News Release…For Immediate Release

Connections For Mental Health

A Reason to Hope - The Means to Cope

People with mental illness are people first and foremost. They to have dreams and hopes just like everyone else. Mental illness does not change who they are, just their ability to express it.

Living with a severe and persistent mental illness is a difficult thing to manage on a daily basis. Diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder for more than 20 years now, Mike has shown the way to others by surmounting many difficulties and by fulfilling one of his dreams of helping others with a mental illness.

He values his life and his work by serving as an example to others and his focus is always on never giving up. With the help of his family and friends, Mike has recently completed The 80/20 Project (80% hard work and 20% medication) a DVD about “Mike’s Story”. An educational DVD about some of Mike’s personal coping skills that have helped him to come to the place where he is today.

Hopefully, you will come out and meet Mike Santoro and to hear him in person. This wonderful, heartwarming, and very encouraging story of how Mike has come to terms with his own illness, and has turned it around for something positive.

Mike’s presentation is one to give hope and encouragement and some very important tools for those who suffer from mental illness and also some tips for caregivers. Mike will also be available after the presentation to share his insights and answer questions.

The 80/20 Project DVD will be on sale at the presentation.

Feel free to check out the web site www.MikesStory.com

Mike will be presenting his inspirational life story at the Lac Brome Community Center, 270 Victoria Street, Knowlton, Quebec J0E 1V0 on Saturday May 31, 2008 at 1:30 p.m.

Admission is free and refreshments will be served.

Mike’s philosophy is, “Giving up; isn’t an option.”

Source: Linda Ransom-Connections for mental health
Knowlton-450-243-0928 pleasantvalley@sympatico.ca

I would like to express a deep gratitude towards my life as I developed a different attitude by using some tools for anxiety. I discovered them at different stages of my recovery and they were useful on the road to getting well in the last 20 years of my life. The first one was a face-to-face communication with psychotherapists. I developed a lot of hope in these contacts through my thirties and my forties. These people were a sounding board for my anxious mind. They showed me the way to write in a constructive way. Filling charts to keep track of how to decrease my anxiety level, how to question my fears, changing scenarios about “not being able of” to “being responsible of”, and “taking control” of my life. When I was loosing control I was reaching for these tools over and over again.
A different attitude gave me a chance to challenge myself even more. I started coping better with new situations and I could see my pattern of anxiety coming back before I was overwhelmed with my fears. Before coming close to a dead end, I would question if my fears were real or were created in my mind. The hyperventilation and chest pains were real symptoms of my anxiety but my perceptions of these fears were a sign of over sensitivity compared to what happened in the reality.
Now I am traveling on a road that is much smoother. I learned through all these years that the one and only competition is with me. Tracking distorted thoughts, having realistic expectations and fine tuning my coping mechanisms with fitness activities and discussions groups. In one word it is by giving more help to me. This main aspect is never achieved but is always a process in my recovery. I always check that I re-involve my energy in daily life instead of withdrawing in my fears.
In a nutshell I suggest to anyone that is fighting with a mental illness to give themselves the chance to be in charge. This is the major task I have to accomplish each day and even if some days, it feels like taking 1 step forward and 2 steps back, the dignity is achieved because I tried this one step forward. I appreciate this (sometimes) only one situation in a day that will give me this extra self confidence and the rest of the day can be relatively acceptable even with setbacks. What is happening to you now can be the masterpiece of your life. Your road and my road are full of recoveries.

Sylvie Albert