I completed three shows so far and appreciate the positive feedback. I am connected with twitter, facebook, xtremeoctanerdaio, and have received messages at my gmail account. It’s pretty cool and things are hopping. I am going to see if I can get connected with blogtalkradio to complete an on-air show to answer questions from callers. I will let you know how this works out.

I am reminded that it’s important to remember that recovery looks different for everybody. It seems to me that many people have all sorts of challenges inclusive of mental health issues. The American Society of Addiction Medicine estimates that nearly 50% of all people in recovery or in their active addiction have some sort of co-occurring mental ilness. I depart from ASAM in that I do not consider minor depression to be a form of mental illness. If you have ever watched someone who is floridly psychotic or exhibits some sort of personality disorder then I sense you probably know what I am referring to. In addition, I don’t necessarily see self-inflicted violence as related to borderline personality disorder. If you peep at the literature you’ll see that it can be related to various manifestations, even depression.

If you encounter someone in your life who is depressed or takes medication, remember to honor their path as you would like them to honor yours. I suspect that it is akin to playing God to suggest that taking MH meds is akin to relapse. There is no difference between taking medication for any health condition and taking MH meds for depression or another MH condition. It is also viable to approach recovery by a harm-reduction or by using methadone….recovery looks different for everybody.

I have been watching episodes of Carnivale. HBO only created two seasons of the show and I am sad that I am almost finished with season two. Apparently the show received a low rating – surprises me and many of the people who have peeped at some of the episodes. The show is great, the acting is solid, and the producers and directors / story creators went out of the way to make sure the story and characters are inclusive.