washington played an FBI agent. Annette Bening played the part as an insider in Islam circles. Bruce Willis played the bad guy as a General in the US Army.
I will not give away the story but if you like a good action packed thriller I highly recommend this movie. In an earlier entry on this blog I talked about having fun. Well that is just what I did tonight was have some fun watching a good movie. Watching this movie took my mind off of my sickness and the fact that I haven't worked all week and am going to lose a good chunk of money.
I have to go out for a bit tomorrow to pick up some cat litter but I am coming right back home. I am not going to go anywhere for the rest of the weekend. I am hoping to be well enough to go to work next week. I cannot afford to miss any more work. If I do I will be in dire straits concerning the monetary situation. Even if I not feeling up to par I am thinking about going anyway. Hopefully I will be able do the work I am supposed to do and still do a good job.
I will find something to do for the rest of the night to keep my mind off of these problems I have just been talking about. Something on the computer. I love doing things on my computer. If it was possible I would love to have a career involving using computers. I get much fun and pleasure out of doing things on the computer. If I had a job on computers it wouldn't be a job at all. It would be just having fun and a good time. I wouldn't even consider it work at all. I would consider it just having a blast. Maybe some day I might go to collage and take some computer courses and get a job in that field. I would still engage in my writing career on the side. I love writing and want to continue with this passion I have in life. I do have a deep rooted passion for writing and public speaking. I deliver speeches when given the opportunity. All the speeches that I have delivered were on mental illness and my personal experiences with mental illness. I just love to share my experience, strength, hope with others. With the purpose of helping my fellow consumers, family and friends of consumers, and educate the general public about mental illness with the purpose of stamping out that awful stigma against the mentally ill by society.
Overall I had a great night and I hope that my readers have also had a great night. Bye for now. Till the next time.
The Battle
One night when I was ill I was reading Being and Nothingness by Jean Paul Sartre. Then the battle began. I was getting messages that there was no God. All I need to decide is whether to kill my self or not kill myself. Then I started hearing voices saying kill yourself kill yourself. There is no God you will stop existing and your suffering would end. Kill yourself kill yourself.
Then I was getting different messages. There is a God there is a God. Kill yourself you will go to hell you will go to hell. Then a great fear arose in my mind. If I kill myself I will go to hell.
My mind was going back and forth between these two messages. I was in psychological and emotional torment and torture. Fear was rushing through my whole being with great force and power. I didn't know what to do about the situation.
I decided to call up my psychiatrist. I told him what was going on. All he told was to take an extra chlorpromazine, go to bed and things will be better in the morning. I took the extra pill. It didn't do any good. I was awake all night suffering from this battle going on in my mind. The fear was so great I cannot describe it in words. While all this was going on all I did was pace the floor back and forth, back and forth. I couldn't sit still for two minutes.
I didn't get any sleep until three in the morning the next day. I was awake for more than 24 hours. I am not sure how many. Why did I have to go through all that. My psychiatrist should have sent me to the hospital and met me there. He should have tried to do something for me. Maybe give me an injection for the purpose of reducing the symptoms I was experiencing. There are medications out there that can be given in injection form that can start working immediately. No. I had to stay home and suffer needlessly.
Mom and Dad had to take turns watching me while I was going through this psychotic experience. I was afraid and they were afraid that I would actually attempt suicide for the next 20 hours or so. They took turns sleeping and watching me. To be honest with everyone I do not know how I managed to get through that experience and still come out the other side alive.
At the present moment I am very glad and grateful that I did survive this experience. For the simple reason that now I am recovering from my schizophrenia, have a wonderful wife, been clean and sober for 9 years, been able to work for the last 7 or 8 years, have fun with my hobbies, have more friends than I did when I was ill, and just simply enjoying life and having a ball. I now love life, I love being alive, and have the driving force within me to do things and be successful. The more I do the better. I want to leave behind a legacy when I pass on from this life. There is a saying, "when it's all over all that matters is what you have done." I just have that drive to do, do, do and succeed at what I am doing.
Recovery is truly possible.
Then I was getting different messages. There is a God there is a God. Kill yourself you will go to hell you will go to hell. Then a great fear arose in my mind. If I kill myself I will go to hell.
My mind was going back and forth between these two messages. I was in psychological and emotional torment and torture. Fear was rushing through my whole being with great force and power. I didn't know what to do about the situation.
I decided to call up my psychiatrist. I told him what was going on. All he told was to take an extra chlorpromazine, go to bed and things will be better in the morning. I took the extra pill. It didn't do any good. I was awake all night suffering from this battle going on in my mind. The fear was so great I cannot describe it in words. While all this was going on all I did was pace the floor back and forth, back and forth. I couldn't sit still for two minutes.
I didn't get any sleep until three in the morning the next day. I was awake for more than 24 hours. I am not sure how many. Why did I have to go through all that. My psychiatrist should have sent me to the hospital and met me there. He should have tried to do something for me. Maybe give me an injection for the purpose of reducing the symptoms I was experiencing. There are medications out there that can be given in injection form that can start working immediately. No. I had to stay home and suffer needlessly.
Mom and Dad had to take turns watching me while I was going through this psychotic experience. I was afraid and they were afraid that I would actually attempt suicide for the next 20 hours or so. They took turns sleeping and watching me. To be honest with everyone I do not know how I managed to get through that experience and still come out the other side alive.
At the present moment I am very glad and grateful that I did survive this experience. For the simple reason that now I am recovering from my schizophrenia, have a wonderful wife, been clean and sober for 9 years, been able to work for the last 7 or 8 years, have fun with my hobbies, have more friends than I did when I was ill, and just simply enjoying life and having a ball. I now love life, I love being alive, and have the driving force within me to do things and be successful. The more I do the better. I want to leave behind a legacy when I pass on from this life. There is a saying, "when it's all over all that matters is what you have done." I just have that drive to do, do, do and succeed at what I am doing.
Recovery is truly possible.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Having Fun
It is very good for consumers to do things just to have fun. We consumers need a break from all the hassles of life and engage in fun activities. Doing things for fun helps get our minds off of things and focus on what we are doing.
What I do for fun and relaxation is playing computer games. I had gotten a computer game called Combat Wings: Battle of Britain. I am in a hurricane engaging in dogfights with German war planes. I have just started playing this game yesterday. I am having a ball. I am not very good at it yet but I keep playing it anyway. Sometimes I lose my bearings and crash in the ocean. The more I play it the better I get at it.
My fellow consumers that read this blog entry you should try to find an activity that brings you much fun and pleasure and just do it. You would be surprised at the outcome. It will help you escape from all the noise going on in your mind caused by your illness. It would give you something to focus on and give you relief for awhile.
Personally I work a lot. Even when I am not physically at work I do a lot of work at home in my office concerning my writing job with CMHA. I also have two other part time jobs on the go. I pretty much work five days a week. I am very glad to be working. There was a time when I wasn't able to work. Just the fact that I am working is a miracle.
I personally need a break from it all so I engage in playing computer games. Since I started playing computer games yesterday I have discovered the benefits of engaging in such activities. It's a time for me to just relax and have fun. I am going to continue playing computer games when I need to take some time out from all the busy activities I am engaged in.
I need to have some fun in life and I personally feel that my fellow consumers also need to spend some quality time having fun too. I would like to suggest to my readers try to find that one activity that will help you just to have fun. It doesn't have to be computer games, it could be anything that you enjoy doing. Hiking, bird watching, painting, drawing, reading a good book, playing a musical instrument, or even just watching a good movie. Just search for that one activity that you can engage in for fun.
I've made the decision to take time out for myself and have fun and I hope that you too will make the decision to engage in some activity just for the purpose of having fun. Good luck in finding that activity and carrying it out in your life. It would be very beneficial to your recovery. That is the purpose of consumers. Finding recovery. I personally believe that recovery is truly possible. I am recovering every day that I wake up and live my life just for that one day. Once more. Good luck.
What I do for fun and relaxation is playing computer games. I had gotten a computer game called Combat Wings: Battle of Britain. I am in a hurricane engaging in dogfights with German war planes. I have just started playing this game yesterday. I am having a ball. I am not very good at it yet but I keep playing it anyway. Sometimes I lose my bearings and crash in the ocean. The more I play it the better I get at it.
My fellow consumers that read this blog entry you should try to find an activity that brings you much fun and pleasure and just do it. You would be surprised at the outcome. It will help you escape from all the noise going on in your mind caused by your illness. It would give you something to focus on and give you relief for awhile.
Personally I work a lot. Even when I am not physically at work I do a lot of work at home in my office concerning my writing job with CMHA. I also have two other part time jobs on the go. I pretty much work five days a week. I am very glad to be working. There was a time when I wasn't able to work. Just the fact that I am working is a miracle.
I personally need a break from it all so I engage in playing computer games. Since I started playing computer games yesterday I have discovered the benefits of engaging in such activities. It's a time for me to just relax and have fun. I am going to continue playing computer games when I need to take some time out from all the busy activities I am engaged in.
I need to have some fun in life and I personally feel that my fellow consumers also need to spend some quality time having fun too. I would like to suggest to my readers try to find that one activity that will help you just to have fun. It doesn't have to be computer games, it could be anything that you enjoy doing. Hiking, bird watching, painting, drawing, reading a good book, playing a musical instrument, or even just watching a good movie. Just search for that one activity that you can engage in for fun.
I've made the decision to take time out for myself and have fun and I hope that you too will make the decision to engage in some activity just for the purpose of having fun. Good luck in finding that activity and carrying it out in your life. It would be very beneficial to your recovery. That is the purpose of consumers. Finding recovery. I personally believe that recovery is truly possible. I am recovering every day that I wake up and live my life just for that one day. Once more. Good luck.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Schizophrenia Newsletter
The Kings County Chapter of the Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia publishes a newsletter on schizophrenia. It is published three times a year. It comes out in January, May, and September. It contains a lot of useful information about schizophrenia and related topics.
If any of my readers are interested in obtaining copies to read just send me an e-mail and we could arrange something to get the newsletter to you. You will find my e-mail address on my profile of this blog.
If any of my readers are interested in obtaining copies to read just send me an e-mail and we could arrange something to get the newsletter to you. You will find my e-mail address on my profile of this blog.
Kings County Chapter Schizophrenia Society of NS.
Strengthening Families Together
A ten-week program for families (this includes parents, spouses, adult siblings, adult children) and friends of people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Each session is filled with up-to-date information about serious mental illness. Learn self-care, communication, and coping skills in a supportive environment.
Program to start Tuesday, March 24th, 2009
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
CMHA Kings County Branch Office
Armoury Properties, 49 Cornwallis Street, Suite 106/109
Kentville, Nova Scotia
ONE SESSION PER WEEK FOR TEN WEEKS
For more information, or to register, call Pat at (902) 678-8458, or Penni at (902) 678-1229.
ALL SESSIONS ARE FREE
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Newsletter Article
I figured out how to upload pictures from my camera to my computer. After I did that I uploaded a picture from the computer to my e-mail. I interviewed a lady on her experiences with post traumatic stress disorder and wrote an article on her experiences. I sent the article to my editor. The picture I sent by e-mail was one of the lady I interviewed. We are going to put both her picture and the article in the Mental Health Perspective Newsletter published by the Kings County Branch of the CMHA of Nova Scotia.
I wrote the article yesterday. It took about 3 or 4 hours to write the article. After the article was finished I called her up and read it to her. She was pleased and happy with it. She told me to send it to my editor to be published. I personally believe that it is an excellent article. When I interviewed her for the story she just told me her story. What a story she had to tell. It was a highly moving story. I feel that it could produce intense feelings in those that read it.
About the newsletter. It is a newsletter that we publish once a month. It covers all aspects of things pertaining to mental health. It covers various types of mental illness, articles on what's going on in our local area for consumers to attend, practical things like how to shop on a tight budget, and there was an article on Inn From The Cold. Inn From The Cold is a project that gives the homeless a place to sleep every night of the week. I was informed that most of the people that use this service have some form of mental illness.
This newsletter has been very successful. It is distributed all over Kings County, in various places in Nova Scotia, and it is even distributed as far as Australia. The number of issues we publish are in the hundreds. We have a very large readership. There are three of us that write the articles for it. Plus we have other people that help with it as well. I am just grateful and thankful for being given the opportunity to be a part of this newsletter. I love writing and sharing my knowledge with others. One purpose I have for my writing is to help my fellow consumers, family and friends of consumers, and educate the general public about mental illness to stamp out some of that awful stigma by society towards those with mental illness. I hope that I have been successful in these purposes for my writing.
God bless you and bye for now.
I wrote the article yesterday. It took about 3 or 4 hours to write the article. After the article was finished I called her up and read it to her. She was pleased and happy with it. She told me to send it to my editor to be published. I personally believe that it is an excellent article. When I interviewed her for the story she just told me her story. What a story she had to tell. It was a highly moving story. I feel that it could produce intense feelings in those that read it.
About the newsletter. It is a newsletter that we publish once a month. It covers all aspects of things pertaining to mental health. It covers various types of mental illness, articles on what's going on in our local area for consumers to attend, practical things like how to shop on a tight budget, and there was an article on Inn From The Cold. Inn From The Cold is a project that gives the homeless a place to sleep every night of the week. I was informed that most of the people that use this service have some form of mental illness.
This newsletter has been very successful. It is distributed all over Kings County, in various places in Nova Scotia, and it is even distributed as far as Australia. The number of issues we publish are in the hundreds. We have a very large readership. There are three of us that write the articles for it. Plus we have other people that help with it as well. I am just grateful and thankful for being given the opportunity to be a part of this newsletter. I love writing and sharing my knowledge with others. One purpose I have for my writing is to help my fellow consumers, family and friends of consumers, and educate the general public about mental illness to stamp out some of that awful stigma by society towards those with mental illness. I hope that I have been successful in these purposes for my writing.
God bless you and bye for now.
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