We’re developing our agendas for the coming year and want to make the meetings even more interesting; make learning fun. Because these are learning COMMUNITY meetings, it would be both fun and beneficial to have folks from the community give us their ideas on things they’d like to see happening with these meetings… What would inspire YOU?

The Concept Paper explains that NLCMH Learning Community Meetings are an opportunity to :

• support current interest and promote new interest in mental health recovery;
• celebrate and share new recovery stories for current and new consumers;
• tie together various local initiatives which pertain to system transformation (such as Anti-Stigma, Peer Support Specialists, Co-Occurring Disorders treatment, Suicide Prevention);
• inspire one another; and
• build a recovery culture throughout the NLCMH organization so that consumers and staff engaging in the system all expect and embrace Recovery across our six counties.

The concept paper says: Everyone associated with the Learning Communities would assist to nurture and support the work of the Learning Communities to help create enthusiasm and interest and promote and recruit people to become part of the LCs.

Take this opportunity as a challenge to bring your ideas forward to create a whole year’s worth of fun, rewarding, enjoyable meetings to help continue and grow our knowledge on recovery. Together we can continue to make a difference!

Feel free to leave a comment on this post or get in touch with me to share your ideas! You can find the next meeting in your community on our Community Calendar of Events.

For as long as I can remember I didn’t feel like I was quite right. I was a loner at home and at school. Although I became accustomed to my loneliness, I never could learn to like it. I could be in a room full of people and still feel all by myself. My lack of human interaction cut like a knife, and I didn’t know how to fix it. Then I discovered alcohol.

At the ripe old age of 12, my dad gave me a few swallows of his beer. After all, it was a hot summer day and I was thirsty. For the first time in my life I felt good. At least I thought I felt good. Actually, I think I just felt different than I did for so long before that. That warm glow felt so good that I would remember that sensation for a long time! I didn’t realize it at the time but the alcohol made up for what I now know was a chemical imbalance in my brain. I had a shortage of serotonin. You know, the good stuff we all need in the ole gray matter, which lets us think and feel good. Since the ceiling was spinning round and round as I lay on my bed, mom insisted that dad refrain from sharing his beer with me in the future. He did, but the damage was done, as I would remember how “good” the beer made me feel. I looked forward to reliving that sense of ease and comfort with great anticipation. When I was 16 that day came. I had my license to drive and my ride. Not much of a ride but it got me where I wanted to go. Look out world, here he comes!

Over the next several years, my license to drive took me to a lot of beautiful places and a few dreadful places as well. As an over-the-road gear jammer, I saw more than half of our 50 states. I saw the country and got paid well for it. What a concept. Pretty good work if you can get it. Every rose has its thorn though, as it was long hours and very stressful. The loneliness didn’t bother me because I was used to being alone.

I drank and drove my personal vehicle hundreds of times and I thank God I learned my painful lesson – that Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) is very wrong – before my license to drive became a license to kill. I had a progressive, chronic, and incurable disease called alcoholism. I just didn’t know it yet. Maybe I could say it but I didn’t believe it in my heart. Maybe I just didn’t believe it because I thought alcoholics ended up on skid row and surely that couldn’t happen to me, or so I thought. Besides, everyone lost control when they drank, and went to jail, wrecked cars, burned down houses, broke into houses, walked into strange houses, “came to” in ambulances, broke bones, went to treatment centers, went to psychiatric hospitals, deserted their family, got fired from good jobs, slept in the bushes in the ghetto, stole $100 bills from their dad’s wallet, frequented drug houses and red light districts, drank up food and rent money, right? What a lie I lived. What a lie I was.

Fast forward to February 2009. I had been a functioning alcoholic for a long time, and denial is stronger for a functioning alcoholic. Once I was not functioning well, that denial was broken, and I had to find some hope and find something good about myself. I had to admit and believe that I was dying in order for recovery to happen. NLCMH helped me with that a lot! I don’t think I’d be alive today had it not been for the love and support I received from everyone there. I’ve been diagnosed with chemical dependency, clinical depression, bi-polar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and schizophrenia. I’m living proof that recovery is possible if one gets the right kind of help. NLCMH was that help for me! I thank God for them all because I learned something from all of them.

David, sober and trying to get better since March 1, 2009.

For those of you who have been focusing on the report of how people with a mental illness are dying 25 years earlier than the general population, an article that a friend of mine posted on facebook called Quantifying the Issue might be of some use to you. It spells out the facts about why it makes sense for a person to live a healthy lifestyle.

Some examples:

• Obesity has roughly the same association with chronic health conditions as 20 years of aging.
• An economic assessment found that a health care plan’s annual cost of covering treatment to help people quit smoking ranged from $0.89 to $4.92 per smoker, compared to the annual cost of treating smoking-related disease which ranges from $6 to $33 per smoker.
• Each smoker who successfully quits lowers the medical costs associated with heart attack and stroke by about $47 in the first year and $853 during the next seven years.

I found this article VERY helpful. Personally speaking, lately I’m focusing more and more not only on my mental health but on my physical health as well, so that I beat the statistics and live a healthier lifestyle than I’m accustomed to. I’m doing this for myself and my four children. Please join us at one of our monthly learning community meetings to get more information on mental/physical wellness.

For several months, the Learning Communities learned about a different diagnosis each meeting. In January it was Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. In February the topic was Seasonal Affective Disorder. April’s topic was Personality Disorder.

In May, the groups heard an extremely valuable presentation on Customer Services – What NLCMH Customer Services representatives do and how to reach them. If ever you have a question about Community Mental Health, whether it be on services, supports, classes, resources, how to volunteer or some other topic, Customer Services is a great place to start. If Customer Services representatives do not know the answer, they will do their best to find out.

In June, Recovery Learning Communities looked at Crisis Planning and examined a new Crisis Planning Form. The form is based on one in the Pathways to Recovery curriculum and is very user friendly. Filling out a Crisis Planning Form and giving copies to the significant people in your life is a way to keep control of your own treatment when you are unable to communicate your wishes.

In June, the groups also learned about the Recipient Rights Advisory Committee (RRAC) and the Application and Appointment Process. They learned about openings on the committee for people living in Grand Traverse/Leelanau Counties and Crawford/Roscommon Counties. They also received an RRAC Application Form.

If you are interested in attending the Recovery Learning Community, you are welcome at any time. You can come and listen to the topics of the day. There’s no pressure to speak or share. For the latest schedule, check the NLCMH Calendar of Events. There is no cost to attend and you do not need to register ahead of time. Just come!

• Fast food restaurants and nutritional information by item so you can make healthy choices in fast food restaurants;
• Recipes so you can make healthy versions of beef burritos, burgers and fries, chili, fried chicken and macaroni and cheese at home (thank you, BD Diabetes.com!); and
• How to understand nutrition labels on products you buy in grocery stores.

People also learned about the new Northern Lakes CMH cookbook project which is kicking off this month! We learned that we have received a new recovery block grant from the Michigan Department of Community Health which starts October 1, 2008. One of the new projects included in the grant is a cookbook. Bring one or two of your favorite recipes to the next Learning Community meeting, or get them to Mary Beth Evans, Recovery Coordinator, so you can be a part of our cookbook!

The groups also continued their learning about diagnoses. This month the topic was bipolar disorder. The group reviewed a fact sheet, took a quiz and had good discussion about the disorder.

Everyone also received a registration form for the Living Well conference for Northern Lakes CMH consumers and staff that we are organizing for Tuesday, October 14, 2008 at the Wexford Civic Arena in Cadillac. Sign up soon to reserve your spot! It will be a great conference and it’s FREE!

All in all, it was a meeting chock full of information!

Also in July, attendees did an art project and created “STOP” signs to carry with them (or post in their homes or offices) to change negative thoughts into positive thoughts. Motivational, inspirational sayings and words in fancy script were provided along with a collection of art materials from which to choose. It was a fun activity that got people talking and moving.

Included in the “language of recovery” are Things that Help You Heal:

• Friends & support
• Self-determination & choice
• Education & awareness
• Goals
• Responsibility
• Change
• HOPE

HOPE is really important, because hope fills our hearts as we gain belief that we can recover.

• Hope helps develop a belief that “Yes, I can Recover!”
• Others are recovering and so can I
• Hope can make dreams come true
• Hope lights my mood
• Hope helps me make changes

What do people hope for?
Housing, clothes, money, entertainment, travel, education, employment, friends and family, less suffering, peace, hope, dignity, respect, joy, serenity, calm, happiness. Notice in this list hope is listed. Sometimes all we can do is hope for hope. A small glimmer of hope can get us started on the path to recovery.

You place a bio-dot on your hand, in the web between your thumb and pointer finger. When you feel stressed, the bio-dot is very dark or black. If you feel relaxed, the bio-dot turns blue or green. Everyone tried to change their bio-dot by breathing deeply and imagining a relaxing place.

Relaxation and wellness are some of the topics people want to learn about in future Recovery Center for Excellence Classes. The Learning Communities provide a great opportunity to sample what a particular class might be like.

The groups also talked about what kinds of information might be most useful to include in the new recovery corners and display towers which are being set up in each office lobby.