People would beg me to eat. If only it were that simple. I didn’t choose anorexia. A little voice inside my head ruled my life
I have a constant desire to spread a positive message that there is hope for those living with mental illness. There is no reason to feel ashamed.
When we are hurt by feelings such as loneliness or hopelessness, we hesitate to ask for the same care we would for a physical injury.
In 2018, more than 63% of college students reported experiencing overwhelming anxiety during their enrollment and nearly 42% reported feeling so depressed that they had trouble functioning at some point during the last 12 months. Some of these students may not have bat...
Self-harm is usually a sign that a person is having a tough time coping with their emotions. It’s frequently “used” as a coping mechanism for unmanageable mental illness symptoms.
If you or someone you care about experiences a drug or alcohol issue, there’s a good chance that a mental health condition is present as well. In fact, the 2014 National Survey of Drug Use and Health estimates that one-third of people experiencing substance abuse issues ...
Discussing my depression and other mental health conditions is terrifying for me. I hate seeming vulnerable and I hate being labeled.
The public is outraged, parents are grieving, and fingers are pointed at the availability of guns, at broken families, at peer pressure, or at a pervasively violent culture. But no matter what experts may say, we all should know at least one thing instinctively: 14 and 15 ye...
It is Halloween season again. For all the fun that can be had carving pumpkins, eating candy and dressing in costumes, unfortunately October is also a month with Halloween stigma. Typically, horrors involve “haunted asylum” attractions with depictions of residents as vi...
When I first started opening up about my struggle with depression, I was fortunately met with a lot of support from friends and family. However, there were certain reactions that brought to my attention just how deep the misconceptions are about mental illness. I found ...
As a parent, you need to be prepared for dealing with problems—big and small. That includes taking care of your child’s mental health. It’s important to step up when things get serious. Teen depression is not as rare as we’d like it to be. In fact, a 2016 study shows th...
Millennials were the kids of the 1990s who were born between 1981 and 1996. They are known as confident, entitled and depressed. Parents who were not authoritative, but rather saw themselves as partners, raised this blog-savvy generation. In the workplace, many Millennials ...
Recently, I turned 40. Turning 40 when you have spent all of your adult life struggling with mental health conditions deserves special recognition. As like many individuals with mental health and substance use disorders, I am a trauma survivor. I spent my childhood being ...
When you have mental illness, you’re more than likely to encounter some form of discrimination, from social stigma and exclusion to a lack of legal protections. Thankfully, as the mental health community raises awareness and challenges stigma, the larger conversation is be...
I was on the phone with my mentor, telling him how great I was feeling — that I had made it to the “other side” of a depressive episode that had lasted years and cost me a six-week stay in a psychiatric hospital. When I stopped chattering, my mentor said, “Be careful. Yo...
To many, January is a month full of hope, promise and the chance to become a “better you.” During New Year’s resolution season, many people feel motivated to eat healthier, work out and spend time achieving their personal goals. The reality is that the majority of peop...
Living with Borderline Personality Disorder ( BPD ) is difficult for many reasons, including unstable relationships, emotional reactivity and dysregulation, impulsivity, and other challenging features. But what makes the condition even harder is that many people who liv...