Featured Stories

​As a patient at OSH, Bob McGown seeks out opportunities to explore his thoughts and observations through poetry and research.

A physicist with teaching and research experience, McGown said poetry is a way for him to express the abstract in a way you can't do in scientific writing or essays.

He submitted the poem below to Recovery Times. It was inspired by his encounters with MuSER (Mutal Support for those with Excluded Realities), an OSH peer support group for those who experience voices, visions and/or experience reality in different ways. Robert says he enjoys attending the group to learn from other's experiences and to learn more deeply about his own.   

“MuSER gives us insight into ourselves – into our own mental health challenges or investigating our own mind because I think that's what psychology is about – investigating one's mind," McGown said. “The poem is about how far we can get off kilter that we're perceiving an extreme state. That extreme state could be a psychotic break, could be depression or depressed feelings or could be negative feelings or amplified anger. How do we use our mental filter to understand these situations when we're off our path?"

McGown thanks the OSH Peer Recovery Specialist who leads the MuSER group for encouraging him to express himself through poetry.  
 

“A MuSER's Mind"

My Thoughts are like Music
Voices and visions from another reality
From sleeping consciousness to waking consciousness
Talking with myself as I reconcile my thoughts
Listening to my inner voice and hearing voices
Invisible to other realities
***
Shared experiences of an Excluded Reality
Are my beliefs unusual? My MuSER's Mind
Is my consciousness a non Consensual Reality?
Or just an altered state of Consciousness
Hearing voices and visions, interpreting our reality
Connecting through Life's spiritual experiences
focusing on personal growth
***
In our Mind's Eye
How do we perceive an Extreme State?
Are our Memories true to reality?
Recognizing a mystical dream state of freedom
We seek and find meaning in our experiences
As we pursue insight into ourselves
***
Removing Labels from popular Social Discourse
Our self worth comes from freeing ourselves from labels
Equated to societies' underlying Stigma
Liberating ourselves from Life's Trauma
Our curiosity gives us insight and order into our mind
Connecting with other minds through shared experiences
***
As we seek meaning in our experiences
Beyond the society's Stigmas, imposed upon us
Making us feel oppressed and marginalized
Discovering our true self from the beginning, throughout life
Along our journey, creating meaning amongst the Chaos
My Brain is a Good Servant and a Poor Master