Author: Kitt O’Malley

  • Mental Health Resources

    RESOURCES IN THE UNITED STATES Descriptions are directly quoted from each resource’s website. DBSA: Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance dbsalliance.org Support Groups Help Depression and bipolar disorder can be isolating illnesses, but DBSA support groups can help you connect with others who have been there as well. Visit a DBSA support group and get the…

  • NAMI Week Nine

    Wednesday afternoon I attended the ninth week of NAMI Peer-to-Peer Recovery Education Program ©. The class covered the following topics: Guest Speaker – Family Member – Steve Pitman Four Good Things about Hospitalization: To avoid the upheaval of a hospital stay, with the help of your support system,youcanrecreatethefour good things about hospitalization at home when you need it.…

  • NAMI Family Member Guest Speaker

    Yesterday afternoon at NAMI Peer-to-Peer Recovery Education Program, we had the pleasure of listening to Steve Pitman, Board of Directors President of NAMI Orange County, who shared his experience as a family member of those living with mental illness. Here is a video of Steve Pitman giving a similar speech at The Gathering on Mental Health and the Church at…

  • Fight Cancer

    Time to give a shout out to both the American Cancer Society at cancer.org and the Lymphoma Research Foundation at lymphoma.org. Like many families, our family has been touched by cancer. Dearly loved ones have fought and are fighting cancer. We support both the American Cancer Society and the Lymphoma Research Foundation. Please consider supporting the work they do,…

  • NAMI Week Eight

    Wednesday I attended class eight of the NAMI Peer-to-Peer Recovery Education Program 2014 ©. The topics we covered are: What to do when you, or someone you know,may be contemplating suicide WARNING SIGNS FOR SUICIDE Threatening to hurt or kill oneself or talking about wanting to hurt or kill oneself Looking for ways to kill…

  • Help My World is Chaos

    We’ve been in the process of renovating our house over the last three years. My husband and I made the HUGE mistake of buying materials for several major projects up front, making decisions on the spot that should have been deferred and made one project at a time. We ended up with a house and garage…

  • Manic Temper Tantrum

    Last night I blew up and had a full-on manic temper tantrum. I forcefully threw my iPad down and then proceeded to flip over the kitchen table. Crap. I was at the end of my rope. I had overdone it over the weekend, painting the exterior of our house in extreme heat (and too much sun).…

  • Why Do I Write? Kitt O’Malley

    Why Do I Write? Kitt O’Malley. First published September 8, 2014 on STIGMAMA.com * I write for I am more than a mother and a wife. I am a writer. I write for I must. I write to keep my brain from atrophying. I write to capture those speeding thoughts. I write to pull myself…

  • NAMI Target Exercise

      Target Exercise: Relapse Prevention Planning © NAMI Peer-to-Peer Recovery Education Course Week Seven Class Handouts (Rev. 2006) included the Target Exercise shown above, the text of which I’ve summarized below. In the bull’s-eye, we put what we MUST do, or MUST not do, to live well with mental illness. I MUST take my medicine, sleep, and not…