Life Unscripted - Stories of Mental Health and Addiction
Life Unscripted has one goal - to break down stigma by sharing the inspiring stories of people living with mental illness and addiction. Shame and fear often stop people who really need help from reaching out. COVID 19 has created a mental health and addiction pandemic. For many, anxiety is now part everyday life. Alcohol and drug use has increased as people try to cope. Host Janice Arnoldi has lived with bi-polar (manic depression) disorder for more than 30 years. She has a half hour radio show and speaks regulary to groups about mental illness.
Episodes
There can be immense pressure to drink during the December Holiday Season. Work, friends and family are having parties and alcohol is synonymous with celebrating. It can be particulary difficult for people who are in early recovery.
Janice Rutgers, Executive Director of Community Addiction Services of Niagara, shares practical, non-judgmental tips on making the holidays healthier for everyone.
Chantel Bellingham was born 3 months early, weighed just over 3 pounds and addicted to methadone and possibly other opiates. She was adopted by a wonderful family but it’s not a surprise that addiction reared it’s ugly head when she was in college.
Chantel is with me today to talk about using substances and how she is using her experience to help others.
She is now a peer support worker at Community Addiction Services of Niagara an...
More than 5,000 people have called the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline in 2025. The hotline is run by the Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking and is there for people who are being trafficked, including sex and labour, or knows someone who is being exploited. The number to call is 1-833-900-1010 and help is available 24/7.
The Centre's Ashley Franssen-Tingly talks about what it means to be trafficked and ho...
For more than two decades Ted Mouradian, president of the 2% factor, has helped hundreds of businesses create long-term, sustainable behavioral change using his infallible Law of Cooperative Action.
Ted has written five books and his latest book Yep, Sh!t Happens uses the power of story to take the reader on a journey with Cooper that changes the way Cooper sees the world.
Ian Fee had his first sip of beer when he was still in a stroller. His parents liked to party and as he got older so did he. Ian's memoir Wild Ride to Sobriety: Transformation from Drunken Oblivion to Profound Clarity takes us on the road from the culture of drinking with co-workers and clients, two lost marriages and how he got sober and stays sober.
The first "wind phone" was an unconnected telephone booth installed in the back yard by Japan artist Itaru Sasaki in 2010 to help him process the grief of losing his cousin who he had spoken to every day. After the devastating 2011 tsunami, hundreds of people came to his house asking to use the wind phone so he moved it to a public place. The unconnected telephone booth became a space for people to speak with deceased lov...
Rapid Transformational Therapy® (RTT®) is a form of therapy that combines hypnotherapy, psychotherapy, and neuroscience principles. RTT® was developed and launched by hypnotherapist/psychotherapist Marisa Peer in 1985. It is based on a detailed 3-session approach beginning with hynoptherapy. Diane Konkin trained with Marisa Peer and is on the show today to talk about RTT® and her practice Advanced Mind Health.
This is Part Two of my interview with Leonard Buschel, author of High: From Cannabis to Clarity. Leonard got sober in 1994 and in this interview we talk about his 30 years helping people recover from addiction and the Addiction Recovery eBulletin.
In the previous interview, Leonard about talks about his decision to be a successful drug dealer when he was only 17. Leonard's book chronicles some riotous stories of his days as a ...
Leonard Buschel was 17 when he decided he wanted to be a sucessful drug dealer and became the drug dealer to the stars for more than 30 years. He was also an addict who smoked cannabis from morning, noon to night and spent most nights using cocaine. In 1994, Leonard stopped using drugs and for the past 3 decades he has worked helping people recover from addiction. His book High: From Cannabis to Clarity is an amazing chronicle of ...
Climate change anxiety is a growing mental health issue. In Canada, massive fires across the country leading to evacuations and homes burning to the ground are leaving people with a sense of dread.
Laurie Sarkadi is a journalist and author who lives off the grid outside of Yellowknife in the North West Territories. Her memoir - Voice in the Wild – in part chronicles her deep connection to nature and watching the deterioration of the...
If you’ve been downtown in St. Catharines recently you may have seen some people wearing bright yellow tee shirts. They are peer support workers, all who have been homeless, and are out every day connecting with and supporting people who are living on the street now. More and municipalites across Ontario have successful versions of Welcoming Streets.
Welcoming Streets is a one year pilot project funded Niagara Region. The teams wor...
The Kristen French Child Advocacy Centre in Niarara has released the new Kids First Project for schools. Kids from kindergarten to grade 12 learn about safe and unsafe touching, secrets and recognizing potentially dangerous online behaviour.
Brian Bratt is the Centre's executive director.
Therapist Julie Christiansen is an expert on anger. One of her most recent books is titled Rise in Rage. Julie talks about how Canadians are experiencing more bouts of anger and even rage, in part because of the helplessness and the threat to our security we feel from tariffs imposed by the U.S.
She is also the keynote speaker at this year's Wellness for All event on May 8th to raise money for Canadian Mental Health Associati...
Experience shows that peer support is extremely successful. I’m going to start off with a new pilot program in St. Catharines called Welcoming Streets. It’s a partnership between Reach Niagara and Positive Living Niagara (POS), supported by Niagara Region and St. Catharines. Talia storm leads the Streetworks Program at POS and will co-direct the new porgram.
I’ll also chat with Quest Community Health Centre executive director Nancy ...
We know that gender violence against women and femicides in Canada continue to grow. But an alarming 1/4 of adolescent girls who are dating boys are experiencing an abusive relationship.
Nicole Regehr, executive director at Gillian's Place, talks about the increase in the number of girls, mostly in high school, who facing gender abuse.
Gillian's Place is a shelter in Niagara for survivors of abuse and violence. If you nee...
Erin Clayton from Pathstone Mental Health for kids talks about how kids who are already at risk face greater threats from social media.
CASON - Community Addiction Services of Niagara - provides comprehensive alcohol, drug and gambling addiction treatment for individuals and their families.
Executive Director Janice Rutger talks about the challenges people and families face and the programs CASON offers.
https://cason.ca/
In 2023, 22.9% of people across Canada lived in households that struggled to afford the food they need. That's 8.7 million people and a devastating 2.1 million children. The new numbers for 2024 from Feed Ontario shows an increase of 30%.
Community Care St. Catharines Thorold Executive Director Betty Lou Souter talks are the increasingly desperate need for food.
Feed Ontario
Community Care St. Catharines...
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