Author: Dawn Stilwell

Feature Story – PANDAS/PANS Awareness

Posted on by Dawn Stilwell
By Dawn Stilwell It’s 8:30 in the evening and time to put your 8-year-old child to bed.  Off he goes, tired but happy, as he does most nights.  It’s a normal day and all is well.  Imagine now that the very next morning, the happy child that you put to bed last night has drastically changed.  He is agitated, anxious and is suddenly quite obsessed with the cleanliness of his hands, washing them many times throughout the day. You remind him that his hands are already clean, but he can’t seem to curb his need to wash them. You try...Read More

Featured Story – Debb Pitel

Posted on by Dawn Stilwell
My name is Debb Pitel, wife of 31 years to Kevin and mother to four sons. My journey or life experience hasn’t always had a name. There was feeling overwhelmed, being emotional, there were struggles and at times, it all seemed too much to handle. Not all life lessons are taught; in my case, they were learned through experiences.  Countless times, I just needed to talk to someone whom I thought wouldn’t judge me, but instead, I remained silent. When my son Tyler began to struggle, we knew very quickly we needed help. Back 20 years ago, resources were called...Read More

Featured Story – Patti Welsh

Posted on by Dawn Stilwell
Written by Patti Welsh Fog. That’s what I woke up to and pushed through for months. Bubble wrap. That’s how I describe my mind, with pockets of clarity and yet such forgetfulness. Fatigue. Being unable to sleep for fear of these memories haunting me when I yearned for rest. Tears. Flowing at anytime. All the time. Remembering people’s names, dates and specific details became impossible to recall. Hence the tears. This is what my life was like for many months after my daughter died. She ended her life on December 27, while talking to me on the phone. She had...Read More

Featured Story – G. Connors

Posted on by Dawn Stilwell
Written by Dawn Stilwell G. Connors spent his entire career in Emergency Medical Services, working as a paramedic. As you can imagine, this kind of work has its share of traumatic experiences for the first responders who attend suicides, horrific accidents and more. Over time, G’s mental health began to suffer and he was eventually diagnosed with PTSD, which was attributable to his experiences on the job. During his tenure in EMS, G and others would ask for debriefings where first responders could open up and share about what they experienced during traumatic calls they attended. Various agencies and services...Read More

WELCOME TO NO ONE STANDS ALONE

Posted on by Dawn Stilwell
Debb Pitel is the owner of Western Boot Corral in Petrolia and is also the author of I'm Still Your Mom, her poignant memoir about her struggle to find mental health help and resources for her son, whom she ultimately lost to suicide. In the years since that time, Debb has become a vocal and staunch supporter of mental health, fundraising for many agencies that support the community with resources and programs for people in a mental health crisis situation. It has been Debb's vision for some time to see a booklet created that contained 'first contact' information for those...Read More