Blog

If you hang around the rooms of 12-step programs or treatment centers, you will likely hear many say something like, “I am a grateful recovered alcoholic,” or “every day I thank God that I’m an addict.” To someone outside recovery circles, this may seem like a clashing sentiment. Why would anyone be grateful for all the angst and pain that accompanies an addiction?

My son Elijah died one month before his 22nd birthday. This is a sample of what I shared on Facebook right after he died. I wanted 100 people to share it and I hoped it would help one person. To my surprise, it has had more than 9,600 shares. I became an advocate overnight. I continue to share “Eli-ism’s” because no one should have to endure a loss as I have. That his family has. That his friends have.

Have you ever said to yourself, “Where did all my money go?” Most people underestimate their spending by about twenty percent. The average millennial spends about $3,500 a year on coffee. That is more than they are putting into their retirement plans! Setting financial goals and having a household budget are core life skills.

People who are aware of Chestnut’s services know that we offer help for those who suffer from mental illness and substance use disorder; however, many still don’t realize that Chestnut has a Family Health Center that offers primary medical care for all ages and genders. Primary care services are available not only to our current clients with mental health and substance use issues but also to the public at large...Read more...

According to the historian Jill Lepore, the term “burnout” did not exist until 1973. That was when Herbert J. Freudenberger used the term to describe the peculiar kind of exhaustion among healthcare workers at the San Francisco free clinic he managed. The syndrome that Freudenberger described seemed to mainly affect workers in the helping professions. His own staff worked long days with people living on the margins...read more...

Too often, I sit in meetings and discuss how we can decrease or ideally eliminate stigma. I can’t even begin to tell you the number of hours I have spent in these discussions over the past four decades. Encouraging people to become support systems has such a significant, positive impact on people recovering from mental health and substance use disorders. That is what keeps me involved in these discussions and stops me from giving up.

Riders and staff are seeing a difference in the transit system in St Clair County, IL. Read how a new partnership between Chestnut Health Systems and St. Clair County Transit District is making a difference for hunderds.

June is Pride Month, a time that recognizes and celebrates the historical movement for LGBTQ+ visibility and civil rights. (LGBTQ+ stands for “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, and Others”.) We commemorate this month because it was on June 28, 1969, that the patrons of the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village, New York, resisted the police officers who arrived in the early morning hours to conduct a vice raid. Over the next few days, clashes continued between law enforcement and LGBTQ+ protesters. These events catalyzed the LGBTQ+ movement for civil rights. Since June 1970, they have been commemorated with celebrations and parades. Pride Month was federally recognized in 1999.