Consumer Stories
Have a story to tell? Please share your story with others.
Find inspiration, hope, and support from these personal journey's written by individuals whose lives
have been touched by mental illness.
Amabel Narvaez
Four days, sixteen hours, and two minutes had passed since I’d been in the nut house, and I still didn’t know how I wound up there. It was an alternate universe, called "One South West (1SW)," which reeked of mustiness and old cheese, mixed with body odor and Clorox. I hadn’t been taking to the nurses very well. Like busy worker bees, they intruded in and out of our rooms at all hours of the day, "time for vitals," "time for morning meds," "when was your last B.M.?" [ More about Amabel ... ]
Julie Irish
Although never formally diagnosed, my life has many patterns a psychiatrist might diagnose as personality disorder and possibly mild bipolar disorder. What this means in terms of quality of life is that I have often been alone, often felt self-hatred, and have sabotaged any chance of happiness I had over and over again. By the time I was 50 I was out of excuses, and out of hope. Having been a mental health technician and vocational counselor, I was familiar with the typical treatment options available to someone with no money and had no desire to pursue this avenue. I guess I pretty much figured it was hopeless and it would be best to end the failed experiment of my life. [ More about Julie ... ]
Lisa Gregory.
At the time Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana, I was living in Slidell, a small town just northeast of New Orleans. I was watching the news on TV and they said Hurricane Katrina had turned away from us. I wasn't too worried about the weather. And then, while I was sleeping, here it came, Hurricane Katrina banging down on my door to let me know it was here. A tree fell and hit the top of the roof of my house, and the loud noise woke me up. When I got out of bed to see what happened, I landed in up to my waist in filthy water. You never know what going to be in the water either down south it is really scary. I had to leave the house and find shelter in the dark of night. Wading in waist-deep water, I was praying to God to let me get through this and help me find a safe place to go! [ More about Lisa ... ]
Marvin McClure.
Where to start? Probably around 5 years of age. Mom told me "that didn't happen. Grandpa loves you, he wouldn't hurt you." It seemed as if I melted thru her arms and went thru the cracks in the old wooden floor. There was no one to defend or protect me anymore. I was all alone. That was when I found my little place called nowhere. There was nothing there, not even me, but I was there none the less. Nobody was ever there to hurt me physically or with their words. The words hurt the most because they weren't true but they were said anyway and too often without any other person present standing up for me by disputing the wrongness of them. It's weird, I'm 53 now but I feel as if I'm 5 yrs old again writing this. [ More about Marvin ... ]
Philip Paul.
Mental illness has affected me a lot in my life; mostly bad. There is a silver lining in that cloud. Maybe even a pot of gold, I hope. Looking back at the hell I went through, at least in my mind, in the 20 years I have done in a mental institution, I am now getting into my second wind. At least, I am starting to see light at the end of the tunnel with the Mental Health Transformation Project and National Schizophrenic Foundation hopefully opening a few doors for me and other mental patients. [ More about Philip ... ]
Rosita Martinez
My name is Rosita Martinez and I am a fifty two year old Apache woman who has occupied many stations in life. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share with you the overview of my life's experiences. This is what I call the sharing of hope. I dropped out of middle school at the age of fourteen to marry and start a family. After four and a half years of abuse, I was divorced at the age of eighteen and remained a single parent, mother of two, and now a grandmother of four. I have worked a variety of jobs and put my hand to many careers. I have worked along side of many people of different races, different cultures, different socioeconomic stations, and in different states of this great nation. My employers in Florida told me I was the first woman in the state of Florida to be classified as a First Class Industrial Mechanic. In my travels the needs of those around me were always prevalent. [ More about Rosita ... ]
