The Peer

"The Peer" is the story of a Veteran with mental illness who eventually becomes a peer support specialist with the Veterans Administration. The reader learns how one can become mentally ill, how it can affect a person and how that mental illness is treated. This is a composite, if you will, of many peer support people with whom this writer worked for nearly 10 years. The reader learns what it is like to be a patient in a mental institution and how different forms of mental illness affect individuals. The peer specialists provide assistance and promote the idea that there is hope for those afflicted with mental illness by presenting themselves as examples of recovery. Though tragedies occur, the peer in this story is able through medication, psychotherapy and personal fortitude to not only survive but to thrive. This is an inspirational story of hope and recovery.