MSI Press Blog

  This week's book back story focuses on the award-winning  Mental Health Mayday  by Gregg Bagdade. From the author: As a firefighter and a paramedic for the Chicago Fire Department, I served 20 + years before I realized that my department was behind the times regarding handling mental health within the fire service. With the support of my wife and family, I went back to school, obtaining my Bachelor’s Degree from Penn State and then my Master’s Degree from Concordia University. I became licensed as a professional counselor and set out to change the stigma that was mental health within the fire service. I began working in private practice with first responders exclusively helping them with their mental health needs. Shortly thereafter, I realized that my affinity for writing would pay off in dividends if I just wrote a book so my message could spread far and wide. A year later, Mental Health Mayday was published. It is a portable, easily digestible primer on how firefighters can ha

  Mental Health Mayda y: A Firefighter’s Survival Guide From Recruit Through Retirement An inspiring reflection back on the journey of a firefighter, and a look toward the future of mental health care for emergency service professionals. “These are the real horrors brought on by the trade that so many of us revere…Some firefighters will not be fazed by these atrocities. They will simply go on with life and continue to be quite well adjusted. Others will act out in various ways…Our goal as counselors is to rest assured that all members go home to their families and have a happy, healthy, well-adjusted life. But, it needs to be recognized that the amount of horrors that firefighters see every day is astronomical. It is they that must harbor these scenes and simply move on to the next call.” -excerpt from Mental Health Mayday When you envision a firefighter, you may picture the perfectly chiseled men and stunning women you see on programs like Chicago Fire. Firefighters are everyda

  Release this week: hard cover edition of the popular Mental Health Mayday by Gregg Bagdade. Book description: From their swearing-in all to the way until retirement, even the most hardened firefighters can be affected by mental health concerns. A fascinating look behind the scenes of the career of a firefighter, this book explores the why and explains the how to better prepare these individuals for a healthy and productive career and life, based on the author's personal experience as a counselor, who also has 27 years as a firefighter and paramedic. Firefighters can learn how to acknowledge their mental health issues, such as PTSD, addiction, or anger issues while developing strategies to address these concerns with techniques and solutions throughout their career. This powerful book is part memoir and part call to action. Through the tales of his own journey from recruitment through his pending plans for retirement, Bagdade reveals the humanity behind the heroic archetype of t

Frederic Craigie Jr., Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist, consultant, educator, speaker, and writer. His passions and areas of expertise include spirituality in health and health care, healing relationships, clinician well-being, and resiliency and positive mental health. Fred attended Dartmouth College during the tumultuous Vietnam War era and completed his doctorate at the University of Utah.  He served internships in the VA system in clinical psychology and in substance abuse rehabilitation.  Following his training, he began what was to become a 37-year full-time faculty role at the Maine -Dartmouth Family Medicine Residency in Augusta, Maine, where he coordinated behavioral health teaching for residents and students and provided behavioral health care to a largely underserved primary care population. He serves as Visiting Associate Professor at the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine (AWCIM) at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, and held an appointment as Associa

  San Juan Books is the hybrid division of MSI Press LLC. It allows first-time writers to become published in a traditional way through the reduction of risk by sharing publication costs. All other publishing features are traditional in nature, and most SJB authors go on to be offered traditional contracts for their subsequent books. SJB publications are available as paperback, hard cover, and e-book versions. SJB authors' books very much hold their own against their contemporaries in the traditional publishing division. Indeed, a number of them have outsold their traditional compatriots. Today, San Juan Books presents author Dr. Frederic Craigie . BIO: Frederic Craigie Jr., Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist, consultant, educator, speaker, and writer. His passions and areas of expertise include spirituality in health and health care, healing relationships, clinician well-being, and resiliency and positive mental health. Fred attended Dartmouth College during the tumultuous Vietnam

    www.lyrahealth.com Here are some recommended, 5-star readings that focus on mental health awareness -  From Deep Within Susan Lewis Heart to Heart Resuscitation Victor Montgomery III Literary Titan Gold Award How to Stay Calm in Chaos Julie Gentile Book Excellence Award Mental Health Mayday Gegg Bagdade Literary Titan gold award Noah's New Puppy Richard Rice, Victor Rice, Geri Henderson and by  Dr. Dennis Ortman : Anger Anonymous Book of the Year Award finalist    Anxiety Anonymous American Book Fest Best Books Award Depression Anonymous Book of the Year Award finalist Read current information about the state of mental health in 2024:  2024 Workforce Mental Health Trends Forecast . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC monthly newsletter (recent releases, sales/discounts, awards, reviews, Amazon top 100 list, author advice, and more -- stay up to date) Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on 

  Mental Health Mayday has remained in the top 100 bestselling on Amazon for mental health and first aid for the past two months. Well done, MSI Press author Gregg Bagdade. Book description: From their swearing-in all to the way until retirement, even the most hardened firefighters can be affected by mental health concerns. This book explores the why and explains the how to better prepare these individuals for a healthy and productive career and life, based on my personal experience as a counselor, who also has 27 years as a firefighter and paramedic. Firefighters can learn how to acknowledge their mental health issues, such as PTSD, addiction, or anger issues while developing strategies to address these concerns with techniques and solutions throughout their career. For more posts about Gregg and his book, click HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter  here  or on our  home page . Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI

  A HERO'S SUICIDE   b y Joanna J. Charnas   This following essay was written in 2017 but has not been previously published.   Earlier this week I learned that one of my former patients killed himself. I’m devastated and can’t stop thinking about him. His name was Ryan Larkin.   Ryan was a Navy SEAL. He completed four tours of duty, two in Iraq and two in Afghanistan as a corpsman. Ryan arrived at the inpatient psychiatry ward of the hospital that employs me four weeks prior to discharging from the Navy, and he remained with us for a month.   While he was in our care, I became concerned about Ryan’s treatment. His attending psychiatrist was a skilled and caring provider, but the other players in the larger mental health system seemed mostly fearful of Ryan. Fear is not an optimal state in which to deliver care. My colleagues repeatedly expressed concern about his opioid use and labeled him “drug seeking.” In 2016 the country had a new awareness of the burgeoning opioid abuse epidem

  Excerpt from From Deep Within ; selection from Kew Gardens: The grounds of the mental health center were lovely, but the patients who wandered them seemed lost. The dangers of smoking were not yet known, and everyone in the hospital smoked, including me. The patients’ fingers were tainted yellow from the tar, their fingernails were long and unattended, and their clothing was mismatched and tattered. My heart broke watching them shuffle around. I chose to go onto the locked, dingy units and keep patients company as they ate their lunch. It was all about relationships to me. The room was filled with groaning people and the constant leg movements of tardive dyskinesia. Most patients knew me by my first name. “Susan, are you eating with us today?” they would ask.   Then, in 1973, one of the psychiatrists at the center was shot and killed by a patient while I was in the next building. I heard the gunshot, but no one knew what had happened. As the information trickled down that someone had