A Second Chance at Recovery: Bill’s Story

September 7, 2018

[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][image_with_animation image_url=”11534″ alignment=”” animation=”Fade In” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column_text]“Interim, Inc. saved my life.” Bill stated when we sat down to talk last week. Bill says his diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia and depression was devastating and caused him to attempt suicide. He is convinced that genetics plays a strong part in suicide. He told me he had an aunt on one side of his family and an uncle on the other who both took their own lives.

“When I was working full time for a store, I didn’t disclose to them that I have a mental illness. When the pressure of hiding my illness got to be too much, my symptoms escalated. I didn’t seek the help of my job coach until it was too late, and I was fired. When I was fired, I overdosed on medication to end my life. When I woke up in the ICU, I realized that severe mental illness is part of who I am, and that I must take medication to function. I will not stop taking my meds ever again. I want to keep my life stable and I have learned from my mistakes.” Bill thanks God that his doctors connected him to Monterey County Behavioral Health and Interim Inc.

Bill says, “I fell in love with Interim Inc and the staff at OMNI. I have been able to work part time for Interim and have not experienced any lost time because of my mental illness. I love my job, my boss and my co-workers. I have made friends and am very happy. It helps to work where you don’t have to hide your mental illness.”

Bill attends group meetings that teach individuals how to deal with paranoia, depression and mental illness. “When I take my meds, I am normal now. I am learning how to manage my mental illness, and am very thankful to Interim Inc. This is the happiest I’ve been. Without the OMNI Wellness Center, the Supported Education and Employment Services (SEES), and the supported housing at Shelter Cove and Sandy Shores, I would probably be in a locked facility.”

I asked Bill what he would want people to understand about severe mental illness. “A lot of people in America hear the words mentally ill and think ‘he’s a troublemaker’ or ‘he’s diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, that means he’s a killer’ or ‘that bipolar person is crazy.’ In real life, a mentally ill person is not always aggressive, is not always a killer. A lot of us are friendly—we are lost but we are friendly. We can work hard, we can live a normal life and we can be happy if given the opportunity and the medications that make us able to work and able to live. We should not be discriminated against or stigmatized or laughed at. We can survive. Stigma and discrimination are not helping us. Wellness is hard work but is worth the effort.”

Every little step reduces stigma. Every little step is progress. Bill has been through the fire, and has overcome, is still overcoming. Thank you for sharing your story, Bill. By sharing with us another step has been taken to reduce stigma and discrimination for individuals with severe mental illness.

At the client’s request, his name has been changed.

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A Second Chance at Recovery: Bill’s Story

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