On what you save

On the narrow edge of suicide

Second look: On log jams
Many times life is so difficult and there is so much to do that it all becomes overwhelming and you do nothing. When too many things are urgent, in the end, too few things get done. If you are dealing with bipolar disorder and listen to someone tell you what it means to be in recovery, it is easy to become overwhelmed by all there is to do. When it is a chore to get from the beginning of the day to the end without catastrophe trying to carry more weight easily becomes too much weight. Someone taught me a concept many years ago which I think is very important. It is the concept of log jam behaviors. It is a simple, but powerful idea that can improve the quality of y

Something new: the hopeworks chatroom
In an effort to make this a more interactive site we are trying something new I hope you will check out. You will notice on the side bar to the blog the “hopeworks chatroom” It can be found right underneath the pages. If you have a comment, a question, a topic you would like to discuss you can do it there. Simply type it in and press enter. We will try this on a trial basis to see how it goes. Hopefully it will enrich your experience of Hopeworks Community.

“Have a little faith”- a Thanksgiving gift.
These videos tell the story of an unusual book I have just read… a masterpiece “Have a little faith” by Mitch Albom. It is the story of two men of different faiths. It is a story of faith and hope. It is a story of rescue and redemption. It is a story about us. It is a story about me and you. Enjoy the videos. I hope you will read the book. May this be the start of a great Thanksgiving for you.

I met a wise man
I met a wise man a couple of days ago.  Hard to find a wise man. He was old, but had lived longer than his years.  He told me his story and his life to me seemed charted by what had gone wrong.  Most of it seemed about how he had gone wrong.  He had been sober he said for about 10 years.  From the time he was a kid he had drank and used drugs– anything he could find to drink and any drug he could find to take.  He talked about he consequences:  time in jail (many times in jail), broken relationships, lost marriages, jobs lost, possessions lost— hope lost and most important  he was lost.   He talked about how many times he almost died and how many t

On being left out in the cold- Mental Health in Tennessee
I listened this afternoon to the broadcast of the Governors budget hearings with the Dept of Mental Health.  Next year looks dimmer than ever.  My assumption is that Tennessee is not the only one in that ballpark. One  cut is the most dissappointing.  If it holds it will literally leave thousands of Tennesseans out in the cold. Tennessee has had a behavioral health safety net for adult Tennesseans without insurance.  It has been a bargain with major positive effects.  For roughly $750 a person the state has been able to provide individual counseling, case management, and medication management for over 25,ooo people.  These services have saved people’