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In: Children/Teens, General, Living with Mental Illness, Personal Stories, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
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I grew up in a household where I thought life was normal.  I thought everyone’s parents fought, thought dad always beat and raped mom, thought playing mind games was normal, I thought this was what everyone lived like.  Years later I’d come to realize, NO, this is not normal!Read More →

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In: Anxiety, Living with Mental Illness, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Personal Stories, Supporting a Loved One
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Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a pattern of unreasonable thoughts and fears (obsessions) that lead you to do repetitive behaviors (compulsions), which interfere with daily activities and can cause severe stress. You may feel the need to try and stop or ignore the OCD but that will just increase your anxiety.  Eventually you will feel the need to stop the acts the OCD causes which will alleviate the stress.  You will find, eventually, the acts will keep coming back; this is the vicious cycle of OCD.Read More →

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In: Abuse, Addiction, Bipolar, Living with Mental Illness, Personal Stories, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Supporting a Loved One
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My life, like everyone else’s, had its ups and downs. My brother and I would take turns spending weekends with both grandmothers’; go to church, to the library, do some baking and play games. We had the best time with them. While at home, everyone would be quiet, doing their own thing. Usually during birthdays or holidays is where you’d find us happy, joking and enjoying our time together. It wasn’t until years later, I discovered why we spent so much time away from our parents. My father had been diagnosed with manic depression during his teenage years and we didn’t know this until IRead More →

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In: Depression, General, Living with Mental Illness, Personal Stories
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Ron Ellis started out as a professional hockey player to speaker, now speaks about his personal experience with depression. Ron Ellis is remembered for his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs and member of the Team Canada hockey team. During his 15 years as a professional player, he assisted in bringing the Stanley Cup home for the Leafs in 1967 and won against the Russians with Team Canada in the World Hockey Summit Series in 1972.Read More →

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In: Addiction, General, Living with Mental Illness, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Personal Stories, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Supporting a Loved One
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Joanie Malarchuk is wife of former NHL hockey player Clint Malarchuk. 28 years ago the then 27-year-old ice hockey goaltender, of the Buffalo Sabres, suffered one of the most gruesome injuries ever seen in professional sport. His throat cut by a stray skate, he survived thanks to his team’s trainer reaching into his neck to pinch shut the severed artery that would later need 300 stitches.Read More →

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In: Depression, Living with Mental Illness, Supporting a Loved One
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How well do you know your friends, co-workers or even family? It would be surprising to know it doesn’t matter how well you know them, they may be hiding something from you. What you may see is a happy marriage, a great job, lots of friends. What you won’t see is the unhappiness, lack of energy, constant self-doubt and changes in appetite; a few symptoms of high-functioning depression.Read More →

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In: Addiction, Living with Mental Illness, Suicide, Supporting a Loved One
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On September 12, 2016, I went to listen to former NHLer Clint Malarchuk speak for the World Suicide Prevention Day. He touched on his medication and drinking, how he mixed the two and how it affected his mental illness, himself, his family and his suicidal thoughts. I do know, from personal experience from loved ones, how important it is NOT to mix alcohol and or drugs and certain medications when you live with a mental illness.Read More →

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In: General, Living with Mental Illness
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Imagine having the same thoughts in your head or seeing the same visions in your head, over and over again. Now imagine experiencing this when you’re supposed to be sleeping. This happens to many people who live with mental illness and happened to me. I remember always having to sleep with the radio on or I would have nightmares. The radio always “tuned” our my parents’ arguments and I could sleep. Not realizing I may have developed PTSD, I still had to sleep with the radio on even after I moved out of the house or I would have the same dreams over and overRead More →