mental illness

A Patron Saint for those with Unquiet Minds

Saint Dymphna is well known as a patron of people living with mental illness. She was a 7th-century Irish princess who fled from her father, who seems to have had a mental illness, and she settled in Geel, Belgium, where she cared for people with mental illnesses. Because she lived so long ago, much of her story is shrouded in the mist of legend, so it is difficult to know with certainty much about Dymphna herself. However, what is certain is that Saint Dymphna’s legacy inspired the people of Geel to show compassion for people who live with mental illness. Over the centuries, the people of Geel invited people with a mental illness to live and work in their community without any stigma or discrimination. Throughout the Middle Ages and even today, the town of Geel is known as a model for community acceptance of people who live with a [...]

A Patron Saint for those with Unquiet Mindstonyroberts2026-05-15T00:58:39-04:00

Delight in Disorder Dissolves, Spreads Hope to Troubled Minds

Sent to Treatment Advocacy Center (TAC), National Alliance on Mental Ilnness - NAMI Indiana, and National Shattering Silence Coalition, along with a financial donation of $1,239.84 (each) — On behalf of Delight in Disorder Ministries, we would like to make this donation in appreciation for all you do for people often treated as "the least of these." These funds have been generated largely through sales of and donations towards our book Hope for Troubled Minds, edited by Tony Roberts. Katie R. Dale served as Associate Editor. Over 100 collaborators, many of whom support your organization, poured out their hearts sharing how Serious Mental Illness impacts their lives and the lives of their loved ones. The book is still in print but sales have stagnated and we no longer have the bandwidth to manage it. The legacy lives on and we are delighted to contribute to your mission. — Tony Roberts [...]

Delight in Disorder Dissolves, Spreads Hope to Troubled Mindstonyroberts2026-05-12T13:33:14-04:00

Hope Remains: My Sister April, A Psych Nurse Who Follows Her Heart

From: "Dear April" in Hope for Troubled Minds I want to tell a story I’ve told many times before. But I can’t tell it enough. It’s the story of what happens when someone with a mental illness falls into the pit of despair and is lifted up by the loving faithfulness of one who cares. December 1, 2016. I am in the Goodman exit lane off I-490 in Rochester, New York. An unusual light shines in my rearview. In seconds, I hear a loud crack and feel a tremendous lurch. Someone traveling too close, going too fast, hit me. Hard. I called 911 and a policeman showed up, followed by an ambulance. I was taken to Strong Memorial Hospital where they ran tests and found nothing conclusive. But I became increasingly agitated. I became convinced that I was paralyzed. Three doctors ran tests on me at separate [...]

Hope Remains: My Sister April, A Psych Nurse Who Follows Her Hearttonyroberts2025-08-14T16:02:14-04:00

Head-over-Healed (and a little Jesus Crazy) by Katie R. Dale

Head-over-Healed (and a Little Jesus- Crazy) Katie R. Dale Cured from chronic crazy? By no means cured. But healed, yes. By grace, I am ever grateful for the psychiatric medications that I take on the daily. Just the other morning I perused through my old medical records from hospitalizations at 16 and 24. The zany, fanatic, maniacal ways my mind could work! I can't even read my handwriting from back then in the black and white composition notebooks I kept. Most of the manic psychosis hijacked this ability to clearly pen my thoughts, and I stand amazed at the obvious (to me now) absurdity where my mind went. It was like I had been abducted and someone else was living in my body and brain…not far from what I believed happened while in that state of mind. Suffice to say, that person no longer exists. And I am so [...]

Head-over-Healed (and a little Jesus Crazy) by Katie R. Daletonyroberts2024-09-12T11:14:10-04:00

A Glass Half-Full/Half-Empty: An Interview with Laura Riordan

Laura Riordan is a Business Development Manager for a successful, renowned IT staffing and consulting firm and lives in the Philadelphia suburbs with her significant other and biggest supporter, Chris, and their blended family of 5 kids - and a dog! Laura has faced the battles of bipolar since early childhood and was diagnosed in college after her first full blown mania. She loves being a mental health advocate and sharing her story with those suffering with mental health challenges to remind them that they are NOT alone. She has facilitated meetings and participated on the board of a local DBSA (Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance) peer led support group for 20 years. Laura’s blog is https://tamingthebipolarbeast.com and you can find more of her work athttps://oc87recoverydiaries.org/bipolar-support-groups/ and https://betterbecausecollective.org/stories/ After years of listening and learning from others in support groups, Laura developed an analogy for bipolar and depression based on the cliched "You [...]

A Glass Half-Full/Half-Empty: An Interview with Laura Riordantonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:20-04:00

The Time is Now: Hope for Troubled Minds has Arrived

The time has come. The wait is over (or at least soon coming to an end). A project five years in the making that cultivated the gifts of so many beautiful blessings is now in print, and on Kindle/ebook. We made a commitment to give complimentary copies to contributors and make pre-ordered books available at a discount. It was only through the generous gifts of passionate advocate donors that we could pull this off. And with them, we did. Now, Amazon will take over selling and shipping. We are grateful that through them we can reach a broader community (though at a slightly higher price). So what happens now? I'll tell you. If you want to know more about the book and purchase a copy, go to our website link: https://delightindisorder.org/hftm-order/ Spread the news of Hope for Troubled Minds on your social media and in person. When you've read a [...]

The Time is Now: Hope for Troubled Minds has Arrivedtonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:20-04:00

Hope for Troubled Minds: One Mom’s Journey from Chaos to Hope

Randye Kaye is the author of Ben Behind His Voices: One Family's Journey From the Chaos of Schizophrenia to Hope (Rowman & Littlefield, 2011), and Happier Made Simple: Choose Your Words. Change Your Life (Front Porch Press, 2022). She's also an actor, voice talent, radio broadcaster, audiobook narrator, teacher and speaker. She co-hosts several podcasts, including Schizophrenia: 3 Moms in the Trenches. She lives with her husband in Connecticut, and her children and grandkids live close by. Her dining room and living room are full of toys. Dear Ben, Life has not turned out to be what any of us imagined, hoped for you, when you were a little boy. You: so bright, so sweet, so enthusiastic, so loving. So many friends, so many talents. The future, so promising. And then came schizophrenia. The great thief. Oh, the symptoms presented in many forms before we - or at least I [...]

Hope for Troubled Minds: One Mom’s Journey from Chaos to Hopetonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:21-04:00

Hope for Troubled Minds – Dreams Deferred by Mary DiNardi

Mary was born and raised in Boston. She moved to Florida in 2008, where she worked in the hospitality industry and as a Victim Advocate. In May of 2022, she and her husband retired, with lots of travel plans! She now volunteers as a Victim Advocate for a local Police Department. For the past several years, she has worked on obtaining Mental Health resources for her community and in raising awareness for the Suicide crisis. Mary wants you to know her son is more than his diagnoses. Justin is extremely bright, funny, and strong. She is blessed to be his mom. Dear Justin.. I recently found the journal I kept while I was pregnant with you. I cried reading it. I never would have imagined how hard your life, our lives, would be. Our journey is not the one I wrote about in that journal. The hopes and dreams [...]

Hope for Troubled Minds – Dreams Deferred by Mary DiNarditonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:21-04:00

Hope for Troubled Minds: My son Jacob by Angie Collier

Angie Collier is a teacher and NAMI volunteer. She quit her full time job in order to be more available to her son. She currently works as a reading specialist online. Dear Jacob, I loved you from the start. Your bright red hair, chubby cheeks and the last of my 3 children. Your brother and sister adored you - holding you, telling you stories, reading to you. You loved lining your Hot Wheels from your bedroom to the living room. You quickly learned to read and you have an incredible vocabulary. At 8 you started hearing voices. We took you to a doctor who put you on medicine, but your depression plunged. In Middle School, you started drugs to self-medicate and later alcohol. At 15 you were diagnosed with Schizoaffective Disorder. The voices, paranoia, seeing things and violence has been too much to endure, but my love for you [...]

Hope for Troubled Minds: My son Jacob by Angie Colliertonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:21-04:00

Hope for Troubled Minds: A Daughter and Her Parents Express Gratitude

Dear Mom and Dad, Thank you for loving my battered soul and caring for me when all I could do was hurt and hate myself. Thank you for the care and support. The hours of holding my hand through what we later learned were panic attacks. Thank you for taking me to the ER, and numerous doctors to try to find the cause of my unease. My disease. Which we later learned was called manic depression, or bipolar when we went to a psychiatrist. Dad thank you for the many overtime hours you worked so our family could have a stay at home mom and health care. Thank you mom for being my angel. Thank you for always offering the HOPE that life can get better and that I could be well. I now live a happy healthy life in marriage with a family of my own because of your [...]

Hope for Troubled Minds: A Daughter and Her Parents Express Gratitudetonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:22-04:00