You are NOT alone. This is NOT forever.
YOU CAN DO THIS!
"My mental illness is like a hurricane. The day starts out beautiful, serene even. Then everything comes crashing down. But these storms do pass. You may think I’m gone forever, that I slipped away, but here I come again rising up above the horizon. I asked him, but what if it comes back? What if the dark sky envelops every fiber of my being? This is when he tells me it’s time to start with the foundation. We will build you up stronger and brighter. Your light will shine through even when the skies are gray. Because you are you. You are not darkness. You are not crazy or ill. You are beautiful and with a little help from others your rays will reach all the horizons. Your spark was never gone. It was always there. It just needed to be ignited. Life is beautiful today. Some days the sky is darker than others, but I am never gone. I’m always there just above the clouds. For I am the sun and without me life would have no purpose. It would have no meaning. So, to whoever reads this who is struggling, stay a little longer. Ask for help. I came through the other side and you can too. Let your light shine, for you make so many other people’s lives a whole lot brighter."- Lauren Smith, George Washington University student
Powerful Literature for Inspiration & Recovery:
Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds
by David GogginsFor David Goggins, childhood was a nightmare - poverty, prejudice, and physical abuse colored his days and haunted his nights. He shares his astonishing life story and reveals that most of us tap into only 40% of our capabilities. Goggins calls this The 40% Rule, and his story illuminates a path that anyone can follow to push past pain, demolish fear, and reach their full potential…
Get Out of Your Head: Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts
by Jennie AllenAre your thoughts holding you captive? I’ll never be good enough. Other people have better lives than I do. God couldn’t really love me. Jennie Allen knows what it’s like to swirl in a spiral of destructive thoughts, but she also knows we don’t have to stay stuck in toxic thinking patterns. In Get Out of Your Head, Jennie inspires and equips us to transform our emotions, our outlook…
Good Morning, Monster: A Therapist Shares Five Heroic Stories of Emotional Recovery
by Catherine GildinerTherapist Catherine Gildiner’s presents five of what she calls her most heroic and memorable patients. Among them: a successful, first generation Chinese immigrant musician suffering sexual dysfunction; a young woman whose father abandoned her at age nine with her younger siblings in an isolated cottage…
The Undiscovered Self: The Dilemma of the Individual in Modern Society
by C. G. JungIn this challenging and provocative work, Dr. Carl Jung—one of history’s greatest minds—argues that civilization’s future depends on our ability as individuals to resist the collective forces of society. Only by gaining an awareness and understanding of one’s unconscious mind and true, inner nature—“the undiscovered self”—can we as individuals acquire the self-knowledge that is antithetical to ideological fanaticism…
Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being
by Martin E.P. SeligmenFlourish builds on Dr. Seligman’s game-changing work on optimism, motivation, and character to show how to get the most out of life, unveiling an electrifying new theory of what makes a good life—for individuals, for communities, and for nations. In a fascinating evolution of thought and practice, Flourish refines what Positive Psychology is all about. “Well-being” takes the stage front and center, and Happiness (or Positive Emotion) becomes one of the…
UNF#CK YOUR BRAIN: Getting Over Anxiety, Depression, Anger, Freak-Outs, and Triggers with science
by Faith G. Harper, Ph.D, LPC-S, ACSDr. Faith shows you the science behind what's going on in your skull and talks you through the process of retraining your brain to respond appropriately to the non-emergencies of everyday life. If you're working to deal with old traumas, or if you just want to have a more measured and chill response to situations you face all the time, this book can help you put the pieces of the puzzle together and get your life and brain back. Knowing what’s going on up in your brain…
Blockbusters and Documentaries that depict Mental Illness:
A Beautiful Mind
Based on a true story of John Nash who lived with Schizophrenia.
Rain Man
Story of a man’s life living with Autism.
28 Days
Story of a young woman who enters rehab for Alcohol Addiction.
Girl Interrupted
Based on a true story of a woman’s 2-year stint in a Mental Institution.
The Soloist
Biography based on a true story of a man that lives with Schizophrenia.
Fatal Attraction
About a woman with Borderline Personality Disorder.
Reign Over Me
Story about trauma, grief, and recovery.
Primal Fear
Story where the main character purports having Dissociative Identity Disorder.
The Hunting Ground
Documentary about rape on college campuses.
Running from Crazy
Documentary about a famous family who has suffered generations of members committing Suicide.
Three Identical Strangers
Documentary about triplets separated at birth and how mental illness affected them.
Thin
Documentary on Anorexia Nervosa.
Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive
Documentary about the effects of living with Bipolar Disorder on celebrities and public figures.
Boy Interrupted
Documentary of a young boy diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder.
Suicide: The Ripple Effect
Documentary on Suicide and its effects.
The Magic Pill
Documentary on the effects of food on mental and physical illness (autism, cancer, etc.).
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