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Us caregiver’s take on the role of care-giving because we have to, because we want to, but most of all because we love someone who needs us to fulfill this role. I’m going to dive right in and state that sometimes I want to bang my head on the keyboard when I see or hear another reference to ‘tough love’ like it is something to be shunned and ashamed of. The idea that by practicing ‘tough love’, one is not practicing ‘unconditional love’. Love is defined as an intense feeling of deep affection.Read More →

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Sometimes when writing or blogging I will use the term roller coaster… As a parent or caregiver of someone with a mental illness it is a term a lot of us use. A very fitting term if you ask me. There are lots of different roller coasters throughout the world. One of the top ten being the Bizarro (formerly known as Superman: Ride of Steel) in Agawam, Massachusetts USA. My favorite, possible because I have ridden it, is the Ghoster Coaster. It’s a small wooden one in Canada’s Wonderland in Ontario, Canada.Read More →

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“I am Jonathan”   Having retired from professional filmmaking, this had been where I left off–a study of psychosis and schizoaffective disorder as I saw it through the schizophrenic lens in 2009 and 2010. “I am Jonathan” is intended to be educational; target audience being grad students in psychology and counseling. It’s just time for me to let it go, at this point in my life. I do hope it might prove helpful, offer hope and understanding of what schizoaffective is like for me on a daily basis.Read More →

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By Christopher Luke, UK This prayer was written by Christopher Luke in recognition of World Mental Health Day, October 10, 2014. Eternal Heavenly Father and Creator & Sustainer of all life We give you thanks that, on 10th October, individuals and organisations across the globe sought to increase knowledge and understanding of mental illness and personal well-being, in order to commemorate World Mental Health Day. Today, we pray that our own knowledge and understanding will be further enhanced, and that our eyes and ears may be opened to the needs of others, particularly those who suffer from mental illness in any way.Read More →

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“There is nothing impossible to him who will try.” – Alexander The Great Believing in one’s abilities goes a long way, but it’s taken me over thirty years to arrive in a place where I feel positive about my life and somewhat in control of the thoughts and ideas in my head, which once drove me to bizarre behaviour, destructive tendencies, rages, depression, fear and distrust. Let me start closer to the beginning of this story. I am of Chinese descent and was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. In 1979, I was a shy, impressionable teenager. I began to hear voices outside my home, in theRead More →