by Tammy Ozolins
This is what the doctor told me during my first hospitalization. I thought it was like a cut and all I had to do was put a band aid on it and I would be good to go.
I told the doctor I have things to do, so let’s just get this fixed.
I truly did not accept my mental illness at this point. I took my medicine. But once I started to feel better, I stopped. Why? Because I thought I knew what was best for me.
Boy, was I wrong!… Read more...
When your first child is born, you realize all of a sudden how vulnerable you are. This new little being has your heart at hello and your instincts to protect kick right in. Sometimes they are so strong you want to wrap your children up put them in a protective bubble so they don’t get hurt. When they suffer, you suffer, too.
But hurt is part of life. And for some kids, life is too harsh and they decide to take a early exit also known as suicide. When they die, a part of our heart dies with them. The … Read more...
My family suffered the triple stigma with our son – depression, addiction and death by suicide. Stigma can exist only in an environment where judgment and lack of education thrive. Which is precisely why we need to talk about them. Openly and without judgment.
I am stripping away the façade and hitting taboo subjects head on. The death of my son Charles Aubrey Rogers by suicide in June of 2015 taught me that.
Everybody has a story. Everybody has struggles. A visible success does not make any life perfect. And you know by now what can go on behind closed … Read more...