Andi Daniel – Montana's Peer Network

'Tis the (Stressful) Season

As we move into the holiday season, things can become overwhelming. Expectations of fun-filled time with friends and family are everywhere. Commercials, billboards, newspapers, specials of our favorite TV shows. People start asking what your plans are for the holidays. While this is an exciting time of year for many people, for others, it can bring on extra stress and negative emotions. Acknowledging these feelings can go a long way to making the season a little more manageable.

feet in canvas shoes standing on asphalt from personal perspective, road markings with arrows pointing left and right with question mark

Dehumanization of Vulnerable Populations

As people in recovery, we know that forcing people to comply with specific types of treatment rarely works. Treatment courts often have incredibly high “success” while people are in the program but those successes drop dramatically when there is no longer the threat of incarceration. Effective, long term recovery must be freely chosen and individualized. I wrote about this back in August but it is in the forefront of my mind again because of some statements made by a candidate for city commission in Great Falls.

Dignity Over Detention

President Trump’s “Ending Crime and Disorder on American’s Streets” executive order from July 24, 2025 is chilling. Under the guise of “law and order” this administration seems to be targeting the most vulnerable populations. This time it is unhoused people but the implications for a wider group of people are obvious. Do we have an issue with people being unable to find and keep adequate housing in this country? Yes, we cannot deny that is a rising problem. There is a misconception that being unhoused is due to laziness, weakness, or a moral failing when it is actually a lack of adequate employment and extremely limited access to affordable housing that are the main causes of homelessness. The Supreme Court’s Grants Pass ruling opened the door to more criminalization by local authorities. Criminalizing homelessness and closing housing programs does not eliminate the issues that cause homelessness in the first place. We can look at least one community in our own state whose elected officials have blamed services for unhoused people as attracting unhoused people to the community and if those services were eliminated, that problem would go away. They even went as far as removing bus stops and requiring people to access public transit through a phone app and credit card.

Intersectionality

Millions of people are affected by mental health issues and LGBTQIA+ youth and adults are especially affected. For example, the CDC reports that nearly 48% of LGBTQIA+ youth seriously considered suicide in the past year as compared to their non LGBTQIA+ counterparts. 39% of LGBTQIA+ adults rate their mental health as “fair” or “poor” while 16% of non LGBTQIA+ adult report the same. These disparities are often due to lack of support, discrimination, social rejection, and difficulty accessing care. Being LGBTQIA+ is not the risk factor in itself, the discrimination these people experience is.

Embracing Every Form of Resiliency

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and for me, as someone who walks this path not only for myself but alongside others as a peer and family peer supporter, it’s more than just a calendar observance. It’s a heartfelt invitation. It’s a chance to shine a light on mental well-being, reduce stigma, and encourage real, meaningful conversations about what it means to live with, and rise through, mental health challenges.
But beyond awareness, this month is also a celebration of something that’s often overlooked in clinical discussions: resilience. Real-life, hard-earned, deeply human resilience. I see it every day. In my own life, in the families I support, and in the courageous individuals I walk beside. In a world that constantly demands more, the ability to care for ourselves and each other, to bounce back, to try again, that’s nothing short of heroic in my eyes.

The Power of Kindness

Acts of kindness are often seen as simple gestures, yet their impact on mental health can be profound. Whether it’s offering a smile to a stranger, helping a coworker, or volunteering for a cause, kindness can create a ripple effect that benefits both the giver and the recipient. Research has consistently shown that engaging in acts of kindness boosts mental well-being, reducing stress, increasing happiness, and fostering a sense of belonging.

The Benefits of Mentoring and Job Shadowing

Peer support programs play a crucial role in mental health, addiction recovery, and various support communities. New peer supporters often face challenges as they transition into their roles, making mentorship and job shadowing invaluable resources. A strong mentoring and shadowing system enhances their confidence, competence, and overall effectiveness. Below, we explore the key benefits of mentoring and job shadowing for new peer supporters, highlighting how these relationships foster personal growth, professional development, and improved support for those in need.

Goodbye Daylight Savings Time

The end of Daylight Saving Time (DST) brings noticeable changes in the environment that can have significant effects on mental health. This seasonal shift, especially the transition to earlier sunsets, can disrupt circadian rhythms, impact mood, and contribute to disorders like seasonal affective disorder (SAD).

Mental Health Recovery

How do we define recovery for mental health? Recovery is generally a well understood concept when it relates to physical illnesses or injuries or substance use. The timeline for recovery is definable as the date that an illness was diagnosed, an injury occurred, or a person stops using substances (or reduces use in harm reduction). Some recovery programs, such as 12-step, acknowledge that time with a physical item given at specific intervals (30 days, 60 days, 1 year, etc.). Mental health recovery is a bit more nebulous.

Community and Peer Support for LGBTQIA+ People

Community and peer support are important components of recovery for LGBTQ+ individuals dealing with mental health issues. They provide a lifeline of understanding, acceptance, and encouragement and help mitigate the adverse effects of discrimination, family issues, and internalized stigma while fostering resilience and promoting well-being. Several organizations, including the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), PFLAG, GLAAD, and the Human Rights Campaign, emphasize the importance of such support systems in improving the mental health outcomes of LGBTQ+ individuals.

The Strength of Being an Introvert

I am introverted. People who know me are often surprised by that because I am an actor in a theatre company and am quite comfortable speaking in front of people. I often am seen as bubbly in social situations in which I am comfortable. Introversion is sometimes seen as shyness or anxiety around people but that isn’t necessarily accurate. Am I shy around people? I am quite shy around people I don’t know very well. I do have social anxiety, so I sometimes am viewed as not liking people. These factors aren’t directly related to my introversion, though. My parents sometimes worried about how much time I spent alone and would try to coax me out of my room to spend time with the family. This was rarely a positive experience.

Peer Support 101

Comprehensive Behavioral Health Peer Support Certification training program.

Celebrating the New Year in Recovery

Celebrations that generally revolve around alcohol may be difficult for people in recovery and a good number of New Year’s Eve celebrations do just that. Toasting the new year with champagne is a staple for many celebrations. For those in recovery or who just prefer substance free New Year’s celebrations, it can be difficult to find activities. You can always host your own events but many of us hosted events just a few days ago and the thought of hosting another can be overwhelming.

Embracing the Grinch

I am a “grinch.” Originally, that was a title given to me by people around me. Specifically when I worked at an early childhood program and had small children of my own. I do not enjoy the holidays. There were many years that we didn’t put up a Christmas tree and when my co-workers heard me say that, they acted as if I was severely neglecting my children. We aren’t a religious family so we really only celebrated Christmas as a secular holiday. I enjoyed Christmas Day as a kid. It was predictable. Christmas Eve was different. We spent Christmas eve with my dad’s family and Christmas Day with my mom’s family. My grandpa on my mom’s side loved decorating for the holidays and genuinely enjoyed Christmas so it was fun to be there. Celebrations with my dad’s extended family were always focused around alcohol and were not enjoyable. Inevitably, some family members would have a disagreement that resulted in loud arguments which were scary as a young child but I got to spend time with my great grandma who I adored so I could sometimes block out the other stuff. When my great grandma moved into a nursing home, those larger family gatherings ended and we would visit her on holidays. It was easy to leave when more people showed up because there simply wasn’t enough space in her room for several people.

Hands holding paper faces with emotions drawn on them.

Radical Acceptance Without DBT

We most often hear about radical acceptance in the context of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) but the concept can be applied with other therapies as well. Part of radical acceptance is acknowledging our thoughts about ourselves even if we aren’t in the right space to challenge those thoughts directly as with DBT or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).

Technology and Mental Health

You have probably heard that computers, phones, social media, and other apps are bad for your mental health. That can definitely be an issue as many things in our lives can affect our mental health. In general, too much of just about anything can be problematic. There are various ways in which technology can adversely affect us but there are great things that technology can do for us.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month!

Check out stickers and other resources for Mental Health Awareness Month and Children’s Mental Health Acceptance Week!

The HeArt of Recovery

Get support navigating the path of becoming a parent with creative solutions. A guided conversation with weekly recovery topics and creative projects with a focus on “Recovery by the Week” and Healthy Minds and Healthy Bodies. Groups offered online every other Tuesday at noon.

Author: Andi Daniel