This week, which was also Children’s Mental Health Week, was fairly busy at Mental Health Notes. I talked about mental health situations in the news (some…bizarre, and some not so uncommon) as well as well as a few mental health studies such as increasing intelligence and how compliments affect the brain. I told you about NAMI and the DBSA participating in the online Women’s Health Expo, how my local NAMI’s cookout for Mental Health Month panned out, and even shared a few extreme ups and downs I experienced this week. Perhaps most noteworthy, however, is that Ken Jensen took over the This Is Why I ROCK! series slot for the next week!

My bookmarks are overflowing with mental health news-, research-, and government-related information. The Pentagon is working to reduce mental health counseling stigma (I wonder if this decision was made before or after VA mental health director Dr. Ira Katz sent around an internal email dealing with suicide data that had “Shh!” in the subject line?). Researchers in Canada believe celebrities are one reason the number of young people who visit mental health professionals has doubled in the last two years (well, that certainly adds to Tuesday’s conversation about celebrities and mental health), while researchers in Australia believe helping pregnant women cope with depression during pregnancy may lower the risk of being depressed after giving birth. And, sadly, another mental health care budget slash is in the works; this time, in California’s Santa Clara County.

And, as usual, the rest of the b5 Health & Wellness Channel has a slue of stuff going on. In addition to Mental Health Notes’s birthday giveaway, Grace at Kids Health Notes currently has five giveaways going on (some end tonight, so hurry on over!) while Gloria at Cancer Commentary is running an HPV Awareness contest. In addition to the upcoming Living with Pain blog carnival, Help My Hurt’s Marijke has interviewed the author of How-To Marijuana, A Step-by-Step Guide to Medical Marijuana and is hosting a contest to win a free copy of the book. And, for you poets out there, Angelique at Breaking the Mirror is hosting a contest for a free copy of For Keeps: Women Tell the Truth about Their Bodies, Growing Older, and Acceptance. Of course, just when you thought we b5 bloggers didn’t know how to do anything but give stuff away, Gabrielle at Fertility Notes gets serious with tips for coping with fertility problems while Elaine at Genetics & Health the connections between child abuse, genetic changes, and suicide.

That’s all the sanity I can stand this Saturday! Remember, if you have any Saturday Sanity-worthy stories, send ‘em my way for next week.

Top image courtesy of morgueFile.
Middle and bottom images courtesy of Newscom.

Post from: Blisstree

Saturday Sanity: Ain’t The A Kick In The Brain?

Last Thursday, Chato B. Stewart rocked our funny bones with his mental health humor. This Thursday, Ken Jensen puts us through psychiatric boot camp with his system for surviving bipolar disorder.

As if my nauseatingly incessant play on words didn’t give it away, 39-year-old Ken Jensen is a former soldier – not just any soldier, but a Marine. (“A MARINE!” I’m reminded of Marty Maraschino in Grease every time I say that. What can I say? I’ve always been partial to the devil dogs – ex-husband aside.)

Add to his resume author, speaker, motivator, and entrepreneur (as well as self-proclaimed former bipolar disorder victim), and this Tillson, NY resident may just leave your mental muscles begging for rest, yet ready to take on your own brain and shouting ooh rah the entire way!

Enough of that. Ken truly is an amazingly down to earth, no bull, bottomline kind of guy. Let’s let him tell his story!

I own www.ittakesgutstobeme.com, and I offer a system to people to relieve themselves of their bipolar or depression disorders. My system was tested on myself as I struggled to survive my bipolar. I was dying from it as my mind and body were failing. Prison, lockdown ward, and death were my coming future. I’d already lived through all three, to include death, but I was running out of juice to keep up the fight.

I followed all doctors’ instructions to a “T”. By this, I mean I ate every pill they prescribed me for a six-year period. This equated to thousands of pills; over 100 individual prescriptions for almost every psychotropic applicable. I only got worse with each passing month.

During my last psychiatric visit, the doctor told me he was just about out of options and he wasn’t hopeful. This news terrified me like nothing had before in my life. I was going to die, horribly insane. I decided to look elsewhere for help and luckily, I found it.

I then began weaning myself off my meds, with the help of professionals, (NEVER just stop your meds!) while replacing them with nutrients I was lacking. I improved rapidly and for the first time since I’d been diagnosed, 6 years ago, I began to hope I’d be OK.

I improved enough to realize I needed even more help to sort out all that was wrong with me. I’d been through too much trauma in too many areas to get away with just addressing nutrition, powerful, though that step was.

And that’s where the rest of my system came from. I experimented on myself. I got ripped off and misled, frequently. Some tools were good but not meant for me. The items that worked, I kept. Now? You’d have to put a gun to my head to make me stop doing these steps that keep me healthy to this day. I have been meds-free for over two years.

Just so we’re clear: I am no doctor but my system works. Thousands have proven many of the individual steps I espouse to be effective. This is without the addition of the rest of my steps. The testimonials of those who’d gone before me are what gave me the faith to try what I did. I simply combined the best of the best.

My reversal back to a “normal” individual, and my consequent bettering of myself to a level never before experienced, caused all who knew me to suggest authoring a book about my journey. The change was strikingly profound. That led me to some pros who helped me get to where I’m at now.

I have two books written, and I’ve produced multiple articles, videos, and audio sessions all aimed at bringing others to what I know to be true. “It Takes Guts To Be Me: How An Ex-Marine Beat Bipolar Disorder” is going to the printing press as I write this. “What Does Bipolar Disorder Look Like?” is a collection of articles describing the world of the bipolar mind. I wrote it so that supporters will better understand the daily battle that their loved ones endure.

This entire project has recently morphed into a much broader goal of motivating people to do better in this life; to give hope to those who hear my story, no matter why they suffer. If I don’t maintain my vigilance, which is not hard at all, my bipolar will come back. I know this. But it is just one part of who I am and it is in my past. I work hard to build the life of my dreams and I want to take as many new friends with me as I can possibly fit in my metaphorical car!

Please have a look at who’s talking to you: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=23590024

And thank you, Alicia for the great work that you do!

Thank you, Ken!

If you’d like to read some of Ken’s work, check out this article (in addition to his Web site, of course!), and be sure to thank him for sharing with us why he ROCKS!

This post was part of the Mental Health Notes This Is Why I ROCK! series. If you’re living with mental illness and rocking out at whatever you do, sign up to show off!

Post from: Blisstree

Bipolar Survivor Ken Jensen Explains Why It Takes Guts To Be Him

This week’s Saturday Sanity includes Mental Health Notes updates as well as mental health-related news around the globe.

Enjoy!

• Last Sunday, I launched a new, hopefully permanent series here at Mental Health Notes called Brain Break. Unsurprisingly, the idea is to give our brains a break. Check out the announcement post and let me know what you think.
• This picture popped up just in time. I’ve been itching to hand out another A.S.S. Award.
• Back in January, NAMI’s CW Tillman shared his Race Across the West (RAW) adventures with us, and now he’s keeping us updated with his new Web site, CW’s Race for Awareness.
• Ken Jensen, a MySpace friend of mine, fellow BP survivor, and former Marine (I know, I know, once a Marine, always a Marine – my ex-husband was one, I get it) published some interesting thoughts about people with bipolar disorder and fulfilling dreams, as well as the potential dangers of settling for the status quo. Check it out: Bipolar amplifies the pain of dreams unfulfilled.
• With the help of some mice made manic (*sigh*), researches may be getting closer to better understand bipolar disorder and possible new treatments.
• California Superior Court Judge Patrick J. Mahoney has ordered the Corrections Standards Authority to, simply put, get their acts together when it comes to making sure juvenile correctional facilities are treating offenders properly – including in the mental health department.
• Scott over at Health and Men sheds some light on beneficial brews. Find out how they may help reduce stress and how some of the ingredients may even reduce your risk for Alzheimer’s.
• And, speaking of Alzheimer’s, Liz over at Alzheimer’s Notes fills us in on “Voices Remember,” an upcoming Broadway charity event in support of the disease. Well, not in support of the disease, per se, but in support of a cure for Alzheimer’s.

Image source.

Post from: Blisstree

Saturday Sanity: Brain Breaks, A.S.S. Awards, NAMI Updates, And A Former Marine