Four Years Later …

A loss always seems fresh, even when the calendar tells me otherwise. Depression can really sneak up on you.  It’s not like you wake up one day with all of the symptoms, pull out your checklist, make an appointment with a doctor, talk it out for 30 minutes, swallow a pill, and call it a[…]

Patterns and Panels: How comics portray psychological illness

“What the loose but insistent truss-work of cartoons hints at is that mental illness is not structurelessness—instead, it requires you to make sense of a structure you don’t recognize. The structure is hard to describe because you probably don’t share it with anyone else. Maybe that’s the point of comics: to discover new forms of[…]

Every 13 minutes a Robin Williams

“I say that it is our collective responsibility to advocate for mental health because those that suffer from a mental illness may not have the ability to understand what is happening to them nor do they have the ability to think in a “rational” manner. Additionally, doctors do not always know how to properly diagnose[…]

People With Mental Illness Need a Stonewall Inn: Only if they come out of the closet can we address the mental health care crisis

“We are responsible for the lack of progress made in terms of diagnosing and treating mental illness because we’ve successfully hidden the magnitude of the problem. Why should Congress or state legislatures allocate funds to fix a problem that flies under the radar? Today, there are more people in our country whose lives have been[…]

You Are Mentally Ill Vs. You Have a Mental Illness: Knowing the Difference

“There is a big difference from being something and having something, and knowing that difference will help you better understand your mental health experience and help you better be aware of the unfortunate fact that others saying you are something only perpetuates isolation and stigmatization and impedes societies ability to learn about mental health.” Read[…]

To the Girl on Her Cellphone Throughout ‘The Fault in our Stars’

“We should be fortunate to be alive, spending as much time pursuing happiness and putting aside cynicism as possible. We should listen more, not to reply, but to understand. We should pursue relationships because we want to, not because of what others think. And most importantly we should love unconditionally and without shame.” Read the[…]