Learn what to do when you need help with your mental health.
I can’t really explain it, but after my accident, something just clicked inside of me. After that day, everything was different. Suddenly, I had this will to live—something I never remembered ever having.
“I can’t take this anymore.” Many of us who care for someone with a mental illness have heard these words before. We’ve watched friends and family members battle the pain and challenges, and we’ve worried for their safety when they say some days feel too overwhelming. Th...
Determine if what you are experiencing might be a symptom of an underlying mental health condition.
My name is Amy and today I am going to do the unthinkable and share my experience with suicide. We all deserve to live and we are all worth saving.
As the teenage mental illness and suicide rate gradually rises, we must learn to open our mouths and speak.
The adults in your life say that it’s just a phase all teenagers go through, but you know that it’s not a phase. It’s something that isn’t “normal.”
My mind is still a game of numbers and every day is a battle. It’s okay to lose some days. You can lose a battle and still win the war.
I think a lot about the fact that people who don’t live with mental health conditions really don’t have a clue about what the experience is like for those of us who do.
"Hearing she’s happy is all I’ve ever wanted for her."
At times, I need to talk honestly and directly about my depression. It’s hard, but my recovery depends on it. Then, after a while, I need a break. For me, the best break is something that makes me laugh. You can find humor in a lot of places, but I wasn’t expecting to ...
Literature is a valid resource to learn more about complex issues, including mental health and trauma. In fact, books can also play a vital role in mental illness recovery, and “ bibliotherapy ” considers reading as therapeutic in understanding emotions. The art of storyt...
Bullying is never okay. It is not just kids being kids. It is not simply part of growing up. It is harmful and destructive and a major challenge to mental health. That’s why the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education are sponsoring...
My psychiatrist finally found a combination of medications that work for me and I don’t have as many dark days anymore.
I live with a high-functioning depression in my life, and in the workplace. I’ve been struggling since 2015, when I thought it was just fatigue. Medication and therapy have helped me feel better, but I still experience depressive episodes. Sometimes going to the office ...
We’re seeing epidemic levels of stress in children and teenagers, with increasing rates of clinical depression , anxiety and other coping problems. Fear , uncertainty and lack of control—factors that power stress—are ramped up in times of rapid, unpredictable change...
I’ve now been in therapy for four years. I talk about four years a lot. It’s an important number in my life. After I was raped in 2011, I suffered in silence for just under four years. It happened at college in Chicago by a fellow student on the third weekend of my freshman...
During P.E. in my sophomore year of high school, the coach had the class stand up in a circle. “Take everything off your wrists,” she commanded. A few teens had bandanas and wide bracelets on; they took them off. “Now, lift your hands to the ceiling, wrists facing me,” she...
Early warning signs often emerge at the onset or worsening of mental illness symptoms. Simply, put these warning signs are any thoughts, feelings, or behaviors that significantly impair day-to-day functioning — such as feeling excessively sad or low — and they may indicate...