Skip to main content

At A Glance: Book Review on Coping Takes Work

I will release my new book, What's On My Mind? Coping Takes Work, Volume II this month. Here are what mental health advocates and authors are saying about the book:

“A recovery story of grit and grace that will empower you to manage challenges effectively.”

—Christina Bruni, Author of Left of the Dial: A Memoir of Schizophrenia, Recovery and Hope 

Christina Bruni is an author, blogger, and activist.


“Ashley Smith’s book, Coping Takes Work, is a rich guide to staying well, despite living with the stigmatized mental health challenge of schizoaffective disorder. It offers practical recovery tips and a story of hope that will enrich the lives of those living with mental health challenges, their supporters, including mental health professionals.”

—Corey Jones, Author of Hope Is Real: I Have a Purpose 

Corey Jones is an author, blogger, and certified peer specialist from Atlanta, Georgia.


“An essential guide for anyone who is living with schizophrenia, Coping Takes Work provides a practical blueprint for recovering from a serious brain disorder.”

—Terri Morgan, Author of The Genetic Lottery: A novel look at Schizophrenia

Terri Morgan is the author and co-author of eight non-fiction books. Playing the Genetic Lottery, which is about a family effected by schizophrenia, is her first novel.


“Ashley has an amazing ability to provide insight into living with and managing a mental illness. She allows others to see her as a human being rather than a diagnosis, while also providing helpful tools, encouragement, and hope for those on their own recovery journey.”

—Jean Toole, President/CEO of Community Friendship, Inc.

Jean Toole is the President and CEO of Community Friendship, Inc. (CFI), a comprehensive provider of recovery oriented services for adults with mental illnesses in the metropolitan Atlanta.


“Ashley Smith is a champion of recovery from schizophrenia, and her writing is relevant and inspiring. According to Ashley, "Recovery demands more than medication, it requires hard work." This book is a useful tool to help readers do the work necessary to successfully cope with schizophrenia, achieving a higher level of recovery and a better life. Coping Takes Work provides helpful suggestions for persons with schizophrenia to start meaningful conversations with their doctor, and is also a great resource for members of a treatment team, including social workers and clinicians. The information presented in this book will also help the reader better understand the experience of schizophrenia, and this will shatter the stigma.”

—Bethany Yeiser, Author of Mind Estranged: My Journey from Schizophrenia and Homelessness to Recovery, and President of CURESZ Foundation 

Bethany Yeiser is President of the CURESZ Foundation, which provides education about underutilized and cutting-edge medications and treatments for schizophrenia. CURESZ features stories of schizophrenia survivors who are not just recovered, but thriving despite a past diagnosis of schizophrenia. 


Coping Takes Work will become available on Amazon October 2019.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Religious Preoccupation

After a talk, a woman asked me if my faith contributed to my recovery because she noticed that I mentioned it throughout my speech. In addition to that, she told me that she observed people with faith as having a better outcome in their mental health recovery. First, I came from a family with Christian values. My faith in God started to get intense during the latter years of high school, which in my opinion, is when I started having symptoms. In my experience religion plays a major role in my mental health- its delusions, its coping skills, and in my recovery. In medical terms they call my religious rituals and delusions "religious preoccupation." Before I was diagnosed I was highly religious. In fact, I wanted to be an evangelist and to go to a Christian college. I would read my Bible for several hours a day throughout the day, listen to hymns, and meditate. Sometimes I would ignore people if they wanted my attention while I was meditating I was in such deep thought. Also, I...

What Is Remission?

Remission is the absence of symptoms for at least six months with the support of medication. In other words, a doctor who has never seen you before may not diagnose you as a person with schizophrenia anymore. Remission is also high functioning in several aspects of life, living independently, goinig to school or to work, and socializing with other people. However, this does not mean the patient is cured or the illness has went away, the illness is still present, however, under control. Remission is achieved with the assistance of medication. "Published studies suggest that 10% to 20% of people with schizophrenia have remission of their illness as they get older, 20% get worse, but in a large majority (60% to 70%), the course of illness remains relatively unchanged." To reach remission it is recommended that you aim for a stress-free environment. Therefore, do things to relieve stress such as journaling, exercising, talking to friends, listening to or creating music, making a...

The Path that God Chose for Me

I am not upset that I have schizophrenia, this is the life God chose for me. The other day I was telling my mother I am glad I took a break from school, but I wish I had taken it sooner so that I could have recognized my illness sooner. She reminded me that everything happens for a reason, and that had I took a break sooner I would not have been able to know my full potential in college and in life. I went to college and got really involved in it through sports, internships, and mentoring peers. I was involved in so many things, school, church, home, friends, family, you name it! She was right, I am glad I took the path I took. I did not always have schizophrenia, but now that I have it I will work hard to overcome it. I try not to use the word schizophrenic because that identifies the person by their illness and that isn't fair. I am Ashley and I have schizophrenia. I will not let it limit my potential or define who I am. I can and will overcome these symptoms with medication, the...