Do you know how to help yourself and/or your loved one recover from a Mental Disorder or Addiction?

Medication and/or therapy help, but are not enough.

• You will be the biggest factor in whether or not you recover.
• Your influence may help your family member recover.

The mission of Moxie Mental Health is to show you the skills and health behaviors needed to help yourself and/or your loved one recover from mental disorder or addiction.

Here is where our discussion about mental disorders and addictions starts. . .

•  Mental Disorders and Addiction are neurological and developmental disorders. This puts them in the same category of illness as Epilepsy or Parkinson’s. Mental Disorders and Addiction are not character flaws!
•  Most people Experience a Mental Disorder during their lifetime, according to 2011 research from Duke University. This finding is highly reliable because it shows similar results to similar studies done in many other countries.

Having a mental disorder or addiction is normal!

But then, who really wants to be normal?

Why not be someone who is recognized for their talents and strengths?  Someone who enjoys life and helps others enjoy life?  Why not be an extraordinary employee, family member, or friend, or citizen of the world?

It is within your grasp.

Especially if you have had a mental disorder. Did you know that mental disorders are associated with higher levels of creativity, intelligence, and determination?  Just ask Einstein (Autism Spectrum), Abraham Lincoln (Bipolar Disorder), Winston Churchill (Bipolar Disorder). Their mental disorder taught them to steady themselves amid the shakiness of life. Their steadiness helped the rest of us keep stable as our nation and our world passed through the fire. 

And what about Vincent Van Gogh (Bipolar Disorder), or Ernest Hemingway (Major Depression) or Olympian Michael Phelps (ADHD)?  Their imagination, persistence, and example can lift our perspective in life from an “I can’t” or “it’s too hard” to an “I can”. Yes, You Can!

 Think of this:

The challenge presented by mental disorders can be likened the sport of mountaineering.  People with mental disorders are mental and emotional athletes. The mountain, of course is the mental disorder. Getting to the top requires persons to rappel some steep cliffs.  At the top of the cliff is an anchor that helps suspend you in a pulley-like system.  The anchor is hope—the expectation that you will get better. Down below stands your support system:  Family members, friends, providers.  They will hold the rope and pull you up when you loose your hand or toe hold. They will hold you as you search for a crag or cranny to get your grasp and your footing.

About the Author

 Katrina H. Miller, author of Moxie Mental Health, has a PhD in Human Development. She has 30 years of experience as a mental health clinician. Over the past 6 years, she worked with 2,000 extraordinary people with severe mental illnesses. They had not responded well to traditional mental health treatment. She and her colleagues walked a large majority of these people through the incredible journey to recovery.

At moxiementalhealth.com, Dr. Katrina will share with you what she has learned from her clients, colleagues, and personal experiences. Here is her opinion about mental disorder:

 If most of us aren’t going to escape having a mental disorder, why don’t we  just embrace it as a friend?

Mental disorders can be very painful and disabling. They can make you very ill (both emotionally and physically). They have a high mortality rate (people can die from mental disorders).

But people usually survive—and many people thrive, going on with a better life because of the strength gained in the struggle.

What you can learn about life from your mental disorder–what you can learn about yourself and others can turn you into a extraordinarily compassionate and powerful person. That’s why, in some other cultures, persons with mental disorders are regarded as shamans possessing magic.

What You Can Do With This Site:

Moxie Mental Health can take you to the “magic”—the attitude, the skills, the lifestyle that helps people meet what is probably life’s greatest challenge—coping with mental disorder.

Moxie mental health publishes blogs once weekly.  You are invited to sign up for the RSS feed and free downloads that will be offered. The products are designed to assist you in helping yourself or someone you love—we hope you will buy and enjoy them. Finally, if you would like personal help, you can join Dr. Katrina for personal or group coaching. (The capabilities to buy products and get coaching will be on line by mid-March 2012).

Contact Dr. Katrina

There are four ways to contact Dr. Katrina:

• Add your comments to blogs (she will comment back)
• E-mail Dr. Katrina at Katrina@moxiementalhealth.com
• Phone: Toll free at 866-698-8654
• Fax: 866-254-3459