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ACMH

ACMH

Phone: 517 372-4016

Parent Line: (888) ACMH-KID (226-4543)

  • Home
  • About
    • Meet the ACMH Staff
    • ACMH Board of Directors
    • ACMH Job Opportunities
    • ACMH Annual Reports
  • Get Help
    • Accessing Mental Health Services For My Child
    • Understanding my Child’s Mental Health Challenges
    • Collaborating with the Professionals Working with My Family
    • Navigating
      • Problems at School
      • Navigating the Juvenile Justice System
      • Navigating the Child Welfare System
      • The Mental Health System
    • Finding Resources for Housing, Employment, Childcare, Healthcare and Other Family Supports such as SSI/SSDI
      • Housing
      • Employment
      • Childcare
      • Free or Low Cost Medications
      • Health Care Coverage
    • Military Family Support
    • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Get Information
    • Children’s Mental Health 101
      • I Am Worried About My Child’s Mental Health
      • Possible Red Flags
      • Who can help
      • How to Access Mental Health Services and Supports
      • I Just Found Out My Child Has a Mental Health Disorder
      • Common Diagnosis
      • Treatments & Supports
      • Questions to Ask About Treatment
      • How to be Actively Involved in Your Child’s Treatment
      • What to Expect
      • When Accessing Mental Health Services Using Public Mental Health
      • When Accessing Mental Health Services Using Private Insurance
      • What to Expect if Your Child is in Crisis
      • Mental Health by Age & Stage
      • Additional Children’s Mental Health Resources
    • Ask the Expert
    • ACMH Projects
      • Parent Support Partner
      • Youth Peer Support
      • Family Action Partnership
      • Statewide Family Network
      • Other Projects & Collaborations
    • For Community Agencies
    • Child and Family Services
      • Public Mental Health
      • Juvenile Justice
      • Child Welfare
      • Education
    • Training Opportunities & Calendar
      • ACMH Trainings
      • Community Partner Trainings
      • Youth Mental Health First Aid
      • Youth Peer Support Project
      • Webinars
      • Parent Support Partner (PSP) Training Calendar
      • ACMH Staff Portal
  • Get Support
    • Support for You
    • Family Stories
    • The Manual
    • Online Discussions
    • Find Support in Your Local Community
    • Help To Create a Local Parent Support Group
  • Get Involved
    • Family Leadership Opportunities
    • Importance of Family Voice in Creating Effective Services & Supports
      • Family Driven
      • Youth Guided
    • Share Your Story
    • Advocacy 101
  • Youth Page
    • Youth Blog
  • Contact

View Family Stories

5/20/2021

May….Mountains, Miracles, and Other Mothers           

May….with it’s budding life, sprouting green wisps, new born fresh feathers…
Purple flowers and green speckles peeking through barren brown landscapes,
And the magical warmth of springtime sun.

Breaths of hope mixed in with the scent of fresh cut grass and worms….
Reminders that all things do indeed renew…start over, breath in fresh air and hope..
Hope springing in May which also brings Mother’s and Mental Health Awareness Days..

Blowing in a need, a desire, a feeling and most importantly a responsibility
To speak out and share tales of survival, encouragement, a glimpse of what can be…
A splash of hope for the canvas of the live’s of other mothers…currently in the thick of it…

Mothers right now.. treading as fast as they can to keep their kids heads above the waterline…
Or their own…as tears of frustration, exhaustion and fear flood their path and cloud their vision
But never their purpose… As they work tirelessly round the clock
Using every ounce of strength and energy they have to support their kids,
make connections, find someone who will listen, help, a bed or treatment.
Fighting on even as doors keep slamming, backs keep turning and their kids keep dipping
Pushing, fighting, pleading to get them the help they so desperately need and deserve
To get them to the other side so they can be…who she knows they are and can be.

Moms, like me – who too have weathered this unpredictable storm
Frantically grappling for the right words to get them and you through…
Those dark, airless moments, when they can’t find their way
or put their hands on the truth you have taught them
That they are a wonderful magnificent creature – a gift to you, themselves and the world.

May always brings re-birth and renewal but along with it memories of another day in May
Where brief glimpses of sweet innocence or casual ignorance flutter by like butterflies..
Like a cool breeze just before ‘the call’….signaling that our lives had truly spiraled totally out of control. 

Thankfully this May like many more before and since
All in their world and mine is well
So take a moment and breath in the fresh new air 
Believe that there is hope and light
That can and will shine through the darkness…like grass through the frozen ground
And always remember that
You are not at fault….the problem…
Nor do you have to be or have all the solution
And most importantly..
You are not alone!

~ Anonymous

There is Hope!

My brother has been suffering from depression and severe anxiety since he was younger. He was prescribed prozac at a young age in order to lesson his symptoms and help him thrive in his social and academic environments. The prozac helped him immensely but he still went through waves of depression and anxiety (however his[Read More…]

5/13/19

I’m a mom of 3. My middle child is an 11year old son who has been diagnosed with autism. He is also predisposed to bi-polar and schizophrenia. I adopted him at birth and, unfortunately, he wasn’t provided prenatal care.

My son has been kicked out of 2 public schools and sent to a behavioral school which only made his issues worse as one of his conditions is mimicking. The behaviors that he learned there were horrendous as well as he was bullied because these students were not developmentally delayed.

I just recently was able to get him removed from there and FINALLY put into an autism classroom with only 5 other children and there is 1 teacher and 3 paras. It’s amazing and it is the first time in my son’s educational life that he is receiving an actual education. There is definitely a learning curve for my son as he has never had to participate in a classroom setting but is thriving.

Unfortunately, my marriage did not survive the trials and tribulations of raising a child with mental illness. However, his father is quite involved and more so than he ever was while we were married. They now have a good relationship which just makes my heart smile. His 2 siblings support him and do a great job “going with the flow” but let me tell you, it has been very hard. Over the years, he has been very violent to his siblings, me, our dog, and our babysitters. There was a time when I thought we were going to have to hospitalize him, but I wasn’t able to find a suitable facility for him. This left me with no option but to do all of his med changes in the home.

I put locks on his siblings doors and made “escape plans” for when things got out of control. This is not what you’d hope for in family life but we have made it to far 11 with him and we have his temperament relatively stable as of today. I know this will change as we are approaching puberty which scares me immensely!

We, as a family and me as a single parent, have been judged, stared at, and whispered about. This has made my passion for taking away the stigma of mental health in children a passion of mine.

I am sharing my story in hopes that it will help others know that they are not alone.

1/31/15

My child was nine before I finally realized that maybe I needed more help then I originally realized. She was always a “handful” but I just assumed that was a typical child. She thrived at school. She had friends and was decent to teachers and staff, enough that they considered her an average student, academically and personality-wise. It seemed at school she went un-noticed by adults but at home she had frequent mood swings. She could be happy for minutes to days then all of a sudden be screaming and yelling at me.

When she was happy I was happy. I am a single mom; it is just her and I, and our little dog. But when she was angry even I was scared. She would throw things and scream, “I hate you! I hate all of this!” When she was coming down from one of these fits it was as if nothing happened. One day she took a swing at me, hitting me in the eye. I knew that this wasn’t just normal behavior.

I made an appointment with her doctor to discuss her behavior. He suggested that she might have bipolar disorder. Maybe there WAS a reason for her behavior! He referred her to a local psychiatrist. From there we had an initial appointment where she was asked a ton of questions. Eventually, the psychiatrist agreed, she most likely had bipolar disorder. My daughter has begun a medication regimen and is seeing a therapist weekly.

She is doing much better. We are doing much better!

There is Hope!

My brother has been suffering from depression and severe anxiety since he was younger. He was prescribed prozac at a young age in order to lesson his symptoms and help him thrive in his social and academic environments. The prozac helped him immensely but he still went through waves of depression and anxiety (however his[Read More…]

 

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  • Home
  • About
    • Meet the ACMH Staff
    • ACMH Board of Directors
    • ACMH Job Opportunities
    • ACMH Annual Reports
  • Get Help
    • Accessing Mental Health Services For My Child
    • Understanding my Child’s Mental Health Challenges
    • Collaborating with the Professionals Working with My Family
    • Navigating
      • Problems at School
      • Navigating the Juvenile Justice System
      • Navigating the Child Welfare System
      • The Mental Health System
    • Finding Resources for Housing, Employment, Childcare, Healthcare and Other Family Supports such as SSI/SSDI
      • Housing
      • Employment
      • Childcare
      • Free or Low Cost Medications
      • Health Care Coverage
    • Military Family Support
    • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Get Information
    • Children’s Mental Health 101
      • I Am Worried About My Child’s Mental Health
      • Possible Red Flags
      • Who can help
      • How to Access Mental Health Services and Supports
      • I Just Found Out My Child Has a Mental Health Disorder
      • Common Diagnosis
      • Treatments & Supports
      • Questions to Ask About Treatment
      • How to be Actively Involved in Your Child’s Treatment
      • What to Expect
      • When Accessing Mental Health Services Using Public Mental Health
      • When Accessing Mental Health Services Using Private Insurance
      • What to Expect if Your Child is in Crisis
      • Mental Health by Age & Stage
      • Additional Children’s Mental Health Resources
    • Ask the Expert
    • ACMH Projects
      • Parent Support Partner
      • Youth Peer Support
      • Family Action Partnership
      • Statewide Family Network
      • Other Projects & Collaborations
    • For Community Agencies
    • Child and Family Services
      • Public Mental Health
      • Juvenile Justice
      • Child Welfare
      • Education
    • Training Opportunities & Calendar
      • ACMH Trainings
      • Community Partner Trainings
      • Youth Mental Health First Aid
      • Youth Peer Support Project
      • Webinars
      • Parent Support Partner (PSP) Training Calendar
      • ACMH Staff Portal
  • Get Support
    • Support for You
    • Family Stories
    • The Manual
    • Online Discussions
    • Find Support in Your Local Community
    • Help To Create a Local Parent Support Group
  • Get Involved
    • Family Leadership Opportunities
    • Importance of Family Voice in Creating Effective Services & Supports
      • Family Driven
      • Youth Guided
    • Share Your Story
    • Advocacy 101
  • Youth Page
    • Youth Blog
  • Contact
ACMH

Association for Children’s Mental Health

6017 W. St. Joseph Hwy., Suite #200,
Lansing, Michigan 48917
Phone: (517) 372-4016
Fax: (517) 372-4032
Parent Line: (888) ACMH-KID (226-4543)

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  • Home
  • About
    • Meet the ACMH Staff
    • ACMH Board of Directors
    • ACMH Job Opportunities
    • ACMH Annual Reports
  • Get Help
    • Accessing Mental Health Services For My Child
    • Understanding my Child’s Mental Health Challenges
    • Collaborating with the Professionals Working with My Family
    • Navigating
      • Problems at School
      • Navigating the Juvenile Justice System
      • Navigating the Child Welfare System
      • The Mental Health System
    • Finding Resources for Housing, Employment, Childcare, Healthcare and Other Family Supports such as SSI/SSDI
      • Housing
      • Employment
      • Childcare
      • Free or Low Cost Medications
      • Health Care Coverage
    • Military Family Support
    • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Get Information
    • Children’s Mental Health 101
      • I Am Worried About My Child’s Mental Health
      • Possible Red Flags
      • Who can help
      • How to Access Mental Health Services and Supports
      • I Just Found Out My Child Has a Mental Health Disorder
      • Common Diagnosis
      • Treatments & Supports
      • Questions to Ask About Treatment
      • How to be Actively Involved in Your Child’s Treatment
      • What to Expect
      • When Accessing Mental Health Services Using Public Mental Health
      • When Accessing Mental Health Services Using Private Insurance
      • What to Expect if Your Child is in Crisis
      • Mental Health by Age & Stage
      • Additional Children’s Mental Health Resources
    • Ask the Expert
    • ACMH Projects
      • Parent Support Partner
      • Youth Peer Support
      • Family Action Partnership
      • Statewide Family Network
      • Other Projects & Collaborations
    • For Community Agencies
    • Child and Family Services
      • Public Mental Health
      • Juvenile Justice
      • Child Welfare
      • Education
    • Training Opportunities & Calendar
      • ACMH Trainings
      • Community Partner Trainings
      • Youth Mental Health First Aid
      • Youth Peer Support Project
      • Webinars
      • Parent Support Partner (PSP) Training Calendar
      • ACMH Staff Portal
  • Get Support
    • Support for You
    • Family Stories
    • The Manual
    • Online Discussions
    • Find Support in Your Local Community
    • Help To Create a Local Parent Support Group
  • Get Involved
    • Family Leadership Opportunities
    • Importance of Family Voice in Creating Effective Services & Supports
      • Family Driven
      • Youth Guided
    • Share Your Story
    • Advocacy 101
  • Youth Page
    • Youth Blog
  • Contact
  • About
  • News
  • Events
  • Blog
  • Membership
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