Building mental wellness on a foundation of strength
Last year I wrote about a police wellness check gone wrong, in which a young woman was dragged half-naked in handcuffs through her building by a police officer, While the woman was apprehended under the Mental Health Act, a story about the matter in the Kelowna Daily Courier used the word "arrested" multiple times, including… Continue reading Homelessness & Addiction: Embracing Stigma in a Third-Rate Newspaper
Bottled Memories by David Ritter is a short book (40 pages) of poetry capturing both active addiction and the process of recovery. While the poems relate to his own experiences, there are themes many others will relate to, including the lure of "one more," "praying to the porcelain throne," and doing the walk of shame.… Continue reading Book Review: Bottled Memories
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Dr. Gabor Maté offers powerful insights into the vulnerable, human side of addiction. It draws on his encounters with patients while working as a staff physician at the Portland Hotel, an ultra-low barrier supported housing building in Vancouver's downtown eastside, Canada's poorest postal code. Ultra-low barrier housing like… Continue reading Book Review: In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts
The wounded healer interview series features people who've dealt with significant mental health challenges, and who also work in a helping role to support the mental health of others. This interview is with Wrae Sanders of One Blog, One Day at a Time. 1) Tell us a bit about you, the helping field you’re in,… Continue reading Wounded Healer Interviews: Wrae Sanders
The emerging blogger series is aimed at community building through giving mental health bloggers who are early in their blogging evolution the opportunity to have their work seen by a wider audience. It's also a way to introduce you as a reader to some newer members of our community. This post is by Rob of… Continue reading Emerging Blogger Series: Rob (Your Limitless Life)
A nurse that I used to work with developed an addiction a number of years back. When it came out, in order to have any hope of getting his job and his nursing license back, he was required to see an addictions specialist and adhere to the treatment plan that was set out. One of… Continue reading Should People with Addictions Be Forced to Attend AA?
We're all familiar, at least to some extent, with the sex trade. If nothing else, you may have seen the movie Pretty Woman. The level of desperation in the survival sex trade, though, is galaxies away from what you see in Pretty Woman. The vulnerable I used to work at a community mental health team… Continue reading The Survival Sex Trade
The Bipolar Addict: Drinks, Drugs, Delirium, & Why Sober Is the New Cool by Conor Bezane shares the author's experiences, as well as the experiences of others, living with bipolar disorder and co-occurring addictions. I went into his book with high expectations, because concurrent disorders need to be included more often into the conversation about… Continue reading Book review: The Bipolar Addict
Bru-nO on Pixabay I was raised in a household where alcohol consumption consisted of one or two beer or glass of wine the occasional evening. I was offered small sips of both, and didn't like the taste of either. My 20s In my early university days, I drank, often heavily, on or two nights… Continue reading My (Depression’s) Relationship with Alcohol
