NAMI Blog

"In my growing depression, I had lost the ability to enjoy anything, but that morning, I enjoyed my breakfast. Such a little thing, an institutional breakfast on a tray, but it was the first good thing I had had in a long time."

"I was inside the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women to co-lead a three-day NAMI Peer-to-Peer training. Knowing that I could leave didn’t help; I still felt trapped when I heard all those doors lock behind me."

"It's mind-boggling just how far behind the African-American culture is when it comes to mental health and suicide. But African-Americans need to know: A mental health condition is no different than a physical one."

It's widely accepted that if you have a health problem, you would see a medical professional who specializes in that problem’s proper treatment. But if you're faced with a mental health problem, is your first instinct to see a mental health professional? Society has taught many of us to answer no.

"We know serious mental illness and substance use disorders often co-occur. And I believe there is room for researching the medical potential of marijuana’s components. But pretending that marijuana is a harmless substance is not the way to help our loved ones."

Fighting depression is difficult. Not only do you have to fight the illness, but you also fight the stigma attached to it. For men, the fear of looking weak or unmanly adds to this strain.

Beyond occasional reference to Types I and II, bipolar disorder is usually viewed as one condition. Ignoring the spectrum breeds confusion and prevents the public from better understanding the complexity of this illness.

Contrary to what many believe, young adults with mental health conditions are capable of completing a college education. Here's how colleges and parents can help ensure success.

There are many widely-believed myths about relationships, and because they are so important to our well-being, keeping these myths alive can worsen depression, anxiety or other conditions and symptoms we may have. Here are five of the most common relationship myths we should stop following. 

Some of the myths about self-harm include: thinking the person is doing it just to be trendy or edgy; or that the person must have a chemical imbalance, personality disorder or intractable mental illness. But understanding self-harm requires us to understand what it means to be emotionally overwhelmed.