|
|
|
My Word: State is failing its mentally ill |
|
Violence and mental illness has been the centerpiece of the Sentinel's coverage of the man who shot six former co-workers in downtown Orlando in November and this month was declared incompetent to stand trial. Without counterbalancing information on mental illnesses, it would be easy to sweep those of us who are living with these disorders of the brain into a collective identity made of the myth that we are categorically violent people. Contrary to perception, the greatest toll of mental illnesses isn't in the headlines; it is in suicide, emergency rooms, homelessness and packed prisons. Out of these hidden places, the truth is rising to the top. Florida is ranked 49th in the nation for per-capita spending on serious mental illnesses. We are nearly dead-last in every measure of treating severe mental illness. |
|
Read more...
|
|
Holiday sock and slipper drive |
 Ms. Joan Forbes and 73 seventh grade students from the Forest Lake Educational Center in Longwood , FL participated in the Lakeside holiday client sock and slipper drive this past December. Thanks to the efforts of these students, many Lakeside clients received holiday bags filled with socks and slippers during the holidays. Ms. Forbes also shared her Christmas day by signing carols with the clients in our care. To show our many thanks, Ms. Forbes and the seventh grade students of FLEC were treated to a pizza party and presented with a plaque from Lakeside by Ernie Polley. |
|
|
Valentine's Day Blues and Other Colors |
|
 Valentine's Day, a day when love is officially celebrated in the United States, can be a day of increased pain and sadness for the bereaved. Many individuals report images of their heart being shattered or smashed as they describe the pain their loss has created. They find it hard to assemble the pieces back into the beautiful wholeness they once knew.
Others feel frozen and disconnected from those they love. Their feelings no longer flow freely, and they carry a sense of emotional isolation. It is hard to keep ones heart open when it has been hurt and traumatized by a loss, and yet staying open to the sources of love in your life and remaining a source of love for others is one of the best paths to healing.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
