We Don’t Talk About Mental Illness In My Family

“We don’t talk about mental illness in my family. Rather, we wish we didn’t have to. When we do, it’s the folk sickness that twines its way through my maternal lineage like ivy. We speak of it in whispers, though everyone’s been treated for it at some point, Prozac and Zoloft and Lexapro all the[…]

Good Mental Health Away From Home Starts Before College

“With high-school seniors deciding where they’ll be attending college in the fall, now is the time, psychologists and psychiatrists say, for teens and their parents to focus on how to maintain good mental health away from home. This is particularly vital for the growing number of teenagers who have already struggled with mental illness in[…]

What I Learned About Depression by Being Depressed

“It’s been a couple of months since I came out as a man suffering from depression. Perhaps it is the people I’ve chosen to surround myself with, but I have faced none of the harmful judging I’ve heard accompanies such a revelation. Conversely, there is a better than good chance people are judging me negatively[…]

5 Real Ways To Combat The Stigma Around Mental Illness

“MacPhee encouraged every individual to “own” the fact that we are all, in one way or another, affected by mental illness. Whether we have a loved one who’s struggling, someone we’ve known who died of suicide, or even personal struggles, talking about mental health illness can demystify it, which might then empower others to seek[…]

8 Times Passion Pit Shattered the Stigma of Mental Illness

“Angelakos sought help, though, and in 2015 joined forces with Bring Change 2 Mind, a nonprofit that brings awareness to mental illness through education. According to the organization, “Over the past 30 years, the rate of suicide among men has been three to four times that of women. Traditionally, however, men have shied away from[…]

Why the U.S. Mental Health Care System Needs More Places for People to Just Chill Out

“The Living Room model of care jibes with psychiatrist Patrick Corrigan’s theory of destigmatization. Corrigan, a researcher at the Illinois Institute of Technology, believes that destigmatizing mental illness hinges on more people coming out as having a mentall illness. We can learn about the causes and rates of various mood disorders, but living and working[…]

How N.H. Schools Are Tackling Suicide

“With almost fourteen percent of New Hampshire teens surveyed saying they’d considered taking their own lives, educators are increasingly focused on this, with programs that address mental health, substance abuse, cyber bullying, and sexuality. We’ll find out what some schools are doing, and the questions that inevitably come up.” Listen to a Replay from NHPR.org[…]

Mental health stigma hasn’t gone away

“The problems surrounding mental health stigma are nuanced and far-reaching, and we really need to get to grips with the effect that each different type can have. I think it’s great that more people are now feeling able to talk about their own experiences with depression, but we mustn’t fool ourselves into believing that this[…]

Why we’re afraid of antidepressants – even when we take them

“Isn’t there something lost in taking drugs?” I asked him.  “A great deal would be lost if we had medication that eliminated sadness,” he said. “We need sadness to have our basic human experiences of love and connectedness. I would not want to lose that. Antidepressants deal with a lack of vitality: the shift for[…]