Accepting a diagnosis is one of the most difficult experiences for people living with mental illness (as well as their caregivers). It certainly was for me and my spouse. I refused to come to terms with my diagnosis for six years. It took an involuntary hospitalization to start treatment, another 10 years to fully
As a church-going health care worker who has fought her own battle with mental illness, I’ve always been frustrated by one message I consistently heard in church: Mental illness makes you “a bad Christian.” Growing up in a gospel church in southern Louisiana — and even attending a nondenominational protestant church as an adult
Community Partner Spotlight: Carlos Plazola, Community Service Specialist Community engagement is such a vital and rewarding part of social services. Carlos Plazola is a Community Service Specialist with Imperial County Behavioral Health Services and the Center for Clinical Training. Carlos works on connecting the community to local resources and assistance, as well as training
CYFL employee, Micaela Cunningham, got to co-present with Suzette Southfox, the Education Director to the Children’s Initiative on September 21, 2021. They held a webinar on Learning from Lived Experience and Apps outreach to 33 education specialists working with students at middle and high schools throughout San Diego County. As the presenters and group
Like 2.3% of U.S. adults, I live with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a largely misunderstood mental health condition that can have a devastating impact. Some international research suggests that people with OCD may be up to ten times more likely to die by suicide compared to the general population. The good news, though, is that OCD can be
How many people have tried talk therapy and made progress, but ultimately felt that it wasn’t enough? How many patients have tried medications and still experienced severe symptoms? Probably too many to count. What if there were a way of reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety, trauma and attention problems that could complement talk therapy
To date, approximately 52,000 service members have been physically wounded in recent military conflicts. It’s also estimated as many as over 1 million live with invisible wounds of war, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), depression, anxiety and other combat stress. As director of Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) Talk, a telephonic emotional support program, I’m honored
I’ve found that people are usually surprised to learn that a friend or family member (or anyone they’ve known for many years) has dissociative identity disorder (DID). Oftentimes, they expect that such a diagnosis would yield obvious, visible symptoms — behaviors that surely couldn’t be concealed from a friend or relative. DID, however, can
I was born and raised in a deeply Catholic home. Accordingly, my cultural upbringing was inseparable from my religion; I went to church every Sunday and actively engaged with my faith community. As I grew up, my participation in religious activities waned, but I always had faith in God. However, when I began struggling
When my three brothers, one by one, first began showing signs of a mental illness in the 1970s, my parents thought they were just “acting out.” The angry outbursts and occasional physical fights seemed like a routine part of masculinity. Then, it became apparent that something was just not right. My youngest brother began