Disclosure

After being asked by the Public Health Agency of Canada to help spread their vital information, I decided to take it a step further and use my skills as a writer and my training as a psychiatric nurse to address mental health issues arising from the Covid19 crises.

I will be mentioning my various books during my blogging and I’ll leave it to you to judge my motives. But let me say, storytelling is one of mankind’s oldest and most effective ways of teaching. From the parables in the Bible, to Grimm’s fairy tales, to ancient Greek legends and Native American tales, our society has learned about ourselves, our morals, our history. We’ve learned of tragedy and learned to hope.

It’s always been my desire as an author to continue that honorable tradition. It is sometimes much easier for humans to grasp an insight when it is wrapped in powerful words and portrayed by characters we love. We can talk all we want about hope and its importance to mental health, but when we live alongside a character in a story, when we move with them through their tragedy, when we see them overcome their weakness and reach their goals, that’s when we begin to really understand hope.

Many of the insights on mental health that I will be sharing in the coming days are insights that I’ve already shared with readers of my novels. My interest in the human mind and emotions is obvious in my novels. And sometimes, I have to admit, my characters can get a point across much more effectively than I can. So, yes, I will be quoting from these characters and referring to episodes in their lives as they pertain to the issues I will be addressing. Whether or not you follow up by reading their stories is your choice, but I do suggest that reading stories, whether mine or others, is one of the best, cheapest, most fun mental health therapies in the world!

Eileen Schuh
Canadian writer
www.eileenschuh.com