Insights to Recovery, Winter 2018 by Laura Adams

INSIGHTS

to recovery Winter 2018

INSIGHTS

to recovery Winter 2018

Recovery Workgroup Mission Statement: We are a recovery workgroup dedicated to spreading our experiences, creativity and message of hope in the community in the pages of our newsletter. Publication information INSIGHTS to recovery is published by the

Table of Contents Title

Summit Pointe Recovery Workgroup.

Page

From the Editors

Christmas Feelings

New Year’s Goals

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Poetry, stories, artwork and suggestions for future articles can be sent to Earl Hitchcock at Summit Pointe, 140 W. Michigan Ave., Battle Creek, MI 49017, or emailed to Lyn at maggielyn62@gmail.com, subject line: newsletter. All articles, stories and photographs are copyright the author with all rights reserved, except as where noted.

Valentine’s Day

Summit Pointe is located in downtown Battle Creek at the corner of W. Michigan Ave. and United Way.

What Recovery Group Means

24 Hour Crisis Hotline: 1 (800) 632-5449.

Personal Observations

Diagnosis Discussion

Have a Laugh

Word Search, Coloring Page

12-13

Awareness Month Calendar

Cover Art: “Take me Home” ©Lyn McRae 2

INSIGHTS to recovery

Winter 2018

From the editors

Christmas Feelings

Welcome back to the INSIGHTS to recovery newsletter! We apologize for the unexpected hiatus. The recovery group was first started in the fall of 2013, as a client advisory group for Summit Pointe. The original point of the group was 4-fold: to recognize things that Summit Pointe was doing right for its clients, to recognize areas for improvement and encourage those changes, to educate the public and ourselves about mental illness, and to work toward the reduction of stigma associated with mental illness. The newsletter Recovery Express was started as a means to these ends. The first issue was only four pages, but they were informative pages! One of the goals of the newsletter was to show that people with mental illness are more than just a diagnosis, and included things like puzzles, coloring pages, recipes, and funny pictures. In the summer of 2016 there was a change in leadership, and many changes were instituted including changing the newsletter name to INSIGHTS TO RECOVERY. Unfortunately those leaders were unable to continue, and since December 2017 the group has been without editors. But the staff continued their writing, and a new editorial team was found in February 2018. We decided to go forth with the winter issue and include stories from December and January, to acknowledge and honor the work done by the staff while the newsletter was in limbo. And that is why you are still reading Christmas stories in February. Enjoy the extension of the holidays! It is our goal to get back on track with the original aim of the recovery group, and to keep future publications coming in a timely manner. We would love to hear from you, our readers— what changes would you like to see? What additions would you like? More information? More personal stories? Puzzles? Coloring pages? (if yes, see pages 12-13!) Please leave a note for Earl at Summit Pointe, or email Lyn at maggielyn62@gmail.com with your comments! And thank you for your patience while we were gone. 3

Monday is Christmas. I am totally unprepared this year. Most years I start months in advance. This year I had some financial setbacks that led to Santa being broke and also starting to shop later than normal. Personally, I like to have everything done by December, then I can sit back and enjoy the parties and watch everyone else scramble! This year I am the one scrambling! ~ Melanie P *** The Christmas Movies I like watching Christmas movies. Everything from “Miracle on 34th Street” to “The Santa Clause.” ~ by Julia P *** Christmas is the most right day of year. With friends and family, your son and daughter, a clean home and light, and a present. ~by Curtis *** I’m happy for Christmas, it makes me happy. But it doesn’t make me happy because I miss my mom a lot and I miss my brother a lot. ~by Tanisha *** Why I Like Christmas My foster home is nice. They make a good dinner and a nice Christmas. ~by Anonymous ***

INSIGHTS to recovery

Winter 2018

Christmas makes me feel happy and sad. Happy because I have a renewed sense of hope. Hope for the new year. Hope that I will be positive. I will deal better with my mental illness, I will be a positive change in the world.

New Year’s Goals My goals for the year are to lose weight, and to stop giving money away and not getting it back. Let family go that just wants to use me. Take care of myself better, my health. Get my job back with Summit Pointe. Get back in church and the Y Center. And start saving money and open a Christmas Club.

I am sad during Christmas because I have not been able to see my children in a few years. They made Christmas fun. I had fun decorating and baking with them.

~ Ella

~ShyAnn

***

My goals are to lose weight. Slow down on smoking. Have a better attitude. Take better care of myself. Work on my GED goals.

Christmas It brings family together and it makes you forget about what’s going on in the world around. It makes you miss loved ones that are not here with us any longer. But I love the part that makes people care about each other. So Merry Christmas.

~ Julie *** New Year Resolutions would be about many things. But the one thing I would write about today is my weight. And how I would like to be the right size. There’s nothing wrong with my weight besides my blood pressure and cholesterol levels, but that’s what is the most I’d like to change.

~Baby Girl *** Christmas is a special feeling to me. Presents and the aromas. Thinking of all the people enjoying their holiday spirits.

~ Julia

~ Anonymous

***

My new year’s goals are to lose weight and get out of the house more. ~ Lorrie *** My goals are to stop smoking and lose weight. ~ Fawnna 4

INSIGHTS to recovery

Winter 2018 ***

Martin Luther King, Jr.

I want to walk everywhere, to lose weight and to meet new people. I’m wanting to work on my goals and go to church. Work on my GED. Work more towards getting my own place.

He was a good person and he made people happy and he protected people and told people the truth and I was happy to know he cared. ~Anonymous

~ Julie

***

He was a good man. He died for his people. His family loved him and so did a lot of people.

If I was to have a new year resolution it would be probably hitting the gym. I could really use the exercise. I know I’ve let myself go. So I really need to work on getting rid of this belly of mine.

~ Baby Girl ***

~Anonymous

Martin Luther King Day

***

The third Monday in January is the designated day to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. In 2018 the holiday falls on King’s actual birthday, January 15.

Goal for this year To maintain the goals I already have accomplished and try not to let things get me down. To stay safe from those that want to hurt me. To forgive at times like hopefully the way or in other words at times I did in the past. In hopes not to give up on certain things of life that I’ve been struggling with.

April 8, 1968— Rep. John Conyers introduced legislation for a federal holiday to commemorate King, only four days after his assassination. January 1973— Illinois is the first state to adopt Martin Luther King Jr Day as a state holiday.

~Anonymous ***

1983— Congress passes and President Ronald Reagan signs legislation creating Martin Luther King Jr Day as a national holiday. 1986— the first holiday to be celebrated. People across the country held marches and church services. George H.W. Bush, Vice President, joined Coretta Scott King to place a wreath on King’s tomb. He also 5

INSIGHTS to recovery

Winter 2018

joined her for a ceremony at Ebenezer Baptist Church.

What Recovery Group Means to Me… This class is where I get to see my friends. Talk about my feelings. Get out of the house. Stay in touch with the community, get to see my caseworker and be around clean people.

2000— Carolina became the last state to sign a bill recognizing MLK Day as a paid holiday. Coretta Scott King stated, “the reason we celebrate the holiday is to reflect on the life and legacy of a man who brought hope and healing to America. We celebrate the courage of a man who endured everything from beatings to bombings. He went to jail twenty-nine times to gain freedom for others.”

The group makes me feel like I belong to something. I have a lot of friends in the group and it gets me out of the house. I can talk with other people about my life. I can learn about myself and others. ~ Baby Girl

The King holiday is a great day to teach the values of nonviolence, unconditional love, tolerance, forgiveness and reconciliation.

*** Being in the recovery workgroup made me focus on my love for writing.

~Shy Ann

Writing is my gift. It took me forever just to figure out how I did it.

***

Valentine’s Day

With writing and being in the recovery workgroup, it changed me.

I like Valentine’s Day because it is fun and makes me happy. It makes me laugh.

I write and it comes so naturally. I cannot stop when I start.

~Tanisha

Writing is who I am. It should be acknowledged. ~Jenny *** Coming to recovery group means many things to me. First and foremost, I look at it as a job. As a job, it provides all the different aspects a job does. Recovery group is a paycheck, yes, but it’s more than that. Recovery group is a place I have to be at a certain time. For me, routines are difficult and this gives me practice 6

INSIGHTS to recovery

Winter 2018

building a routine.

group in 2016 was one of the saddest days I’ve had in the last few years, but at the time it was a necessary change. I am so happy to be back and look forward to helping the group get publication back on track.

For me, socialization is difficult. Recovery group forces me, for just a fe hours a month, to get out of the house and interact with people. In interacting with people, it forces us to work together and listen to each other. Recovery group builds listening skills.

~ Lyn ***

-Personal Observations-

The writing in recovery group builds writing skills and also gives a means to selfexpression.

The Weather This year we have had more rain than any year in my entire life and I’m 58 years old. For this time of year, the weather is warmer than usual. Living in Michigan being a meteorologist must be hard. Like about a week ago they forecasted it’d be approximately 40 degrees, and it was about 60. The wind is a big factor in the temperature. In about 120 days it should be pleasant weather.

~ Melanie *** What the Recovery Workgroup “Insight” Means to Me This group gives me the chance to practice patience and interpersonal relationship skills. I feel useful and needed here, two positive emotions very valuable to someone with depression and Emotional Regulation Disorder. It gives me a sense of stability, and of purpose. It also reminds me that there are people that enjoy having me around; I felt so happy to be welcomed back by my friends here.

~Anonymous *** Winter I don’t like winter because my body hurts bad when I get cold. I can fall easy. I eat more because I’m in the house more. I like to swim but that’s out. But if I get my Y membership back I can go swim indoors. Our days are not long, but I love when Christmas comes and the New Year and Tax Refund Time.

It gives me an opportunity to teach others in “the real world” about mental illnesses, and hopefully help reduce the stigma attached to mental illness. This has been my goal since I first joined the group in the fall of 2013 and we began the newsletter as the “Recovery Express.”

~ Baby Girl ***

This newsletter allows me to share my creativity and journalism skills, an opportunity that I am grateful to have. Leaving the

Homeless The homeless let me see that they had no 7

INSIGHTS to recovery

Winter 2018

food, no sleep, no job. Some have money when they get paid, but don’t find no place to live and get off the street. Some things get so bad they get hurt so they get like don’t keep their self together.

I got hurt and why didn’t he protect me? Faith is hard for me to believe. But, I do have faith. ~Jenny

~ Curtis

***

I moved out of Battle Creek and I don’t like it because I’m in a new house. I have to move out and back to Battle Creek.

Traveling Across the USA Starting at Detroit heading west. The car manufacturers. Then onto the highway, I-94 to Chicago, the Windy City. Close to it is a Naval base. Both of these cities just named are called metropolises.

~Tanisha *** Knocked Up

Then we’re on our way out west to the Badlands and the Rocky Mountains. Both are tourist attractions. Out west is a very open area as far as you can see. There is a rock that’s round and about 70 yards around and 70 yards tall.

I left my hometown at 16.

Then we travel on to California, to Hollywood, the home of TV productions. On our way back is Disneyland.

and I got pregnant at 18 again.

I met my future husband at 17. I got pregnant at 17 and I had my baby girl at 18. I got married at 18 I had my baby boy at 19. And then two years later

~Scott

it all fell apart.

***

We moved so many times.

Faith

I think about 7.

I grew up in a Catholic home. It was somewhat strict. I followed my dad's way.

My life spiraled out of control. When I accused my husband of

I wasn’t really close to my mom, not until my dad passed away.

cheating, he denied it.

I hear voices, it’s really hard for me.

The signs were so out there.

I have faith; just in what I believe.

I was a wreck. I was going home so my mom could see

I know I should believe in God. 8

INSIGHTS to recovery

Winter 2018

the kids and my husband thought I was leaving him. I was not.

are associated with the flu, and are not typical symptoms of the common cold.

He took our kids and left.

3. Aches and headaches. Severe muscle or body aches are a telltale flu symptom.

He left me at our home.

4. Known exposure. Close contact with individuals known to have influenza can increase the chance of contracting the virus.

Without food, a car, heat, electricity and money. My mom saved me. I left, and all that was going off

5. Time of year. You can catch a cold at any time of year, but flu season typically runs from November through March. Symptoms that show up outside of flu season are more likely to be from a cold or an allergy.

in my head was, “turn back! I don’t want to go.” But in the long run, it was over. Everything was over.

Information taken from:

~Anonymous

www.teladoc.com/flu.

***

The animal shelter is always in need of dog food and cat food, cat litter, collars and leashes. Plus a lot of toys, and beds so they can rest. They look for the right home and all that. They’re always in need of volunteers. Hopefully someone could adopt them.

Depression I have a lot of depression because of being beat, and rape trauma. I go to see a counselor and talk about how to handle this stuff and talking about it helps a lot. I wish that stuff would leave my head and I could forgive and forget. But that’s hard for me to do. My heart is hurting and my brain is saying no. But I’m working on it. It’s going to be a long road to recovery.

~ JR ***

Dealing with Diagnosis The Flu

I handle it by doing word searches and writing about it.

The top five signs you may have the flu: 1. Quick onset. The flu often comes on suddenly, whereas cold symptoms can slowly worsen over the span of a few days and are generally milder.

~ Anonymous *** Depression and Mood Swings

2. Fever. A moderate to high fever (at or above 101 degrees Fahrenheit) and chills

When I have mood swings, I’m not a nice 9

INSIGHTS to recovery

Winter 2018 Stress Management

person sometimes. I got mad on Saturday morning and got so mad I walked to the store at 4:30 in the morning. I had a good day on Sunday. I’m trying to work on the mood swings. They kind of come and go.

Who am I to write an article on stress management? I’m so wound up today I woke up puking. I’m a regular person, all I can do is share some techniques that help me function.

When I get depression, I just lay in bed. Really don’t want to be bothered. Watch a movie, do a coloring book.

The first thing that comes to mind is priorities. With the fight or flight response, the mindset is everything has to be done at once. That’s a lie, it’s your mind playing tricks on you. Figure out what is most important or urgent, and do that first.

I’m so happy I talk to my brother and my mom. It brightens my day. ~ Julie

Make a list. Looking at what needs to be done will help you see that there are only “X” amount of things that have to be done.

*** Schizophrenia

Exercise. I know it sounds cliché, but it will help clear your head and burn off some of that adrenaline.

Studies show that schizophrenia may be caused by an imbalance of chemicals in the brain. Scientists believe that schizophrenia, like many other conditions, may result from a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

Talk to someone. Sometimes venting helps. Sometimes the other person will see something you missed. Let people help you! For me, this one is extremely difficult. I want to do everything on my own. As the saying goes, “many hands make light work.”

Research suggests that men and women are at equal risk of developing the disease, which occurs at similar rates in all ethnic groups around the world.

Give yourself permission to take a break. Sometimes a distraction is just what you need to come up with solutions.

At this time, no one knows exactly what causes the condition or why schizophrenia affects some people and not others. It’s important to understand that it’s not your fault that you have schizophrenia. No one is to blame and there’s nothing you did to cause it.

I’ve been known to drop to my knees in prayer when I’m really overwhelmed. If it’s a problem way bigger than myself, I do put it on the prayer chain. So there you have it, my top seven ways of managing stress. Hope it helps.

~ Lorrie

~Melanie

***

Winter 2018 INSIGHTS to recovery

“Snowman Love” - digital art by Lyn

INSIGHTS to recovery

Winter 2018

INSIGHTS to recovery

Winter 2018

Awareness Calendar for 2018 January:

July:

Mental Wellness Month

National Minorities Mental Health Awareness Month

February:

September:

National Eating Disorder Awareness Month

National Recovery Month

International Boost Self-Esteem Month

9-15: World Suicide Prevention Week

March:

October:

Mental Retardation Awareness Month 1: Self-injury Awareness Day 30: Bipolar Awareness Day

A.D.H.D. Awareness Month 7-13: Mental Illness Awareness Week

April:

10: World Mental Health Day

10: World Suicide Prevention Day

7-13: OCD Awareness Week

Autism Awareness Month Stress Awareness Month

11: National Depression Screening Day

May:

November:

Mental Health Month

17: International Survivors of Suicide Day

6-12: Anxiety and Depression Awareness Week

December:

10-16: Schizophrenia Awareness Week

3: International Day of Persons with Disabilities

10: National Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mental Health Awareness Day