Category: Addiction

My mental health recovery

by Jessy Rodriguez

I am a graduate student studying mental health counseling at the University of St. Thomas, in Houston, TX. I have an undergraduate degree in psychology with a minor in human services. Education is everything to me; this was not always the case.

My childhood was marked by trauma and abuse

My siblings and I were placed in foster care. I was removed from my mother’s custody on April 3, 1998, a few weeks before my twelfth birthday and placed in my aunt’s custody for about six months. After leaving my aunt’s house, I was placed in many … Read more...

COVID-19: What does the addiction community need?

how can you help

by Teri Rafferty

I have been volunteering with Into the Neighborhood in the Richmond City Justice Center for 4+ years now but as of last week, we were not able to continue going on visits as we were.

Instead, we have given our volunteers the information they need to write and to email our friends.

Some of us work with drug courts and HARP (Helping Addicts Recover Program) and have continued relationships with our friends on the outside. Into the Neighborhood has organized an adoption process of 16 recovery houses and 3 family units we have been working with. So … Read more...

Isolation is tough for those in recovery

reach out to a friend in recovery during covid19

The recovery community is struggling. The connections, the meetings that this population depends on to maintain sobriety has come to a halt.

The nonprofit organizations that support the recovery community have rushed to make the switch from in-person meetings to online support but they are struggling, too, from lack of funds.

There is nothing like face to face connection. We all miss hugging and handshakes. But lack of it for this population can be deadly.

Just last week in our area, a young man who had been in recovery for several years took his life. I didn’t know him but … Read more...

Get a personalized signed copy

“Months later, I am still feeling the effects of Diary of a Broken Mind….I lost my own son to suicide 15 years ago, and although I have read so many books about this kind of loss, nothing has touched me as deeply as this.” —-Mea

Want a personalized signed copy of my book?

This will be a signed copy plus a personalized message with your name, or the name of someone you list. And you can say what message you want if you want that. Where it say’s “Name for personalization” below the paypal button is where you … Read more...

Will meds make me a zombie?

If you’ve ever watched “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” you see the worst-case scenario of what the wrong mix of psychiatric medication can do. This horror story has frightened more human beings out of much-needed medication than any movie ever made.

It was my son Charles’s fear that antidepressants would rob him of his creativity and strip him of his personality. At one time in our history, this was often the case. Today’s medication, however, is prescribed with the intention to help a person live as normal a life as possible. And as most who live with mental illness … Read more...

I am really pissed

by Jenny Derr

Our youngest on the left, daughter in the middle and Billy whom we lost in April 2016 to overdose

Another young life was taken this week–death as a result of an unintended overdose. 

He was a close friend of our youngest son.  I last saw him at the Celebration of Life for another young man who also died of an overdose this past summer.  What the f**k?  How many more lives will we lose before we all wake up?

I speak as a part of an initiative driven by the US Attorney’s office.  Our program is called … Read more...

Reading: Diary of a Broken Mind. The Day After

reading from diary of a broken mind
Video below

Have you gotten your copy yet? Diary of a Broken Mind. Video is here on YouTube. Please share!

If you’ve read it, please leave a review on Amazon or Good Reads.

Charles’ personality was so big
… Read more...

Addiction: Say this, not that

Note: I want to comment that sometimes the person addicted is a spouse. And because they’ve never gotten help and you’ve lived with it, you can no longer tolerate being part of that relationship. I understand that.

Don’t say: I guess you’ll just have to hit rock bottom before you change
Say instead: I believe one day you will find recovery.

Don’t say: I can’t live with you! You cause nothing but chaos to this family!
Say instead: Your father and I cannot live with you. But we love you and it doesn’t mean we don’t want to be in … Read more...

Taylor Rhodes was from a normal family

by Kerri Rhodes

kerry jenkins rhodes

Helping to End the Stigma of Addiction and Mental Illness was not part of my original life plan. Life and the universe thought otherwise.

I spent the better part of 30 years thinking being brave meant never letting people see you struggle or cry. I was raised in a “you’re fine, suck it up kind of culture.”

Taylor’s addiction taught me that showing your broken pieces and telling your truth is the stuff real Courage is made of. If you know someone struggling with addiction, their families deserve your compassion and help, not your judgment. They are … Read more...

HB 928-Recovery school pilot for Virginia in the news

Anne Moss Rogers
Anne Moss Rogers holds a picture of her son, Charles, who died by suicide while going through withdrawal and her book, Diary of a Broken Mind.
Kerry Jenkins Rhodes
Kerry Rhodes holds a picture of her son, Taylor who died from an accidental overdose

Recovery High School Newspaper Article

Kerry Rhodes and I were recently featured in an article in the newspaper about supporting the recovery high school in Virginia. And I was on an NBC news segment about the same bill, HB 928 sponsored by Del. Carrie Coyner.

See the NBC news segment

Kerri Rhodes knew her son, Taylor, had … Read more...