1 year ago
The Farm at Penny Lane community will be studied by UNC’s School of Social Work to see how the project might be replicated around the country. It starts with a colorful front door, which opens up into 416 square feet of home. “The colors on the doors are kind of our signature,” said Alaina Money-Garman, …
1 year ago
For centuries, breaking bread has been used to build relationships, camaraderie, and trust between those sharing the meal. Staff in the Heat and Eat program are using this time-tested tradition to connect and build relationships with patients that have been historically hard to reach. For the last year, Good Bowls has been partnering with UNC’s …
1 year ago
The UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health has received a $2.4 million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to address homelessness and provide comprehensive behavioral care and other services for individuals living with serious mental illnesses who are experiencing or who are at risk for homelessness. One of …
1 year ago
When I was in my darkest hour, amid psychotic episodes, there was light pulling me forward. I just knew I had a future ahead of me where I would get married and become a mother. This desire and calling, at times, led me forward and gave me direction into my future. I have now been …
1 year ago
Recovery from psychosis typically requires medicinal and therapeutic intervention: medication to target cognitive recovery and therapy to help with emotional recovery. I believe that true emotional recovery is a gradual process and a personal journey that takes time and work beyond a written treatment plan. Your whole world—and your understanding of it—can be turned upside …
1 year ago
I have been living in recovery from schizophrenia for 11 years. While I haven’t experienced any symptoms for over a decade, I do not feel like I am the same person I was before my mental illness. This has often bothered me; sometimes, it feels like the only way I can become who I am …
1 year ago
Taking an antipsychotic can be difficult due to the cultural stigma about serious mental illness, psychosis, and the actual drugs themselves. It was so complicated for me to accept using an antipsychotic, where the fear of taking a stigmatized medicine impacted my course of treatment and overall health outcome. I fell into powerful traps and …
1 year ago
Telling your partner about your mental health diagnosis can be a process met with anxiety, uncertainty, and fear. I know firsthand what it is like to disclose a diagnosis of schizophrenia, and tell the person I saw myself spending the rest of my life with that I will always take an antipsychotic. Here is what …
1 year ago
To most people, socks are just something to wash on laundry day, but to someone in need, they can be everything. The dedicated team at the UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health (CECMH) understands this better than most. Among the 20+ services offered to the Triangle community, they work to provide basic necessities, …
1 year ago
I have decided to take an antipsychotic for life. I am making this choice even though I have been in complete remission from any symptoms of schizophrenia for the last 11 years. My psychiatrist fully encourages and supports my continued use, seeing it necessary to guarantee a long-term positive health outcome. Making this personal decision …
1 year ago
I will never forget how I wept when I was diagnosed with schizophrenia. I thought it changed who I was and how others would see me. It felt like a visible mark on me as an individual—something glaring that I had to hide from everyone around me. It was confirmed; I am not “normal,” and …
1 year ago
I am often asked, as someone who has made a full recovery from schizophrenia, what the turning point was for me. In other words, at what point did I know I was turning a corner and getting better, where I was gaining momentum, confidence, and hope? There were actually many turning points of equal significance …
