I am a survivor of Schizophrenia. I was in what seemed like a hopeless medical situation, but I managed to cognitively and emotionally recover from multiple psychotic breaks that were diagnosed as Schizophrenia. I stress that I emotionally recovered. Emotional recovery is just as critical as cognitive recovery but is not talked about enough and given as much attention as I feel it warrants. It is a more elusive recovery but essential to personal wellbeing and quality of life.

As I have recovered over the following decade, I have gone on to get married, give birth to a son, and have a career. Everything that I have dreamed of for my life is happening, and now I find such joy and fulfillment in writing about my life experiences in a way that can encourage others and in a way that makes my life come full circle.

I have an undergraduate degree in Journalism from the Hussman School of Journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and I have a Master of Science degree in Communication from North Carolina State University. I blog for Psychology Today and Nami.org about stigma, recovery, and hope as relates to psychosis and Schizophrenia. My work is also shared by psychiatric doctors and clinicians at the Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health (CECMH) at the UNC Hospitals.