Towards the end of March, there was a video that was leaked online of a major spoiler for 911. It had appeared that there was going to be a death of a major character since the 118 was dressed up to do a funeral possession with his turnouts on the back of the fire engine. We expected that the reveal of how he died was going to be shown in the upcoming episodes, but we still had hoped that it was just some sort of dream like a character was in a coma. We had our speculations t

What is a boundary? A boundary is a limit or line, real or imagined, that defines what is acceptable and unacceptable in a given situation or relationship. It helps protect your time, energy, feelings, and personal space. Boundaries can be physical, emotional, mental, or based on time and space. It is a guideline indicting what someone is okay with and what their not uncomfortable with. You can’t step over that line and make the person feel unsafe. Boundaries are tough to un

When it comes to autism, there are so many things that go inside our heads. We have so many ideas and so many things we want to do and sometimes, we just have to get creative on how to process those thoughts and ideas. Some autistic people have developed deep expertise in topics that interest them, which some people call special interests. There is a huge variety in these topics, which can range from astrophysics to vintage clothing and everything in between. Being able to ex

Self-determination refers to the ability or power of a person or group to make their own decisions and choices, especially regarding their own future and governance, without external coercion or control. Being able to be self-determine, you have to be able to choose what you want and need for yourself, being able to not feel influenced by other people in making your own decisions and to be the driver of your life and not be the passenger. Being able to control your life and

Since the breakup, everyone wanted to see Buck finally be happy. We wanted to know that Buck was taking care of himself. We wanted make sure that he was doing what he could to make himself happy. When it finally happen that Tommy came back, we knew that Buck was going to what he could to make sure that he didn’t screw it up, but of course in true Buck fashion, he had to say something that once again showed that he jeopardizes the good things in life. He finally felt like his

Who knew that 5 years ago, we would live through something that changed the world. The week of March 11, 2020 will forever be part of history. It was something we thought we'd never had to live through. So many things happened within a span of a few days. It was a tough and challenging time. We had to learn how to navigate a new normal. We didn’t know if we were able to overcome this new world. We didn’t know what to do. It was a very scary time. We were learning what was go

No matter where you are in the work force, there’s always going to be struggles. It’s going to test your limits, and you have to be able to know how far you're willing to push yourself without risking being burnt out, but when it comes to working in an environment where you deal with dangerous situations and see things that no one should see can take a toll on your mental health. Police officers routinely face situations that most people might never encounter in a lifetime –

When people ask me why I write about mental health and addiction, I tell them it’s because of Matthew Perry. He inspired me to learn more about mental health and addiction. He inspired me to want to help people who are struggling. I want to continue telling his story, be his voice. Matthew’s journey with addiction and what he went through is a story I want to keep telling. Everybody’s struggle with mental health and addiction is different but going on that journey to recovery

Not everything that is portrayed in the media is true to real life. It’s far from it. They make it seem like it’s an easy fix. Go into treatment and be healed. As much as people want to represent mental health and addiction, it doesn’t come off as helpful or inspiring. There’s so much more to it than just saying that a character is struggling with mental health. Film and television portrayals of severe mental health problems tend to be wildly inaccurate. And they often presen

During the war, there was a lot going on. There was fighting going on in Europe, families being torn apart, there was hardly any food because it was rationed, and wives and mothers didn’t know if their husbands and sons were going to come home alive. It was a very challenging, horrible, brutal time in history. Along with everything that the soldiers went through and the experiences that they witnessed, they didn’t just bring home physical scars, but mental scars. They saw thi

Grief is different for everyone. People express themselves in different ways. Some people will remain quiet and other people want to talk about it. It’s their way of going through the motions of the grieving process. When you have autism, showing emotion is a challenge. Just because we don’t show or share what we’re feeling, it doesn’t mean we’re not grieving. We have our own way of expressing ourselves. We have our own coping strategy. There are going to be times where someo

If drugs and alcohol is all you know, it’s going to be hard to build a life outside of those things, but it can be done. You would have damaged the relationships that may not be able to be fixed. Knowing someone with addiction is hard. They want to do whatever they can to help you, but you don’t want anything to do with them or accept the help they are offering. When you’re caught up with addiction, it becomes your purpose in life. The desire to get high makes you wake up in

You don’t want to put yourself in a situation that will challenge your sobriety. It’s easy to be reckless when you can use substances as a reason or an excuse, but once you find that road to recovery, you want to keep moving forward. The first 90 days in sobriety are the most important, but it’s also the most dangerous. You already know how much effort it takes to become sober if you’re already recovering from an alcohol use disorder. You’ll want to take every precaution to

There are many reasons why someone may want to relapse. They think that they can’t get back on track, so they rely on past indulgences to help them cope with their current situation. Someone could be in recovery for decades only to have something happen that causes them to take a step back and start to use again. No matter how far you are in your recovery, there’s always a chance of a relapse. Some of the triggers that could cause a relapse are boredom, stress, money problems

When it comes to a family member struggling with addiction, there are things to consider when it comes to supporting them. You want them to be able to come to you, but you also don’t want to scare them off by being judgemental. They need to know that you are willing to help them, be there for them. I know it’s hard to love someone who is struggling. There are going to be times where you wonder if there are things you could have done differently or take the blame that they wen

When I was a kid, my brother and I were besties. I couldn’t or wouldn’t do anything or go anywhere without him. I couldn’t be away from him. In the early days of elementary school, if I didn’t see him on the playground at recess and lunch, I would get anxious and I would start to panic. I would start to tear up and race around the school yard until I saw him. I needed to see him to prove that he didn’t leave me alone. The first instance of separation anxiety was when I was ki

When it comes to socializing, it’s a challenge with someone with autism. We try to make friends, we want to make friends, but we don’t know how to approach people. We don’t know when it’s a good time to go up to someone and talk to them. When we do get the chance, we don’t know what to say or how to say it. We don’t know if the person we’re talking to is listening just to be nice or if they feel like they have to listen because they know its rude to walk away. We feel like no

When it comes to addiction, you have to think about if addiction runs in your family. A lot of the time, you know someone that has struggled with some sort of addiction. Some people will stay away from drugs and alcohol because it’s something they know. They knew someone close to them that relied on drugs and alcohol so they did whatever they could to not go down that same path. In other cases, addiction is all someone knows. Existing research showed that annually, 11.8 mill

The beginning of a new year is always exciting, but it can also be a time where people look back on the past year and wonder where the time went and wonder if there’s a way to slow it down. As we get older and look over the past, we tell ourselves if we can make the new year our best year yet. No two years are the same. We go in with an open mind, but as the days and months go on, life throws us a curveball, something we don’t expect. People take the new year as a challenge t

The holidays are stressful for everyone. There are a lot of things that need to be done like prepping for family that are coming from out of town and a lot of things to see like the Christmas lights that people have put up, but if you throw mental health into the mix, it’s not going to be fun for everyone involved. There’s always a vision where you have to be the perfect host, you have to provide everyone with the perfect meal, give the perfect gifts, but as time goes on, the

I saw the breakup scene on twitter so I knew going into the episode wasn't going to be easy. I try not to be on social media when its 911 day since I know there are going to be spoilers and I held on for as long as I could. Watching the scene broke my heart and the episode was something I've replayed in my head. I wanted to analyze where it all went wrong. This is my theory on what really happened between Buck and Tommy. I understand where Tommy was coming from in regards to

Schizophrenia remains one of the most misunderstood and stigmatized illnesses today. Having a mental health condition isn’t easy. You will do whether you can to relieve the symptoms. You will do what it takes to not hear the voices in your head. Going through something like schizophrenia can be traumatic. You want to find something that will make the voices stop. Living with schizophrenia can feel lonely. People who have the condition may feel like they have a severed connec

I understand that people want Eddie and Buck to be together because of how close they are and the fact that Buck is the legal guardian of Christopher if anything were to happen to Eddie. It does seem like a good idea since they’re best friends, but how often does that work? Getting together with your best friend is a disaster waiting to happen. I believe that Eddie needs to work on his mental health before getting into any type of relationship. He has PTSD from being in the s

Schizophrenia is a mental health condition that affects how a person thinks, feels and behaves. It’s a combination of hallucinations, delusions and disorganized thinking and behavior. When you get diagnosed, the symptoms have to be persisting for at least 6 months. When someone is having a hallucination, they are seeing and/or hearing something that isn’t present to anyone else. They feel like it’s right in the room with them. Delusions: Fixed false beliefs held, despite cl