Stories of HOPE
“Suffering with Anxiety and Panic Disorder, I finally decided that I’d had enough and was determined to find a place that could help me. I researched mental health facilities all over the country. I spent many nights on my knees and in tears asking God to lead me to the right place to get real help. I found Lindner Center of HOPE.”
“The first thing I noticed in the call here was how kind and patient people were on the phone.
I was so depressed I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t drink, I couldn’t sleep, I could barely walk. I was totally undone.
From the moment I got in the door I felt like a person.
Everyone seems to be truly interested in my health and rehabilitation.
It’s like all the staff works in a cell around you to produce the good help you need.
There is so much communication between the patient, the doctor, the social worker and everybody involved.
The doctor has been so helpful in diagnosis and treatment. They have been so good about getting me to participate in treatment. They have thoroughly explained my medications.
I’ve been in places that I call the “drug and drool joints”. Those places provide no help. It’s just keeping people quiet. Here they want to hear you. You’re encouraged to talk and participate. I believe an important part of healing is talking to other people. You start bonding with each other and encouraging each other.
(Lindner Center of HOPE) is unique. It’s all encompassing, healing body, soul and spirit. You can’t just treat one part and get better.
It’s been such a blessing. I have felt comfortable since I was here. Sometimes I was even treated like a princess.
Now I have goals and plans and I know how to recognize signs of relapse. This has been a very positive and healing experience. Both my pastors came to visit me.”
“The first day Ally and I came to visit Lindner Center of HOPE, all I could do was cry because of all the thought and care that went into the Center. As a mother with a child with a mental illness it was horrible to have her admitted for treatment. This time when she was admitted for treatment at Lindner Center of HOPE it was of course difficult, but it was so much easier. Everyone on the unit was so kind to Ally and our family. Ally loved having her own room and everyone went out of their way to help her.”
“The whole staff has been absolutely fantastic. I wish I could come up with more adjectives. It’s the people that make the place what it is – make it successful – the caring, the gentleness, the kindness, the knowledge. Thank you all so much.”
“Thank you for helping in Gunner’s recovery. Without you I am not sure what direction he would have gone in. You are all very special. Please remember every day you come to work, you make a difference in somebody’s life.”
“My patient who made it into Lindner had a wonderful experience. The family was very positive about the level of attention they got.
And I have to tell you I was very impressed that Dr. Edwards called me and we were able to speak about the patient and he followed through with my concerns. It worked out really well and he gave me some follow-up as well.
So thank you for the Lindner Center. I am optimistic that you guys are going to be providing for the community what we really have been lacking.”
Ira Herman, a TMS patient of Lindner Center of HOPE
For the last 14 years, I have had recurring episodes of severe, totally disabling clinical depression, each lasting between 4 and 14 months. In recent years, the episodes were getting longer and closer together. It seemed to me that I was looking at spending the rest of my life in severe clinical depression.
I have been through at least 6 psychiatrists, have tried all of the commonly prescribed meds. Nothing was helping me… until I found THE COMPLETE ANSWER (at least for me): Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Therapy (TMS). On 2/2/10, I walked into Lindner Center of HOPE, in Mason Ohio. At that time, I was not able to drive safely and could barely find my way into the parking lot.
After a series of 32 TMS treatments, one-a-day for six-weeks, I am in complete remission. They gave me my life back. I personally consider this new treatment to be a miracle from God, and it’s a recent scientific medical breakthrough that, I predict, will revolutionize the treatment of “treatment-resistant” depression.
I am back to 100% normal and went from being 100% disabled to 100% able through these treatments. It works–at least it did for me, when NOTHING else did.
Jon Zipperstein, a generous donor to Lindner Center of HOPE
Jon Zipperstein, co-owner of Embers Restaurant, has used his culinary talents over the years to not only entertain celebrities and Cincinnati diners but also to support events that impact the well being of our community. Since opening its doors in August of 2008, Lindner Center of HOPE has been the recipient of such efforts. His commitment to raise awareness of causes important to him and improve the lives of those in the community, in which he lives, has made him a tireless supporter. Zipperstein and his staff deliver top notch cuisine with a trendy, contemporary twist all while making beautiful meals and lasting memories.
He has been a good friend and has given tirelessly to Lindner Center of HOPE through many events including participation in the Queen City Ball which raised over $325,000 for the Center and the annual anniversary event he has hosted since 2009. In addition to supporting Lindner Center of HOPE, Embers Restaurant actively participates with the Marvin Lewis Community Fund, Leukemia/ Lymphoma Society, Epilepsy Center at the Neuroscience Institute, and Cincinnati International Wine Festival and its charities.
His backing and commitment to the work Lindner Center of HOPE is delivering began years ago when, in conversations with Edyth and Carl Lindner, he heard about the need for state-of-the-science hospital based mental health services. He listened to accounts, both personal and acquaintances and quickly recognized the need for added mental health services in our community. “Edyth and Carl Lindner and the entire Lindner family have always been visionaries,” says Zipperstein. “They could look toward the future and see things that needed to happen, things that could increase community benefit, health and wellness,” Zipperstein says. “I was always impressed that they cared about things that often others didn’t want to touch, issues that carried stigma or areas that others did not support financially.”
“Today, there is such gratification in knowing that we’ve come a long way from where we were 10 to 15 years ago when we talk about mental illness. There’s more awareness, less bias, improved treatments and advancement in research that propels us forward. In large part it’s because of people like the Lindner’s and other donors and volunteers who are champions and have led the way to help put mental health issues on par with physical health concerns,” Zipperstein says.
Sara Hunter, a past patient of Lindner Center of HOPE
Sara Hunter, 29, has her master’s in mental health counseling and serves as a licensed therapist at a private therapeutic boarding school for young women.
Beyond her education and training, Sara has a lot of personal insight into the work she’s doing with young women. Sara has been living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) for the majority of her life.
She started showing signs of OCD when she was three years old.
“I can remember feeling the need to line up my stuffed animals in order of their size and shape, the creases in my socks had to be perfect and I felt the urge to wash my hands until the skin was cracked and bleeding,” she said. “I knew the obsessive thoughts racing through my mind made no sense, however giving into the rituals was the only way I knew to relieve the intense anxiety I had been feeling.”
Sara’s struggles with OCD as well as her feeling of shame related to having the disorder continued throughout young adulthood.
For the first time in my life I thought about killing myself. In this moment when I felt I couldn’t go on anymore I allowed myself to ask for help, something I don’t ordinarily do. I told my parents that I needed help and wasn’t safe.”
Sara chose to spend three days straight on the adult inpatient unit at Lindner Center of HOPE. It was the first time she was hospitalized on an inpatient unit and despite her feelings of wanting to appear in control of her life she allowed herself to receive support from the doctors and staff at the Lindner Center. “I felt safe and never as if I was being judged. Each person on the staff was so kind and would really reach out and listen to what I was going through with unconditional care.”
Sara added, “When I left the Lindner Center, I felt like I was leaving on solid ground. I had worked with the team of doctors, Mike and other staff to create a plan that supported my needs and my hopes for moving on with my life. I felt like I was leaving with hope.”
Sara believes one of the most important lessons she has learned is that a diagnosis is not the defining aspect of who a person is. “It’s something that I personally deal with and it’s something the clients I work with deal with, it’s a part of what we experience but it’s not who we are. I have learned that my diagnosis of OCD is something I will always have to be aware of, something I will need to work with but not something that will define my worth or potential in life.”
A prisoner of my mind
Detained by my own fears
The tears have made me blind
And the voices deafen my ears
I cannot feel the sun, for the hole that I am in
This hole has grown so deep, a shovel full for every sin.
I’ve been down here for years,
Have come to feel safe in this place.
There’s no one to come in here,
So there is no shame to face.
Just like anything else, there’s a price to pay
Small parts of who you are, disappear along the way.
I’ve been in here so long
I don’t know who I am.
Done so many people wrong
Now no one gives a damn.
I believe if I were to die tomorrow
I don’t think many would feel much sorrow.
I feel the warmth from their hands
They pulled me from my hole
And filled it in with sand
Dusted me off and made me whole
They headed me in the right direction, taught me what is true.
The power of a good heart, mind, and spirit is deep within each of you.
The world is what you make of it.
This part I now know is true.
The sun upon my face, I feel it.
I see now a gorgeous sky of blue.
My love for life returned, I feel so I can cope.
Thanks to all my friends at the Lindner Center of HOPE!
Thanks Always.