My mental health was threatened struggling alone in an uncertain world where love was absent 2yrs ago. I had given in and up to depression. My letters had been written and assets moved as I inched closer to the line between worlds. I told myself a story that was self-destructive with the repeat button on and prayed for the music to stop. My Anger ran it course and sadness ensued.
My victim role established my identity and so I kept feeding it. Asking for help has always been hard for me and even when I did, I didn’t feel heard. Isolation was my companion down the rabbit hole and even though it was unwelcoming, I found more truth through self; alone, realizing I was the one hearing my thoughts.
To be quite frank, I feel a little like a fraud because even though I haven’t rescinded back into my personal Hell, completely conquering depression hasn’t been achieved. But when I find myself off course I can consult the words in these pages for a guide back to purpose and mission. Because conquering depression is all about winning the thought battle that yields emotional intelligence and a strong vibration, one that lights up the room.
Based on true events … After a lonely teenager from a dysfunctional family tries to kills himself, he meets a terminally ill girl and realises that suicide is not the only escape for a better life.
Meet Oliver Smuhar
My name is Oliver and I’m a twenty-one-year-old Australian writer. I have just finished a Bachelor’s in Communications Journalism, am a multi-award winning author, and was on Amazon’s #1 best-sellers list for contemporary fantasies in 2020.
Introducing Parmesan Pig, a kind-hearted, supportive friend that readers will find delicious to meet. When Spaghetti Spider, Marshmallow Mouse, and Taco Turtle need help with HAPPY, Parmesan Pig sniffs out just the right flavor of support. Each friend is faced with a different situation where certain HAPPY ingredients are missing. Luckily, Parmesan Pig is someone they can trust, offering a new point of view. Sprinkling her savory advice, she provides understanding and hope, when her friends need it most. Written in rhyming verse and full of clever connections between the narrative and the characters’ names, readers will both enjoy and emotionally connect with the story of Parmesan Pig.
Meet Ben Barrowman
Ben Barrowman has a passion for creative rhythmic storytelling that helps children understand the importance of supporting one another. He enjoys summer vacations on Goose Rocks Beach in Maine with his wife Lauren, and two children, Connor and Jane. It was there with his family that the characters in this story were imagined.
Be Human, Not a Zombie: A Guide to Finding Your Fundamental Nature is a self-published book which got to be #1 best seller on amazon.ca – mental health It’s about an experiment the author did over 4 years on himself (10,000+ hrs) through meditation, self-inquiry, yoga, and mastery to touch back his fundamental nature and guides others how to touch theirs by turning within using the same means.
Meet Pawel Wegrzyn
Pawel Wegrzyn was a nationally ranked Canadian tennis player and a NCAA Division II scholarship recipient, and even with all that success in tennis-the thing he loves, and dedicated his life to, he would still get abused by his own mind constantly, which made no sense! Through 20 years of coaching tennis, he was also able to witness that the mind suffering wasn’t just an issue for himself, it was there for all his students, and this went way beyond the world of tennis. After that revelation he got interested in meditation, yoga, and the workings of the mind and that’s how Be Human, Not a Zombie was created.
Anna’s childhood experiences and dysfunctional family patterns loom over her journey to adulthood. She struggles with relationships and cannot trust the good ones, eventually finding herself in an abusive relationship, as family secrets unfold in unpredictable ways.
Locked in a cycle of reacting to her emotional triggers and past, she constantly asks herself, What is wrong with me?
Through her journey to manage emotions and relationships, Anna gleams therapeutic insights and psychological tools, learning to cope with her mental health and discover healthy behaviors that lead to happiness and meaningful relationships. A fictional tale with a self-help twist, readers follow Anna as she hopes to answer one of life’s many questions.
How does one break free from the only role and life they’ve ever known?
The Young Captain Carter leads Omega Squad, a band of British, Special Forces soldiers who are known to teeter between legal and illegal warfare. Omega Squad come face to face with the eccentric and mad, Tarmo Skenev, an arms dealer who has taken former Omega Squad member, turned undercover operative, Riley, prisoner. Just when they believe their mission is over, Omega realise it is only the beginning. As the fight gets bloodier and enemy ties deepen, each member of Omega must face their own demons, coming face to face with their mental health. Who should read this book? Fans of gripping action, heroes to back to the very end and villains to despise. Junkies of thriller, who have no clue what to expect next, the twist in this tale is harsh and lethal. The story is not just another epic action series, it comes with an embedded message of mental health.
One of our heroes from Omega Squad, Reed, is an amazing soldier, his skill eclipses all others, yet he is haunted by his past, a tragic accident is relived over and over. Shift, another member of the squad, battles his dissociative identity disorder. In the story, we find out how one particular song turns him into an unhinged, animalistic mad man. Romance is also a key part of this story, a story of love, its trials and tribulations. How even in a world of war and terror, love flourishes and its stubbornness to die. We see both sides of it. A beautiful moment when two souls, destined for one another, finally come face to face, against all odds. Also, the darker side of love. The obsessiveness of it. How an infatuation can blind you and lead you down a path you would not willingly choose to follow. This story will beg its reader to ask themselves, ‘what would I have done in that situation?’. Omega: The Heart and Soul of a War Criminal is an epic story that features, thought-provoking dialogue, a promise of realism and shines a light on the delicate nature of mental health.
Meet Jax Bowman
A twenty-something-year-old relentlessly chasing the dream to create a piece of fiction that does more than tell a story.
I first discovered my love for writing during my last year of college, where I studied Creative Media Production, a course I had fallen out of love with. Until I found screenwriting. It was my saving grace and gave me a new-found desire to continue with my college education. I have written a mockumentary/comedy script and an action screenplay. ‘Omega: The Heart and Soul of a War Criminal’ is an adaptation of that same action screenplay. I have spent over a year transforming this humble screenplay into an epic story, which features, thought-provoking dialogue. Characters to fall in love with, and those to despise. A promise of realism. And a shining light on mental health.
In this, my third book, all I can share is those experiences of struggle I’ve had, in four domains. The conflicts have centered around: (1) Loss and Trauma; (2) challenges to find the best Direction, that ‘now, what’ dilemma ; (3) battles to find and empower inner and outer Voice; and (4) conflicts arising from Love, or the appearance of its absence. You will find the four are not distinct entities, but are interwoven with one another. This is so for clients, over the last 50 years, as well. Think of these categories as bumper cars, where when one car hits an obstacle, it sets off a chain reaction. While struggles to survive each experience is painful, it has proven true that the toughest conflicts have been the most prolific seedbed for growth. The urge to grow is embedded in all creation. Blocked growth thwarts development.
Meet Cara Barker
Visionary artist Dr. Cara Lee Barker has spent over 40 years to support the process of Post Traumatic Growth, helping literally thousands of individuals transform their secret suffering into greater strength. Learn about Cara’s journey and be reminded that the process of disappointment and loss doesn’t end with acceptance; the stage of acceptance simply prepares us for deeper connection and collaboration with what helps us thrive. Her work, for close to half a century, focuses on what she calls “the Way of Soul;” aligning life with what nourishes body and soul. Join in to explore and act upon unexpected opportunity to love and be loved to create fuller enjoyment of life.
As first responders and military we are the heroes for everyone else. We are first on the scene to emergencies at home and abroad.
So what then do we do when we are drowning and searching for breath? What do we do when we can’t escape the shadow that follows us in the sun and the darkness? What do we do when our world is spinning out of control and our world is falling apart?
I know this world. I lived under the rough seas and the shadow of PTS(D) for 10 years. As a Navy Rescue Swimmer with service in the special operations community and as a firefighter, I embraced the suck! It took me 10 years to discover what is embraced, embraces you back. I wrote this book to share my journey and show you it is possible to reclaim fun, fitness and fortitude. It is possible to come out from under the shadow and the depths.
It is possible to Reclaim Your Hero and transform your pain into power and thrive. Numquam Deficio! Never quit! Hooyah!
Meet Mathew Grace
Mathew Grace is a devoted father, a Retired Navy Rescue Swimmer, Professional Firefighter, speaker and mentor. He discovered how to Reclaim his Hero and free himself from a 10 year battle with PTS(D). His mission is to show veterans and first responders how to break through the powerlessness, overwhelm and darkness of PTS(D) so they can reclaim confidence, movement and freedom once again. Hooyah!
This guide makes a serious and compelling case for exploring different ways to measure depression and how a sense of humor can and should be used to enhancement treatments of mental illness. This unique guide not only includes invaluable measurement tools for exploring new ways to measure depression, it is seriously funny.
Meet David M Jacobson
David Jacobson, LCSW, CHP is the Director of Behavioral Health Case Management at Banner University Medical Center South as well as a professional speaker. Prior to this he served as Chief of Social Work for the Veterans Administration supervising 18 programs and over 200 clinicians and other staff. Jacobson is a former board member of the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor (AATH) and graduated in the first class of the AATH Humor Academy as a Certified Humor Professional. He is author of “The 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Humorous People” which discussed using humor to cope with chronic pain, arthritis and other conditions. A second edition to this book is in process.
