tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12563968791167014982024-03-13T10:14:28.431-04:00Breaking the WindowHelping to Break Stigma against Mental Illness and Abuse; One Window at a Time. Stigma Hurts! Every Time!Carley Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211131345371634729noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256396879116701498.post-6473833365576286982017-04-21T03:03:00.000-04:002017-04-21T03:12:51.538-04:00I Only Have Your Pictureby Guest Writer, Helen Mercer-Luffman We miss you more than words can sayNo time can ease our painTo live each day without youIs like grass without the rain. It’s like a flower without the sunshineA fish without a riverThe cold without a blanketThis thought just makes me shiver. To have your arms around meTo feel warm again insideTo have you sit beside meWould bring back so much pride. But all Carley Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211131345371634729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256396879116701498.post-91397456927528324542017-03-24T22:13:00.000-04:002017-04-21T01:19:33.593-04:00Jake Willilams: My Story
by Guest Author, Jake
Williams
I like many suffer from Bipolar
disorder. My official diagnoses are Bipolar 1 with psychotic features (includes
hearing voices, visual hallucinations, dilutions, and paranoia). It is easy to
confuse it with schizophrenia (was at one point diagnosed with). My symptoms
started off with anger, big outbursts, fights at school, and hostility with
adults in Carley Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211131345371634729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256396879116701498.post-78363174780337339862017-03-24T21:34:00.001-04:002017-04-21T01:19:51.784-04:00Pain Junkie No More
by Guest Author, Lauren Gray
Reading Nancy Werlin’s gripping novel about surviving horrific child abuse, The Rules of Survival, triggered painful memories… The first rule of survival is pretending. Pretending that each time you get beaten up will be the last time. This novel reminded me how adept I became at switching gears from fearing for my life to acting as if everything was Carley Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211131345371634729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256396879116701498.post-12321814611734748472016-06-09T13:30:00.001-04:002016-06-09T13:31:35.258-04:00Are You Happy? Really? Here’s an interesting quiz that tests your emotional intelligence quotient. Interesting, I thought. It’s not from a Christian perspective, but interesting just the same. Click here to view the quiz Carley Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211131345371634729noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256396879116701498.post-79206486758015860992015-02-17T20:00:00.001-05:002015-02-17T20:05:27.528-05:00Pets and Mental Illnessby Carley Cooper Do you have pets? I do. I have two. One is a feisty little lovebird with a big attitude. His name is Chicklet. I got him when he was 8 weeks old. My other pet is Maggie. She is my 1 yr & 10 months old doggie(a Shih-tzu). I got her when she was 14 weeks old. I love both my pets. They are wonderful, cute, the loves of my life, and a handful. I love it! If I Carley Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211131345371634729noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256396879116701498.post-82866633111484911292015-02-01T20:08:00.001-05:002015-02-01T20:08:57.918-05:00Forever Different BOOK TITLE Forever Different: A Memoir of one Woman’s Journey Living with Bipolar Disorder AUTHOR Christine F. Anderson MY REVIEW by Carley Cooper Before I even started this book I was drawn to it just by the title 'Forever Different'. My first thought, as a Bipolar sufferer myself, was 'someone else gets it'. I was right. Even though this story is so much different from Carley Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211131345371634729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256396879116701498.post-55720826189006323892015-01-13T19:26:00.001-05:002015-01-13T19:28:12.591-05:00ANNOUNCEMENT: Carley Cooper, Author!This is a very exciting announcement or me! I am now a published author. My first book was released last month. It is a work that I co-wrote with author, Daphne Tarango, and 8 other inspirational writers. I am very excited about this project because it will help inspire so many who are suffering with mental illnesses. Let me tell you all about it: Title: Carley Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211131345371634729noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256396879116701498.post-51698178777773445162014-12-15T15:08:00.001-05:002014-12-15T15:08:10.941-05:00My 8 Stages of Depression by Marcus Oakes I was a typical happy kid. I had an amazing family, I loved sports, and things were good. When I became a teenager it was almost like a switch was flipped. I still loved sports, still had an amazing family, but I wasn’t happy. By the time I was 15 years old, I literally had the worst acne I have ever seen (even to this day). I started taking Accutane, and then it REALLY went Carley Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211131345371634729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256396879116701498.post-27736064248811794312014-09-19T05:00:00.000-04:002014-09-19T05:00:08.180-04:00What Would True Mentally Ill Patient’s Rehabilitation Look Likeby Flora G Aleana Every one of them calls her Sara. She insists that they should. She always seems genuinely happy to see them each week. Every milestone no matter how small is a great source of rejoicing for her too. When they cry because of difficult times, even her eyes well with tears too. Sara loves people. And she tells all who that she loves just how much they mean to her. She is quick toCarley Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211131345371634729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256396879116701498.post-90193112635505936842014-05-04T04:00:00.000-04:002014-05-04T04:00:06.879-04:00Would You Opt Out of Mental Illness, if You Could?by Carley Cooper I’m writing a book about my life. In my research I watched a documentary called The Stephen Fry Story: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive (Click here to watch the 2 hour documentary ). It’s a fascinating portrait of Bipolar Disorder. It can help those of us who have it feel not so alone, and the people who love us understand us more. Where Do You Carley Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211131345371634729noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256396879116701498.post-76351239126464028712014-04-28T04:00:00.000-04:002014-04-28T04:00:02.992-04:00From Being Abused to Being Blessed: Jane’s Story by Guest Author, Jane Gibe I was a battered housewife and just figured that was the way things were. I had a child at 20 and loved him. I had him till I was rushed by three big men. They had to pry him out of my arms. I was beaten and when I came to he was gone. I stumbled out of the door and ran to the police station to report that he was taken. It was my Carley Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211131345371634729noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256396879116701498.post-37869456532788338942014-04-22T04:00:00.000-04:002014-04-22T04:00:02.745-04:00Remission – Is it a Good Thing?by Carley Cooper I think one of the less talked about aspects of Bipolar Disorder is what happens when one is stable. I mean we hear lots about both the depression side and the mania/hypomania side. But, what about life as a stable person? Some call it remission. No depression and no mania. Most people would think this is a non-issue. For the average person who doesn’t Carley Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211131345371634729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256396879116701498.post-21424969247048903482014-04-16T04:00:00.000-04:002014-04-21T23:39:11.807-04:00Managing Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder by Guest Author, Roselen Fernandez 5 million Americans are known to suffer from OCD in their lifetime. It affects men and women equally. It can also manifest in about 1 in 100 children. Almost 75% of person with OCD suffers from symptoms of depression. One simple example of OCD case is driving long way back to your house after a recurrent and nagging thought of your bedroom window being Carley Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211131345371634729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256396879116701498.post-12972783634271642642014-04-10T04:00:00.000-04:002014-04-10T04:00:06.883-04:00A Stolen Childhood: Eleanor’s Story BOOK TITLE A Stolen Childhood: Eleanor’s Story AUTHOR Patricia E. Day MY REVIEW by Carley Cooper A Stolen Childhood: Eleanor’s Story is about a woman struggling throughout her life to get past a childhood of living in an abusive home with an alcoholic father. I fell in love with Eleanor almost instantly because right from the beginning I could relate to so much of what she feltCarley Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211131345371634729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256396879116701498.post-85593653253184207242014-04-04T05:00:00.000-04:002014-04-04T05:00:07.145-04:00My Sexual Assault Story by Guest Author, Becca Moore The topic I am going to write about is a very sensitive subject for many people. We have either been effected by it ourselves, or we know someone personally that has experienced such a horrific event in their lives. I SUGGEST THAT IF YOU ARE TRIGGERED EASILY TO PLEASE SKIP READING THIS TOPIC. It is a topic many of us have difficulty talking about. But it is Carley Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211131345371634729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256396879116701498.post-32414746249912241162014-03-29T05:00:00.000-04:002014-03-29T05:00:01.380-04:00Changing Bipolar Disorder: Through Forgivenessby Carley Cooper This is the fourth article in, what’s turned out to be, a series on Changing Bipolar Disorder. If you haven’t read the first three they are: Changing Bipolar Disorder: Through Journaling Changing Bipolar Disorder: Through Food Changing Bipolar Disorder: Through Positive Thinking Journaling has given me the tools I need to gather important information. Healthy food Carley Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211131345371634729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256396879116701498.post-70114093299213191412014-03-23T05:00:00.000-04:002014-03-23T05:00:02.099-04:00First Breakdownby Guest Author, Becca Moore I don’t remember all the details of that night or what inspired the events that were about to take place. I imagine my father and mother had gotten into some kind of tug of war match over me and it was the last straw that broke the camel’s back so to speak. I can remember I had locked myself in my room. I wanted to be alone, but I was so full of rage over everything Carley Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211131345371634729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256396879116701498.post-19522877831528247972014-03-17T05:00:00.000-04:002014-03-17T05:00:08.280-04:00Changing Bipolar Disorder: Through Positive Thinking by Carley Cooper This is the third article in, what’s turned out to be, a series on Changing Bipolar Disorder. If you haven’t read the first two they are: Changing Bipolar Disorder: Through Journaling Changing Bipolar Disorder: Through Food Journaling has given me the tools I need to gather important information. Healthy food and exercise have helped improve the physical part of me. Carley Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211131345371634729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256396879116701498.post-87823466036157502122014-03-11T05:00:00.000-04:002014-03-11T05:00:13.092-04:00Abuse Survivor: The Debra Johnson Story by Guest Author, Debra Johnson Looking back at my life, I don’t remember a time I wasn’t abused in some way. From the young age of a year and a half I have suffered abuse in one way or another. As a baby I was beat with a baseball bat and suffered Cerebral Palsy as a result. Soon I began learning how to live using one hand. Then when I was six or seven I again was abused; this time by my Carley Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211131345371634729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256396879116701498.post-85921792106503995272014-03-05T04:00:00.000-05:002014-03-05T04:00:04.553-05:00Changing Bipolar Disorder: Through Foodby Carley Cooper This is the second article in a series about Changing Bipolar Disorder. The first was called “Changing Bipolar Disorder: Through Journaling”. Controlling our Bipolar Disorder is a full time job, even during the good times. We have meds, psychotherapy, and other standard treatments. However, have you considered food as a form of treatment? Carley Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211131345371634729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256396879116701498.post-87590517484245037072014-02-27T05:30:00.000-05:002014-02-27T22:27:18.123-05:00How to Find Love and Hope in a Desolate Placeby Guest Author, Madison Fields The modern world is a foreboding and dangerous place with different predators roaming the streets. Criminal minds are looking for their latest victims so that they could further their own selfish needs and horrendous desires. And that is why a lot of people are sleeping with one eye open and they are constantly looking over their shoulders to keep themselves Carley Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211131345371634729noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256396879116701498.post-15275198344791611742014-02-21T05:30:00.000-05:002014-02-21T05:30:02.702-05:00Changing Bipolar Disorder: Through Journalingby Carley Cooper In my first post I mentioned that there was a time when my mental health was in rapid decline. It was at this point when I realized that I had to change something before it was too late. But what? And, how? I didn’t know the answers. I needed some information. Though it’s no longer the case, at the time, I didn’t trust doctors. I felt that I had to do this on my own. I Carley Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211131345371634729noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256396879116701498.post-91557920143375749062014-02-09T06:00:00.000-05:002014-02-15T00:15:46.346-05:00You Can’t Lose!by Carley Cooper I’m very excited to launch Breaking the Window. First, let me tell you a little bit about myself and my story. I’ve had a Rather Difficult Life, but I’ve Come Out the Other End Happy. I was born in Fortune, Newfoundland. I now live in Barrie, Ontario. I was Social Phobic, right from kindergarten. Back then they didn’t have this label and they Carley Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211131345371634729noreply@blogger.com6