On Thursday May 26th, Carolyn gave us a presentation entitled; “ How did I Get Here? “ 

Carolyn’s topic of discussion this past Thursday reminded me of some situations I had encountered myself in the past. Feelings of uncertainty, lack of trust for others, and just genuinely not feeling our best.  Carolyn was brave enough to share her personal story with us, which is not always easy to do. Carolyn advised years ago when her husband wasn’t working, and during some career changes he was undergoing, she had decided to start her own cleaning business.  She said having this new career helped her mental health to stabilize more and gave her some much needed independence. Even though her husband wasn’t working at the time, Carolyn was determined to work so they would always have a house to live in, and so they would not have to worry about any debt. 

     After being out of work for awhile, eventually Carolyn’s husband did start his own business, which entailed building jacks for airplanes. At the same time, Carolyn started creating Art, which is a true passion of hers to this day. 

     It was also around this time that Carolyn started to have feelings of paranoia,  and was always concerned that others were going to harm her or maybe even that most everyone was out to get her. At one point, she started following white cars, and found herself thinking that these white cars somehow were angels, and that these angels were leading her somewhere she needed to be. She did end up at a stranger’s house, finding herself pulling into the garage belonging to someone she didn’t even know. The lady living in this home finally convinced Carolyn to call her Son who came to meet her and take her home.  It was at this point Carolyn ended up in the hospital for awhile for some care. 

Eventually Carolyn’s paranoia became so bad, that she didn’t want to spend any time at home, and she started spending a lot of time staying at a friends house. 

     On one particular day, Carolyn found herself driving all the way to Colorado, with the intention of seeing her Son. Carolyn’s journey to Colorado started early that particular day, leaving Omaha at 9am that morning. When she had almost made it to her destination, she suddenly decided to turn around and head back to Omaha, with the intention of stopping at a motel to spend the night. She ended up driving all the way back home, arriving home at around 2am. It was at this point when she feels that her Bi-Polar may have started and had begun to take over her life. After this long driving trip episode with no sleep, she did end up seeking care and was admitted to the hospital again for some much needed care.  

     After ending up in the hospital for various stays, eventually during one of her stays she finally learned of support groups such as NAMI and DBSA.  

Carolyn soon learned what amazing support these groups can be for our mental health journey. She did share with us that her four trips to the hospital were very positive experiences. Carolyn has become such an important part of our DBSA family. Lucky for us that Carolyn has found our DBSA group.

What a Joy it is to have her in our lives!