Happy National Mental Health Awareness Month. Hoping that you get involved in activities for mental health advocacy, support and increased awareness.

Celebrate mental health month by taking at least 20 minutes each day in the month in quiet reflection. Want to do more? Please visit www.namict.org or your favorite mental health wellness site for support, advocacy, and information.

July is National Minority Mental Health Month. In honor of the month, I will be hosting a community conversation in New Haven on how we can truly heal and maintain excellent mental and physical health. Please look for the announcement shortly on this site and on my Facebook site.

Thought you may enjoy this book review by Glenville Ashby posted in Kaiteur News, Guyana.

www.kaieteurnewsonline.com (Review)

Please do something nice for the family caregivers in your life!

Sailing on Broken Pieces: Essential Survival Skills for Recovery from Mental Illness by Gary Rhule is a 2014 USA BEST BOOK AWARD WINNER: HEALTH: PSYCHOLOGY & MENTAL HEALTH.

A book on coping and recovery from mental illness, Sailing on Broken Pieces is told from the triple perspective of a sibling, caregiver and emergency room doctor who treats people with mental illness in the emergency room and copes with the same concerns at home. Told through vignettes from the emergency room intertwined with common symptoms of mental illness, its goal is to eliminate the stigma of mental illness. Oscar winning Best Actress, Jennifer Lawrence said: “It’s just so bizarre how in this world if you have asthma, you take asthma medication. If you have diabetes, you take diabetes medication. But as soon as you have to take medicine for your mind, it’s such a stigma behind it.” Sailing on Broken Pieces is unique from this triple perspective of ER doctor, sibling and caregiver of a person with mental illness. One in 3 Americans (65 Million) is a family caregiver for persons with mental illness. Sailing on Broken Pieces provides strategies and insights on how to cope while providing support for their family member.

Here is my poem, SUPER BOWL, offered to all the football fans as they excitedly watch their favorite teams play, and hopefully win.

SUPER BOWL

Cold Janus dumped six inches,
On Meadowlands’ battlefield.
The god of beginnings and transitions,
To test the flesh and spirit,
Or to squash the burning within.

Feral wild horse broncos,
Cavorting against surly seahawks.
Elusive hooves kicking up smoke,
Unfurled wings striking back a note.
Kindling the heart’s desire,
Still flaming despite a twist.

The field that lies before you,
Your point of view and skill.
To maneuver tackles, blocks, and sacks,
To watch if you will fumble,
And get pass all the downs.
Does this thing need a hybrid soul?
One who can stand within the gap?

Spectators in the stadium, cloaked against the freeze,
Chugging warmed-up beer and sipping hot cocoa.
Clamoring die-hard fans,
Watching bodies collide.
Encouraging gladiators,
Armored in chest pads and cleats.

This time it was Manning versus Wilson,
Next year we’ll wait to see.
The rivalry that carries,
A willpower exploding fire.
Who will muster up the courage?
Displaying their magnificence,
And stand for all to see.

In life there’s always conflict,
A time to prop up fists.
It’s never certain that the strongman wins,
A feeble one can too.

At last the cold snow melted,
The field now clear and light.
A waxing crescent moon hovers above,
Displaying a fair landscape.

We watched in anticipation,
Glamorizing this one or that.
A bucking horse against a bird of prey,
Each outside its natural element.

In the end, from life’s viewpoint,
Rarely does it matter,
Who wins or who loses.
It’s all comes down to how the game is played,
And hope the best one triumphs.

Please go to www.nami.org to complete your confidential depression screen.
Remember to wear GREEN for Mental Illness Awareness Week, October 5 to October 11, 2014.