Hope for Troubled Minds

Hope for Troubled Minds: Dear Bobby, from your grateful mom.

Dear Bobby, One of my greatest accomplishments in life was becoming your mother - I had hopes and dreams for the man you would become. Your intelligence, compassion and determination in everything you did brought me a great sense of pride. Bipolar disorder no doubt changed the way I see the world and what I now want for you, my loving son. This brain illness at times has made you say and do things uncharacteristic of the person that I know is deep inside of you. It is an illness that has caused much turmoil for you, for this I am deeply sorry and only wish that as your mother I could take the pain away. Despite great suffering, despair and heartbreak, bipolar disorder has taught me so much. It has taught me that we live in a world where those with serious brain disorders are discriminated against. We live [...]

Hope for Troubled Minds: Dear Bobby, from your grateful mom.tonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:23-04:00

Hope for Troubled Minds: To my best friend, I call you mom

Jonna Terhune is a social worker living with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. She writes, "... [my diagnosis] does not define me. By the grace of God, I am still alive and blessed to have the support of my best friend/mother. I know this letter cannot show the extent of sacrifice and love that my mother has given to help me live but I do hope that it gives a glimpse into our experience. I pray that one day I can give back as well as pay it forward. Thank you for spending a few moments to read my letter to my mom." To my best friend, I call you mom, I never thought I would make it this far. You stood by me through all the sleepless nights, not just as an infant but as a teenager and adult when mania engulfed me or depression strangled my heart [...]

Hope for Troubled Minds: To my best friend, I call you momtonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:24-04:00

Hope for Troubled Minds: To My Dearest Ann from Your Honey Bunches of Oats

Kwee Ann Yap was born on March 31, 1963, in Selangor, Malaysia. She is the youngest of 3 siblings. Growing up, Ann was not keen on socializing, she mostly kept to herself to avoid any kind of social activity. She loved reading and spending time with her family. Steve was born Steven Nonaka on August 25, 1949, in a Sugar Plantation Hospital in Waipahu, Hawaii. He is the oldest of 4 children, a brother and two sisters. His stepfather adopted him and his younger sister, changing their last name to Fukunaga. The family moved several times before finally settling in at Pauoa Valley located in Honolulu, Hawaii. In late 1997 Steve decided to explore a forum for pen pals, and it was there he found Ann’s bio and started to correspond with her. Steve felt Ann was a good and loving person in working with children with developmental disabilities. They [...]

Hope for Troubled Minds: To My Dearest Ann from Your Honey Bunches of Oatstonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:24-04:00

Hope for Troubled Minds: An Open Letter to a Fellow Traveler by Brandon A.

Dear Fellow Traveler, Did you think life was going to go like this? You had plans and dreams about work, life, accomplishments, where you wanted to live and with who. Then mental illness stepped in. Now what? I was 14 when the darkness fell on me. I had been a freshman: insecure, loud, loving, caring, smart, prideful, naïve, hopeful, occasionally hardworking, unfocused, etc. I played drums in bands, played goalie in soccer, and played risk with my friends, sometimes for days. Then I was nothing. I was a contaminant. I was walking anguish. I got home every day and carried myself upstairs to my room. I would turn on the radio, collapse into my comforter, and sob. The music drowned out the crying so no one else could hear. I was not alone. Kay Redfield Jameson had bipolar disorder, like I do, and she survived. She had become a clinical [...]

Hope for Troubled Minds: An Open Letter to a Fellow Traveler by Brandon A.tonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:24-04:00

Hope for Troubled Minds: A Prayer to be Rooted in Love by Nancy Boucher

Nancy Boucher is the ninth of thirteen children born into a first generation Italian American family. The importance and value of family has been an enduring force in her life. She taught special education for 24 years in public schools, starting programs for children with behavioral challenges. Her responsibilities included screening, observation, and evaluation; developing and implementing goals with students; consulting with teachers, administrators, and parents; and providing in-service assistance to staff. She loved my job, and was always attentive to and thankful to each of her students who taught her how to become a better teacher. She is well aware of the challenges facing families and their children when dealing with a serious condition, not yet totally understood. Twenty four years ago her youngest son got sick with a serious mental illness and her family's life as they knew it veered off course. They were catapulted into a wilderness [...]

Hope for Troubled Minds: A Prayer to be Rooted in Love by Nancy Bouchertonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:24-04:00

Hope for Troubled Minds: My Heart’s Hero by Tina G.

Tina G. was raised a farm girl near Columbus, ND. She spent many summer weekends at our lake cabin at White Bear Lake Saskatchewan Canada. She has loved the outdoors all her life. She received a B.S. in Criminal Justice/Business Admin. She never cared much for indoor work so she spent about 20 years working with golf course landscaping. During this time she raised 3 kids, a daughter and 2 sons with their Dad. They later divorced. She then met Tim and he has a daughter. They celebrated 12 years of marriage this year. During that time all 4 of their kids graduated high school, their daughters have both married and they now have 2 granddaughters and are expecting a grandson in March! They have 3 dogs that are theirs together! Tina was diagnosed with bipolar disorder 1 and borderline personality disorder at the age of 33. However, she feels [...]

Hope for Troubled Minds: My Heart’s Hero by Tina G.tonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:24-04:00

Hope for Troubled Minds: A Letter of Redemption to My Mother, Claudia by Cathy B.

Dear Claudia, As I sit here anticipating the 2022 New Year and wondering what joys and sorrows it will bring, I remember you. Our world is in the midst of a deadly pandemic, that frankly, I never thought I would experience in my lifetime. It’s an experience akin to living in a sci-fi horror movie. I sometimes wonder if I could magically change the fact that you developed a serious mental illness when I was a child, if your brain had remained healthy and you were still alive, would you have been the kind of mother I could call and kavetch with about what a struggle the pandemic is for us all. However, you died seven years ago. You were 74-years-old when you died alone with both serious mental illness and dementia in an Atlanta area nursing home. Even with the dementia, you always remembered both me and Chris (your [...]

Hope for Troubled Minds: A Letter of Redemption to My Mother, Claudia by Cathy B.tonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:24-04:00

Hope for Troubled Minds: A Mother’s Deepening Love Through Struggles

Diane Rabinowitz retired in 2018 from a lifelong career as a teacher. She grew up in New York, but except for a short stint in North Carolina and ten years in Kentucky, has lived the majority of her life in California. She has wide-ranging interests in health, the arts, and fitness, but her main focus since moving from Los Angeles to a small town in Northern California is to make her community more hospitable for the homeless and those with serious mental illness. She has been developing friendships and working relationships with anyone who is similarly devoted so we can create better care for the most vulnerable. Her life-long devotion to Buddhist practice sustains her. Dear Tariq, I want to tell you how much I love you, and how happy I am that you are finally in a care situation where you have recovered much of your self. In [...]

Hope for Troubled Minds: A Mother’s Deepening Love Through Strugglestonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:25-04:00

Hope for Troubled Minds: My Miracle Child by Donna Erickson

MY MIRACLE CHILD It has not been easy since day one. Actually, before that. I had fertility problems that required tests, treatments, and lots of doctors visits. What came so easily for others was an uphill struggle for me. I just wanted to have a baby. Jeff and I married young, worked hard, and saved up enough money for a down payment on a house. After we moved in, my biological urge to become a mother really kicked in. But my body was not cooperating. Finally, after four long years, my dream came true. I was pregnant! by Donna Erickson Dear Ryan, I loved and wanted you so much, before you were even born. When you came into our lives, your father and I were over the moon and filled with happiness. But it was hard to raise such a defiant child. Tantrums lasted longer than my friends‘ children, and [...]

Hope for Troubled Minds: My Miracle Child by Donna Ericksontonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:25-04:00

Hope for Troubled Minds: A Mother’s Search for Sanity

Michelle B is a loving mother, daughter, and child of God. She is working hard at surviving, maintaining sanity and positive thoughts, staying in the word of God and following his commands to live a good clean life. Dear mom, I’m writing you this letter to tell you how much you mean to me. You have been there for me and for that I am grateful. As you know I have 7 months clean. I want to express how deeply sorry I am for disappointing you with my drug use. You always tried to help me with my mental health even when I was young. I never listened and would suffer. You saw the outbursts, the psych wards, and the melt downs. I felt them. I self medicated through meth use. It was like magic. Now I know this not to be true. After going to a psych doctor and [...]

Hope for Troubled Minds: A Mother’s Search for Sanitytonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:25-04:00