Writing novels that renew the soul...
A good book entertains the mind, but a great book renews the soul.
MentalHealth.gov provides one-stop access to U.S. government mental health and mental health problems information.
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It provides assistance regarding:
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What to Look For
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how to Talk About Mental Health
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and How to Get Help
Filling in Our Missing Pictures
This page is...
intended to provide resources and links for comfort, support, and inspirational stories for those of us that have experienced loss, divorce, mental illness, and also dating in middle age. Because even if our life hasn't looked like what we want in the past, we can still work to fill in those missing pictures with beautiful moments left to come...
(See links below) (some are still under construction)
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This page is NOT...
a replacement for medical treatment, mental health treatment or medications. Please follow your personal health care provider's advice and instructions on all of those things! And if they are not working for you, call your health care professional and let them know! And then insist that they help you make changes until you feel better. NEVER stop advocating for your own well-being and mental health.
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If you are having thoughts about harming yourself or others, please call:
911
or
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
(in the U.S.) at 1-800-273-8255
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a United States-based suicide prevention network of over 160 crisis centers that provides 24/7 service via a toll-free hotline with the number 1-800-273-8255. It is available to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress.
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And also, I encourage you to reach out to your therapist, mental health specialist, and people that love you.
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If you are in need of mental health treatment but it is NOT an emergency, AND you are not having thoughts of suicide or other self-harm or of hurting others, but you don't know where to start...
Contact the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) HelpLine Monday through Friday, 10 am–6 pm, ET. at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or info@nami.org
Or, Call your health care provider
Or, Check out the links below
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For more encouragement and support...
please also join my Facebook Group, 'Filling in Our Missing Pictures', a place where we can share our losses, our pain, our illnesses, and also our triumphs. And most importantly, our laughs! Click on the link below to join in the conversation.
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Click on the book images to learn more about
MISSING PICTURES, including how to order your copy!
If you are ready, check out the amazing links below!
Professional Mental Health Support
Born This Way Foundation, co-founded and led by Lady Gaga and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, supports the mental health of young people and works with them to create a kinder and braver world. Through high impact programming, youth led conversations and strategic, cross-sectoral partnerships, they aim to make kindness cool, validate the emotions of young people, and eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health. Click here to learn more about their new CHANNEL KINDNESS book.
NAMI is the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.
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Today, they are an alliance of more than 600 local affiliates who work in your community to raise awareness and provide support and education that was not previously available to those in need.
MentalHealth.gov provides one-stop access to U.S. government mental health and mental health problems information.
​
It provides assistance regarding:
-
What to Look For
-
how to Talk About Mental Health
-
and How to Get Help
Mental Health Support/Advocacy
Meet Mackenzie Littledale -- Author of magazine articles, short stories, poetry, and the upcoming semi-autobigraphical novel This Darkness Is Mine, repped by Serendipity Literary Agency. Championer of Women's fiction, and mental health advocate, she has a series of interviews with women's fiction authors and mental health advocates that will inspire you.
Click on the book image to get Mackenzie's fantastic book of short stories.
FYI: These great people have amazing ideas, support, tools and resources that can benefit people suffering from ANY type of mental illness! So don't think it's just for those with bipolar disorder.
Natasha Tracy is an award-winning writer, speaker and social media consultant from the Pacific Northwest. She works to bring high-quality, insightful and trusted information on bipolar disorder and related illnesses to the public while engaging with the mental health community. She has an award-winning blog, Bipolar Burble blog. and recently released, Lost Marbles: Insights into My Life with Depression & Bipolar.
Natasha's blog hits on hard topics, like why doctors often don't listen to people with mental illness, and how mental illness privilege can be such an unfair differentiator in care.
Click on the book image to get Natasha's book.
Meet Scott, a guy with bipolar disorder that provides amazing support, insight, guidance and resources through his website. He's got amazing tools, like tools for communicating with loved ones that suffer from mental illness, gratitude and other helpful worksheets, a self-identification kit and more. He also shares openly about his struggle and how he manages his illness. Such a great resource!
John Poehler officially founded The Bipolar Battle, Inc. (website: thebipolarbattle.org) in February 2021, as a Colorado nonprofit, and is currently undergoing the process to qualify as a 501(c)3, which permits deductible charitable donations. John is the published author of This War Within My Mind, which was featured in the article 17 Best Books About Bipolar Disorder, and he has dedicated himself to becoming an expert in his own bipolar disorder, because he knows that acceptance, recognition, humility and vigilance are key to managing mental illness. John uses his journey with bipolar disorder to educate, make suggestions, provide ideas, and create a dialogue that can provide valuable insight to people suffering from all types of mental illness, not just bipolar disorder. Do yourself a favor and check out the fantastic work he is doing!
Click on the book image to get John's book.
Divorce or Post-Divorce Support
Divorced Girl Smiling–a website, podcast and soon-to-be app, is an honest, non-sugar-coated, helpful place for women and men who are thinking of separating, going through a divorce, or living life and dating after divorce, many as single parents.
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After writing MISSING PICTURES, I really wanted to form a community with people who have been through painful divorce, as well as mental illness. I had thought about trying to include support and resource links. It was daunting, but I thought so important. Then I found Jackie, and realize she'd already done it! She's fabulous, has written a fantastic novel of the same name, and several other great books. She also has an awesome podcast at:
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https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-divorced-girl-smiling-81805338/
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Truly a one-stop-shop for post-divorce resources and support, soon to be availabe in an app! Stay tuned!
Click on the book image to get this lovely novel.
Toxic or Abusive Relationship Support
By approval only: www.facebook.com/groups/withbravewingssheflies
Quotes, Lyrics, Music and Art, words of support, and insight/stories about of Narcissistic, Emotionally, Psychologically and Financially Abusive relationships. This private, safe group is to help others have a place to go for support and healing. I find inspiration and support there daily, but make sure you go there with the expectation of protecting others safety and privacy, and they'll do the same for you.
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You are not alone! Destructive Relationship Help offers help for those who have been through a romantic relationship with a narcissist, sociopath, or psychopath (popular terms) which are really personality disorders that exhibit low conscience and externalize responsibility. These traits play out in forms of abuse (e.g. verbal, physical, coercive control, deceit, emotional manipulation, financial, sexual, spiritual) which have traumatizing effects.
You probably feel isolated in your experience. Even well-meaning friends, family, and often therapists don’t completely get it and why you can’t just get over it. They seek to help you gain clarity to stop blaming yourself, work toward healing the damage, and regaining your lost self.