David Susman

That’s a WRAP! How You Can Benefit from a Wellness Recovery Action Plan

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An incredibly useful tool for someone who is coping with a mental illness or other significant health challenges is the WRAP, or Wellness Recovery Action Plan. If you’re not already familiar with WRAP, you’re really missing out on a wonderful resource. Let’s review some of the basics about this very helpful approach. What is WRAP? The Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) is an effective, structured intervention created by educator and mental health advocate Mary Ellen Copeland. It was designed as a …

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Getting My Life Back from Psychosis

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Stories of Hope: An Interview with Shannon Love This is part of a series featuring individuals who share their life experiences with mental health issues. Recently, I asked author and advocate Shannon Love about the struggles and triumphs of her personal journey. Here’s our interview: DS: When did you first start becoming aware of concerns related to your mental health? How did these issues continue to affect you before you sought treatment? SL: I remember it all vividly. It was 2012, I was living in Beijing, …

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I Am A Voice and I Will Be Heard

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Stories of Hope: An Interview with Rudy Caseres This is part of a series featuring individuals who share their life experiences with mental health issues. Recently, I asked mental health advocate Rudy Caseres about his personal journey and his thoughts about advocacy. Here’s our interview: DS: When did you first become aware of concerns related to your mental health? How did these issues affect you before you sought treatment? RC: I first started becoming aware around the time I was in junior high school. I was often …

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10 Priceless Gifts You Can Give to Someone with Mental Illness

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Looking for that perfect holiday, birthday, or any day gift? If someone you care about is facing challenges related to mental health issues or substance misuse, you can give them many wonderful gifts throughout the year that won’t cost you a dime. Consider these. 1)  Give the gift of assistance “Helping others isn’t a chore; it is one of the greatest gifts there is.” – Liya Kebede Lending a helping hand is such a wonderful gift. Offer to give someone a ride, run …

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Even the Darkest Days Have a Brighter Tomorrow

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Stories of Hope: An Interview with Nikki DuBose This is part of a series featuring individuals who share their life experiences with mental health issues. Recently, I asked writer and mental health advocate Nikki DuBose about her history of mental health issues and her current advocacy work. Here’s our interview: DS: When did you first start becoming aware of mental health concerns and how did they affect you? ND: My problems began at an early age, so they became ingrained in my …

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Double Trouble in Recovery: 12-Step Support for Mental Illness and Substance Misuse

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If you ask anyone dealing with a substance use problem what “AA” means, they will immediately say “Alcoholics Anonymous.” Established in the 1930’s, AA is a well-known, effective peer-run approach used to help people in recovery from alcoholism. Several dozen offshoots of AA have been developed over the years which use the same “12-step model,” including NA (Narcotics Anonymous), OA (Overeaters Anonymous), Cocaine Anonymous (CA), Gamblers Anonymous (GA), Emotions Anonymous (EA) and Workaholics Anonymous (WA), just to name a few. …

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Life Can Be So Beautiful

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Stories of Hope: An Interview with Natalie Harris This is part of a series featuring individuals who share their life experiences with mental health issues. Recently, I asked former paramedic and mental health advocate Natalie Harris about the challenges she has faced and how her journey of recovery continues to unfold. Here’s our interview: DS: When did you first started becoming aware of concerns related to your mental health. How did these issues affect you  before you sought treatment? NH: When …

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The ‘ABC’s of Recovery’

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Quite a while ago, I came across a terrific blog called “Romancing the Road to Recovery” by Jo Baltodano. In her blog, Jo says she suffered from an eating disorder since the 4th grade, but she didn’t seek help until age 25 when she was near death. She decided to engage in treatment and chose to fight to live. Jo’s blog is an amazing account of her ongoing journey of recovery. In one of her posts, Jo outlines the ‘ABC’s of …

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