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2018 NAMI ADCO Seeds of Hope Scholarship
On April 25th, NAMI Arapahoe/Douglas Counties hosted its inaugural Seeds of Hope Scholarship Awards Breakfast at the Hilton Denver Inverness. We proudly awarded six scholarships to local students pursing a degree in a behavioral health or human service field. Our 2018 NAMI ADCO scholarship award recipients were: Talia Brown – Legend High School, Parker, Health Sciences and Psychology Sophie Camp – Mountain Vista H.S., Highlands Ranch, Psychology and Sociology (criminal justice) Sarah Knapp – Skyview Academy, Highlands Ranch, Psychology Brianna Lawrence – Regis University, Nursing and Psychology Morgan Miller – University of Colorado, Denver, Special Education Kimberly Smith – ArapahoeRead More
1 in 5. Changing the faces of mental health
May is Mental Health Awareness month. An entire month aimed to create positive awareness for mental health. A healthy step forward, right? Personally, I believe this is an important first step on a long winding road, but merely a starting point. My feelings about this cause are deeply personal, rooted in my own complicated mental health history. I invite you to follow along as I unpack some of my thoughts for you in hopes of shining a light on a different path. To begin, let’s acknowledge that all of us has mental health. Each person has a brain and thereforeRead More
Anxiety, My Companion
My relationship with Anxiety is like what they say about falling in love: “gradual and then all at once.” She started spending time with me when I was in college—only every once in a while—then, I slowly became more anxious as I started adulthood. With each hardship I faced, Anxiety became a more consistent companion. Anxiety begged me to seek reassurance and validation for the lack of comfort in my new life. Together, we found it in the wrong place—a toxic relationship. What started off as an exciting fling became soul-sucking attachment. An attachment that I was fortunately able toRead More
Finding Wellness After Illness
At 50 years old, Joe experienced what he considers his first manic episode. He was fired from his job—a career he spent 33 years building. After getting the news, he drove straight to the hospital. “I walked in through the employee’s entrance, all stressed out,” Joe explained. “The people working there were like, ‘Hello? How are you?’ And somehow or another the word ‘suicide’ came out. The next thing I knew, I was laying down, strapped in.” It was during this first admittance of many that Joe was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. “I ran away from my diagnosis,” Joe explained.Read More