Recovery Connections Network : Check Out Our June Newsletter💚

Thursday, June 18, 2020

Check Out Our June Newsletter💚

Hope | Empowerment | Resources

June 2020

Disclaimer: Peer Scoop is a free monthly newsletter created exclusively by peers for peers in recovery from mental health disorders and addictive diseases. All contributions in this publication are based on lived experiences submitted by volunteers. Any content used herein is for educational purposes. Intellectual property and copyright restrictions apply. Unless otherwise noted, all images of people used in this publication are models.

Publisher's Corner

Welcome to our June newsletter!

Join us as we celebrate Father's Day, PTSD Awareness Month & Forgiveness Day!

We understand that many peers in recovery have been negatively impacted by the recent pandemic and police killings. I am one of them! Join me in taking some time out for self-care. Find a quiet spot and read some powerful testimonies. It is our hope that you will be inspired during these trying times, and know that you are NOT alone. We would also like to express our support of the black community and against any form of racism or police brutality!

A special thanks to Trina & Rorie for their technical support! Also, thanks to our contributors and private sponsors. Please share with fellow peers and on your social media. (Trigger Warning: death, sexual assault, gun violence, PTSD, and racism)

Regards,

ReDDVoice, CPS-MH, MHFA, QPR

In This Issue

More Stories

Overcoming My Fears, Page 10

Peer Testimonials, Page 11

Resources

PTSD Resources, Crisis Hotlines, COVID-19 Warmlines, Page 12

For your convenience, more ways to view June’s issue!

Download PDF

Magazine Version

Featured Stories | Father In Disguise | pg 3

Father's Day - June 21

Father In Disguise

BY JASMINE, CONTRIBUTOR

In a lifetime, one person can have several different types of relationships with people who are and aren’t important. We all have a friend, a relative, a boyfriend, or, a wife, an associate, a work buddy, and the list goes on. Out of those relationships, the main relationship that I feel is most important foregoing, is the relationship between a man and his daughter.

A girl's first love is the unconditional love that her father provides. The way her father treats her, helps mold her into the woman whom she will become. A father-figure for most women, provides safety, love, stability, and trust. For some women, their fathers remain absent in their life or never were from birth. As years progress, the role that a father plays in a woman’s life can either evolve her into the successful woman most men wish to marry or into a person who spends their entire life recovering from the brokenness from their first failed relationship.

Growing up, my mother and father were a successful middle-class couple. My biological father was a Marine from Ohio, who seemed to love me unconditionally. Two years later, my parents divorced, and my mom then struggled to provide the same stability for me and my older sister. As I began to get older, the more distant he became. As I got older, I realized that he never wanted a relationship with me or maybe he was too broken from the relationship with my mom.

One day while I was walking to the elementary school bus stop in the rain, a maintenance man asked me if I wanted to ride on the golf cart to the bus stop. Because I knew that my mom had taught me about strange men, I declined. I never would have known that was the man God destined to be my father. From the day I met him as a seven-year-old child until now, he has never left my side.

As a child watching, I occasionally saw girls with father-figures and their biological dads, and I grew envious of the life I was too young to remember. I spent most of my teen and young adult life reaching out to my birth father to try and mend the brokenness that I developed. Here I am as a child, yearning for the love and acceptance from a person I never knew, and God blessed me with the father he knew I deserved to have. A man who watched me grow from a girl to a woman. A man who was there when I got pregnant with my first son, a man who was there when I graduated each grade level, a man who made sure I was safe, a man who made sure I knew what the love from a man was supposed to feel like, and I know now was my father in disguise. ###

”For some women, their fathers remain absent in their life or never were from birth. As years progress, the role that a father plays in a woman’s life can either evolve her into the successful woman most men wish to marry or into a person who spends their entire life recovering from the brokenness from their first failed relationship.”

~Jasmine

Featured Stories | Forgiveness Through Release | pg 4

Forgiveness Day - June 26

Forgiveness Through Release

BY ONNIE, CONTRIBUTOR

My concept of Release came about a year ago at my 40th birthday celebration. I remember standing to speak before an audience of my friends and family and hearing myself utter the word Release over-and-over again. I am sure that I had used the word Release on many occasions throughout my life, but it was something about that moment that gave the term a new significance in my life. As I gazed into the audience, I remember thinking to myself: what are all of these people holding onto that is robbing them of their emotional freedom, but even more specifically, what am I holding onto that I need to let go in order to heal?

As I reflected on the concept of forgiveness, I realized that for me to forgive, I had to first embrace and acknowledge what I was holding onto. I had to untuck the negative emotions related to painful experiences that I had endured throughout my life. I had to examine years of emotional layers under which I had covered myself in order to brace the hurts that I carried from childhood. My Release (Forgiveness) process has not been easy. Reliving traumatic experiences from my childhood evoked a lot of emotional discomfort, but I was determined that I no longer wanted to carry around old hurts.

My forgiveness journey has allowed me to develop a seven-step Release approach, that others can utilize as they work through their own process of forgiveness.

Recognize the weight of the baggage

Embrace the idea of change

Look inward

Elevate your mindset

Affirm good thoughts daily

Set your intentions

Embrace the journey

How can you incorporate each of these steps into your forgiveness journey? ###

Check out my website for more inspiration!

www.confessionsofalady.com

Creative Works | Poem: Hey Lil Girl | pg 5

June - PTSD Awareness Month

Poem: Hey Lil' Girl

BY REDDVOICE, CONTRIBUTOR

Creative Works | Special Dedication: Dear Black Man | pg 6

Creative Works | Poem: Dawn | pg 7

Poem: Dawn

BY ANGEL, CONTRIBUTOR

Highlight | The Mental Impact of Racism & Police Brutality: A Black Man's Perspective | pg 8-9

The Mental Impact of Racism & Police Brutality: A Black Man's Perspective

BY TIM, CONTRIBUTOR

I was 17 years old when the federal government snatched me off the streets! Because I was not old enough to go to prison, I spent 8 months in jail. Going from county to county, being forced to ride the bus for days on prisoner transports. They tried to convict me on the “King Pin” act, but I was not old enough. In an effort to wait out my time until I turned 18, law enforcement officers kept me hostage. Their goal was to break me and to make me snitch on others as a condition of my release. The mental impact of being illegally detained and having my personal belongings and hygienic needs withheld took its toll. By the time I turned 18 and was finally old enough to go to court, I was so mentally distressed. They didn’t break me, but the time I spent being locked up still affects me today.

I grew up as a teen during the days of the crack epidemic and Reagan administration. Young black men were always being targeted by law enforcement. In fact, what is been happening to black men today is not new. As a black man, I have personally witnessed how this has been progressing for many years. This systemic approach is simply manifesting. Now that the entire world is watching, change is inevitable. However, before we can make any changes, there are 3 main factors that we need to consider:

₁Privatization of Prisons —Black men were targeted by law enforcement to fill the prisons. Once the prison system became privatized, rehabilitation was no longer the objective. The focus was to make money by convicting as many black men as possible. More bodies meant more profit.

₂Fatherless Homes — There was an attempt to destroy black families by removing the fathers away from the homes and into the corporate prison system. This not only left the families unprotected, but forced black women to raise young men without fathers. This weakened the black community and enabled the justice system to further their objective.

₃Justice Reform —The most important factor to consider is making changes in the judicial system. While marches and protests are great ways to bring awareness to racism and police brutality, nothing can really change without the judicial system enforcing the laws that govern us.

While I have been blessed to survive these injustices, there are many other black men and women who are still being violated, arrested, beat and killed just because of the color of their skin. I feel that America is going to fall unless we continue to bring attention to the things that are happening. The way we are treated is in direct violation of our civil rights. Blacks deserve the same rights of every other citizen. But there is no need to keep changing the laws, as it has already been written. We to need to make the judicial system hold the police officers accountable for their actions just like everyone else. We need to make them enforce and honor the rights that have already been given to us under the Constitution. As Americans, we deserve “liberty and justice for all.” Everyone should honor the words of our own Pledge of Allegiance, including police officers. Or else, our country may become uncivilized!

###

More Stories | Overcoming My Fears | pg 10

Overcoming My Fears

BY SHIBRECIA, CONTRIBUTOR

As a human being, there is a lot in this world that could be terrifying to deal with and overcome. Dealing with many of my fears, I can say my biggest fear was dealing with a special needs child on my own. When I found out that I was pregnant with my third child, I was so happy to the point nobody could tell me anything. But as my stomach grew with my beautiful baby girl, I never had any idea of what was going to be lying ahead of me. It was a surprise that I had to deliver my baby at only 26 weeks along and she was only 15 ounces in weight, not even 1 pound yet. After my C-Section surgery, I was allowed to go see her in the NICU, but I wasn’t able to touch her.

My baby was so small like a little dot, I couldn’t believe a person could actually survive with her conditions. That was the first time that I was actually scared to be a mother. My daughter had suffered with heart, breathing, liver problems...you name it. She even had to get a dozen blood transfusions just to keep her going.

With having two other children, I thought to myself, “How in the world am I going to be able to take care of her and my other two children?” After 8 months of her being in the hospital, I finally got to take her home, but she had a feeding tube and she had to be on consistent oxygen. It was definitely stressful between doctor appointments, keeping my eye on her, and making sure my other children were getting the equal attention as well. But to top it off, their father ended up getting arrested for two years and it left me alone dealing with three children by myself. At first, I thought I couldn’t handle everything, but after getting the hang of things I thought I was super woman.

Yes, I had numerous nights that I cried myself to sleep, but looking at those three angels that I was blessed with gave me the strength to keep pushing. Especially for my baby girl who fought so hard to be there with us, there was no way I could give up. I paced myself day-by-day and things started to get easier with handling things on my own. I wish this lesson had a happy ending, but it doesn’t. She eventually passed away at 18 months old, but at that point I was definitely a stronger person who could take care of my own.

To me, it’s like my daughter waited for me to feel more confident within myself and then she left me. As I sum things up, I just want to say I never would have thought I would have been put in a situation like that, but it was because I used to be a very weak person, letting people run over me and treat me any way they felt. Amazingly, that one precious little girl pulled me out of my shell and I have become a proud mother and a person that is overwhelmed with confidence and more knowledge to be a better person.

The strategy that I encourage myself and my classmates to reflect on while dealing with this educational journey is self-worth. I am a victim of having low self-esteem about myself and feeling like I didn’t matter. But as I told my story about my biggest fear, one person gave me the courage to embrace me. I feel that in order to succeed on this journey, you have to put yourself first. I use two questions our teacher gave us on the first day of class for inspiration on a daily basis. Who are you and what do you want? The main subject in those questions is you and that’s why they stand out so well to me. If you want to be successful in life, then you have to have self-worth and you have to know why you are here.

When you fail at any moment, make sure you keep in your head that you will be better the next time. Have that motivation that whatever you are trying to achieve will get accomplished by any means necessary. You are what’s important, no one is going to take care of you like you can.

No one is going to hold your hand throughout this process. Sure, you are going to have help, but it’s up to you to put in the work because you want to be better. Love yourself and after this journey is over no one is going to be prouder of you than you are. ###

Peer Testimonial | pg 11

Peer Testimonial

BY ELISA, CONTRIBUTOR

Today is a trying time for anyone dealing with a mental illness, especially PTSD. Dealing with COVID-19, along with protesting against police brutality, can trigger PTSD. My uncle was in the military and expressed how seeing the events of today in the media caused him to have nightmares from his military days being overseas.

One solution he came up with to cope with PTSD is to NOT watch the news. He gets his information about what’s happening in the world from family, friends and word-of-mouth, so the images won’t affect him and trigger his PTSD. My uncle says he prays daily for the world, which gives him comfort and a sense of hope we will make it through these times. ###