ISSUE #1: Friday June 10, 2011 -- WELCOME

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WELCOME EVERYONE!

Caer Weber, Editor-in-Chief

I started doing my own blog and writing about my own experience with mental illness back in January of this year , 2011, and I found it such a wonderful way to express myself and display some of my art work, with few limitations. It was really exciting. So, a few months down the road and after plenty of writing about myself, I thought maybe other people might like to do the same thing but not want to create and maintain their own blog. And I would certainly like to read other stories and learn about other people’s experiences with mental illness.

Throughout my life I have struggled with several illnesses including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse and multiple personality (now mostly called Dissociative Identity Disorder in Canada and the U.S.). However, in 1990 it became most obvious that something was very “wrong” inside of me. I completely fell apart and after a few bouts of hospital stays I went into intensive therapy. It was a very long and painful road for many years but also a very profound one at times. As well, I am not sorry I had to go through so much pain in order to heal. It was extremely difficult and I often lost hope along the way but I had an excellent psychiatrist and a few fantastic friends who supported me thoroughly. I also found the strength within myself to not give up. So, here I am now and my life has never been so good.  

I live on government disability and even though it makes me incredibly poor money-wise, it gives me the freedom to live with much less stress. I know that if I had to work at this time I would become quite ill again. I just can’t do it anymore. At 58, I consider myself semi-retired. And that means I have the time to do more things that I want to do as well as focus on good self-care. I still deal with issues around being multiple and sometimes have to grapple with depression. I am at a point in my life where I must deal with these issues as soon as possible and having the obligations of work would not allow me that.

One of the things I am most grateful for presently is a support group that I attend and often facilitate and it has given me such a feeling of connection with other people also dealing with mental illness. It helps me feel a tremendous sense of compassion for them and for myself too. As well, it has given me a lot of hope. I have been attending the group for two years now and I have seen many people changed by being in this group. I have seen them become so much stronger and start to do things in their life they never could have done before. Me included. I don’t think I would have done my own blog if not for the group. While the idea came from someone else in the group doing one, it was the support and encouragement from group members that made all the difference. Knowing others were behind me gave me the motivation and confidence that I needed to start a blog.

The Dalai Lama says that, in order to feel happy in this most troubled world, one of the first things we need is a sense of community and I believe he is exactly right. Humans need social contact and we need a sense of belonging. We need our voices to be heard. This is my hope for this blog, that this will be another avenue for us to express ourselves, for us to talk about the difficulty of dealing with mental illness, for the pain and the struggles and also for the ways in which we rise above them. I want this to be a place to showcase our creative talents as well, whether in the form of artwork or photography or in our heartfelt ways with words.

I also want The Outlet to be a source of information. Our mental health system is not a perfect one and finding the resources to help us is often difficult. There is no central place that we can go to find everything we need. While The Outlet will not have everything either I hope that it will have a lot about resources available and events that are going on. It happens so often in the support group when someone new comes. They are not sure where or who to turn to. Maybe they have been struggling for years on their own or they have just received a diagnosis of their illness and are in a state of “shock”. Those of us who have been around for a while usually do what we can and tell these people where to go. I’m hoping that at some point The Outlet will be one of our first suggestions, and that, above all, it will be a source of hope.

So, whether you want to contribute to The Outlet – your story, your poetry, your artwork – or you simply want to read what’s here, welcome. My wish is that this is your community, a sort of “extension” of the support group format. I want this to be a place where there is more time to tell your story, show your creative talents, or find out what is out there to help you move through and past your illness. I want it to be ours.

And most important, I want to say thank you to the other two editors, whose names, I hope, will be on this blog soon. They have put some time and effort into this blog as well and everything submitted is subject to their approval as well as mine. Thank you for all of your work, time and support.

And please check our ANNOUNCEMENTS for today near the top of the page