From "The Daily Herald" Chances are you know someone with a serious mental illness. Chances are even greater that someone with a mental illness lives near you. One person in 17 - about 6 percent of the population - has a serious mental illness such as depression, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. They are our relatives, friends, children, neighbors. Read more here.
Theatre Arts
The Theatre Arts Program will present its 2010 show "I Can Hear You With My Heart" in Woodstock as part of the city's month-long recognition of mental health month on Saturday, May 15 at 8 p.m. at the Woodstock Opera House. For more information about the show, including dates for Chicago performances at The Theatre Building, click here.
Mental Health Rally
More than 600 people attended a May 5 rally in downtown Chicago protesting impending state budget cuts to mental health services. At least 300 people from Thresholds - members, staff and other friends of mental health - took part in the rally with signs saying "Don't put a straightjacket on mental health funding." Visit our Twitter page for tweets with pictures about the event.
The Thresholds of Recovery
David Stowell's eyes welled up when he spoke about that time-a two-year period between 1983 and 1985 when he said his life "went to chaos."
He reluctantly spoke of that chaos, referring to it only as a set of "catastrophic episodes," during which he dropped out of Illinois State University, quit computer programming, plunged drastically into debt and generally neglected all forms of responsibility, all while battling bouts of deep depression that came and went at a feverish pace.
In Joliet, at a mental health center, he found the cause: bipolar disorder. And though he's spent 20 years battling his illness, it wasn't until the last year that he's truly found happiness: when he walked through the doors of Thresholds Transitions. Click hereto read the rest of this article at the Tribune Local's Web site.
Alison Flowers and Fred Friedman
Documentarian Alison Flowers has completed this piece about Board Member Fred Friedman. In her own words, "he lost everything that mattered to him: his wife, his home and his law practice. Fred's story of loss and recovery represents what many people with mental illness experience in Illinois. But more importantly, Fred demonstrates how the power of these people may be the state’s only salvation."
Thresholds has never been a more important resource. Watch this inspiring video to hear more about our programs, services and recovery stories. Watch Video
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Thresholds assists and inspires people with severe mental illnesses to reclaim their lives by providing the supports, skills and the respectful encouragement that they need to achieve hopeful and successful futures.
