I’m reposting for Mental Health Awareness Month. I made peace with my father’s suicide years ago. I also understand the challenge and suffering mental illness can bring. I also have Bipolar Disorder and have been suicidal many times. I’m thankful for a great healthcare team, most importantly a doctor who listens to my concerns, and when a medicine isn’t working […]
I’m reposting for Mental Health Awareness Month. If you know someone who is suicidal or you think will harm themselves please encourage them to go to the nearest hospital. Melinda The morning after you killed yourself we went to secure the house. I knew immediately you suffered slowly. Among the papers, trash, and clothes I found your lockbox. The divorce […]
ABOUT THE SPEAKERHailey Hardcastle · Mental health advocateHailey Hardcastle established a network of student activists in order to make schools a better place for those struggling with mental health challenges.
By Philippa Roxby BBC Health reporter 16 May 2020 Psychiatrists are warning of a “tsunami” of mental illness from problems stored up during lockdown. They are particularly concerned that children and older adults are not getting the support they need because of school closures, self-isolation and fear of hospitals. In a survey, psychiatrists reported rises in emergency cases and a drop in routine appointments. They emphasised that mental-health services were still open for business. ‘Patients have evaporated’ “We are already seeing the devastating impact of Covid-19 on mental health, with more people in crisis,” said Prof Wendy Burn, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. “But we are just as worried about the people who need help now but aren’t getting it. Our fear is that the lockdown is storing up problems which could then lead to a tsunami of referrals.” A survey of 1,300 mental-health doctors from across the UK found that 43% had seen a rise in urgent cases while 45% reported a reduction in routine appointments. One psychiatrist said: “In old-age psychiatry our patients appear to have evaporated, I think people are too fearful to seek help.” Another wrote: “Many of our patients have developed mental disorders as a direct result of the coronavirus disruption – eg social isolation, increased stress, running out of meds.” Dr Bernadka Dubicka, who chairs the faculty of child and adolescent psychiatry at the RCP, said: “We are worried that children and […]
This is a repost for Mental Health Awareness Month. Please be aware and watchful during this Covid 19 time, more than ever about how down someone’s conversation is. If you are feeling suicidal please reach out to a medical professional. If you think you will hurt yourself or others go to the hospital right away. Hospitals are prepared to help […]
MONDAY, MAY 11 The Hoda Show on Sirius XM at 1pm EST TUESDAY, MAY 1289.3 KPCC – Southern California Public Radio Morning Edition with Susanne Whatley TUESDAY, MAY 12 Interview with Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager on Today at 10am EST WEDNESDAY, MAY 13Interview on Late Night with Seth Meyers FRIDAY, MAY 15Interview on Live with Kelly and Ryan Check your local listings for stations and air time. We will be posting links to the special appearances on our website and social sites as they become available. Please share with your friends and family. Thank you!Matching Donation Members of our Board of Directors have issued a very generous matching gift to further augment our resources and reach. Every dollar raised from our community will be matched $1 – $1 up to $80,000. Our Board and staff have worked to strengthen and adapt our strategic plan, revisit the logistical options available for our high school program while remote learning, committed our resolve to a high touch model to support our students, and have modeled contingency plans for budget goals. In this very critical time and with the increased demand for mental health support, we thank you in advance for considering a gift of any amount. ❤️Donate Today ❤️Join the #NoNormal MovementClick Here to Join Glenn in our #NoNormal Campaign Copyright © 2020 Bring Change to Mind (BC2M), All rights reserved.You are receiving this e-mail because you opted in at our website or an event. Our mailing address is:Bring Change to Mind (BC2M)155 Sansome […]
May is Mental Health Awareness Month and mental health has been on my mind more than normal. I come from generations of family members with mental illness including my father who had Bipolar Disorder. I have treatment-resistant Bipolar Disorder which means medicines don’t always work on me. I live on a cocktail of nine medications and have been stable on […]
Posted By Mary Kuhlman, Ohio News Connection on Mon, Apr 20, 2020 at 9:38 am COLUMBUS, Ohio — With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing folks to cope with loneliness, job loss and grief, the National Alliance on Mental Illness is teaming up with Instagram to connect young people to mental health support resources during this challenging time. On its Instagram page, NAMI is posting tips and recommendations […]
By Celebretainment Apr 15, 2020 LeAnn Rimes wants to “take away the shame” associated with mental health. The 37-year-old singer has opened up on her battle with depression and anxiety, and says that facing her “pain” helped her process how she was feeling, rather than “getting lost” in her emotions. She said: “At first I didn’t want to face my pain because I thought I would get lost in it. But I didn’t. People are so ashamed to talk about it and ask for help. But taking away the shame is so important.” LeAnn became a child star in her teens, and has admitted she was struggling with “emptiness and sadness” behind the scenes. She added: “There was so much emptiness and sadness amidst joy. And I had to be LeAnn Rimes, the entity, not LeAnn Rimes, the person. I was very fragmented.” The ‘How Do I Live’ hitmaker says things reached breaking point in 2010, following her divorce from Dean Sheremet and her affair with now-husband Eddie Cibrian. She explained: “There was something in the press every week that was just so fabricated. Obviously there are mistakes that I take great responsibility for. But my whole life I had cared what everyone thought of me. So the public shaming was a deep thing that I took on. I had so much underlying grief. Everything accumulated and I had to give in.” After her 30th birthday, LeAnn entered a treatment […]
USA TODAY Erin Richardshttps://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.384.0_en.html#goog_982262311 When Tamar Canady thinks about the upsides to the coronavirus pandemic, she thinks about how she and her 15-year-old daughter sleep in more these days. But the downsides are difficult. Ella Canady, like many teens, often hides her emotions. But recently at her home in Phoenix, she has had some uncharacteristic breakdowns in front of her mom. She misses her […]
💚 Mental Health Awareness Month 2020 💚 Friends, I hope that you and your families are safe and healthy. As tomorrow marks the first day of Mental Health Awareness Month our BC2M Family wants to extend strength, stamina and resilience to each of you. As the world collectively struggles with instability, isolation, anxiety, and an uncertain future, I have been grateful for how everyone in our community has pulled together to weather this crisis. I want to share some positive news and hope that you will join us this May as we end stigma while we shelter in place together.We will come out of this time stronger for what we have learned about dealing with adversity, changed in our interpersonal relationships, and more appreciative of our ability to speak openly and honestly about how we are feeling. Thank you for being a part of this movement of change – reach out to your loved ones, listen deeply, be kind to yourself, share your compassion and together we will save lives.In health and gratitude,Pamela Harrington #NoNormal Campaign
May is National Mental Health Awareness Month and I wanted to repost a very personal story. If someone you know needs mental health support, more now than ever please reach out to the many resources available. If you would like to find some resources you can look at the top of my home page and follow my Twitter feed. Melinda […]
April 24, 2020 By 23andMe under Health and Traits by Samantha Ancona Esselmann, Ph.D., product scientist at 23andMe From an early age, I knew my great-grandmother had superpowers. “Mimi,” we called her. She was born in the late 1800s, earned a graduate degree from Berkeley in 1919, sipped a glass (or two) of sherry every evening, and charmed us with her wit until the […]
with Jessica Loftus, Ph.D. Glass Half Full: How Resilient People Cope By Jessica LoftusLast updated: 6 Apr 2020~ 2 MIN READ A psychologist offers tips she learned from her clients to cope with the threats posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. During my 20 years as a psychologist and career counselor, I truly believe that I often learned more from my clients than […]
The coronavirus pandemic is a devastating mass trauma—but some people with anxiety and depression have seen their symptoms improve.Laura BradleyEntertainment ReporterUpdated Apr. 06, 2020 10:27AM ET / Published Apr. 05, 2020 5:10AM ET When the novel coronavirus lockdown first began in early March, Grace Weinstein noticed something strange. In the span of 48 hours, three people reached out to her because they’d experienced an anxiety or […]
Repost from June 2019 Most people don’t think of Mental Health when discussing Chronic Pain. Mental Illness can be physically debilitating with many spending large amounts of time in bed. For someone like me who is challenged by both, daily life can be difficult. Today I’m in bed juggling my laptop on one knee trying to avoid the pain […]
POPSURGAR.celebrity February 19, 2020by KARA KIA ← USE ARROW KEYS →Image Source: Getty / CHRIS DELMAS Millie Bobby Brown turns 16 today! While this is a milestone birthday for most, for Millie, it was an opportunity to open up about how the media has affected her mental health ever since she first starred as Eleven on Stranger Things. Millie was only 12 years young when she first appeared on the hit Netflix show. It’s no secret that child stardom is not the kindest to the mental health of young actors. For Millie’s 16th birthday, she shared a poignant post on Instagram. “There are moments I get frustrated from the inaccuracy, inappropriate comments, sexualization, and unnecessary insults that ultimately have resulted in pain and insecurity for me,” Millie wrote. “Not ever will I be defeated. I’ll continue doing what I love and spreading the message in order to make change. Let’s focus on what needs changing and I hope this video informs you on the things that go on behind the scenes of the headlines and flashing lights.” Millie’s statement was accompanied by a video montage. Set to the soundtrack of “Changes” by Justin Bieber, a series of screenshots featuring various critical media headlines appeared. “Stranger Things star leaves Twitter after cyberbullying,” “Millie Bobby Brown criticized for adult style,” and “When did Millie Bobby Brown go through the change??? (Menopause)” are just a few harsh headlines that the young actor has had to deal with. Keep reading […]
Twenty-eight years ago my father killed himself, I was twenty-eight years old. It’s strange that my father has been dead as long as he was alive in my life. I’ve written about his suicide many times over the years but this year feels different. It’s hard to put into words but I’ll share what words come to mind. I knew […]
I found out about this exciting group from a fragrance advertisement for Hope, Hope Sport, and Hope Night, all available at Bergdorf Goodman.com. All net profits support Hope For Depression Research Foundation. Learn more at HOPEFORDEPRESSION.ORG Please check out their site, it’s packed full of information and resources. Melinda Our Mission The mission of the Hope for Depression Research Foundation (HDRF) is to fund cutting-edge, scientific research into the origins, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of depression and its related mood and other emotional disorders – bipolar disorder, postpartum depression, post-traumatic stress syndrome, anxiety disorder and suicide. In 2010, HDRF launched its Depression Task Force (DTF) – an outstanding collaboration of seven leading scientists, at the frontiers of brain science, from different research institutions across the U.S. and Canada. These scientists have developed an unprecedented research plan that integrates the most advanced knowledge in genetics, epigenetics, molecular biology, electrophysiology, and brain imaging. To accelerate breakthrough research, they share ongoing results, in real time, at a centralized data bank, the HDRF Data Center. HDRF was founded in April 2006 by Audrey Gruss in memory of her mother, Hope, who suffered from clinical depression. Every dollar raised goes directly to research. Founder’s Message My mother Hope suffered from depression for most of her late adult life. My sisters, father and I witnessed decades of misdiagnosis, trials of medication, troublesome side effects and the psychic pain and life-sapping loss of energy that is a mark […]
Jan 07,2020 Jeff Grabmeier Ohio State News grabmeier.1@osu.edu Study suggests friends don’t encourage them to seek help When college students post about feelings of depression on Facebook, their friends are unlikely to encourage them to seek help, a small study suggests. In fact, in this study, none of the 33 participating students said their friends told them they should reach out to a mental health professional to discuss their problems. Instead, most friends simply sent supportive or motivating messages.Scottye CashBut that may not be good enough for people who are truly depressed – as some of the people in this study probably were, said Scottye Cash, lead author of the study and professor of social work at The Ohio State University. “It makes me concerned that none of the Facebook friends of students in this study were proactive in helping their friend get help,” Cash said. “We need to figure out why.” The research, published online recently in the journal JMIR Research Protocols, is part of a larger online study of health outcomes of 287 students at four universities in the Midwest and West. This study included the 33 students in the larger study who reported that they had “reached out on Facebook for help when depressed.” The students reported what type of post they made and how their friends responded. They also completed a measure of depression. Results showed that nearly half of the participants reported symptoms consistent with moderate or severe […]
Science News Research in animals shows brain’s immune system is activated by stress during pregnancy October 21, 2019 Source: Ohio State University Chronic stress during pregnancy triggers an immune response in the brain that has potential to alter brain functions in ways that could contribute to postpartum depression, new research in animals suggests. The study is the first to show evidence of this gestational stress response in the brain, which is unexpected because the immune system in both the body and the brain is suppressed during a normal pregnancy. The Ohio State University researchers who made the discovery have been studying the brain biology behind postpartum depression for several years, creating depressive symptoms in pregnant rats by exposing them to chronic stress. Chronic stress during pregnancy is a common predictor of postpartum depression, which is characterized by extreme sadness, anxiety and exhaustion that can interfere with a mother’s ability to care for herself or her baby. Stress is known to lead to inflammation, which prompts an immune response to protect against inflammation’s harmful effects. Based on what they already know about compromised brain signaling in rats stressed during pregnancy, the scientists suspect the immune cells in the brain responding to stress may be involved. If that’s the case, the immune changes may create circumstances in the brain that increase susceptibility to depression. In unstressed pregnant rats, the normal suppression of the immune system in the body and the brain remained […]
October 16, 2019 Psychiatry Advisor Contributing Writer Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Share on Reddit Print Share by Email Researchers are hailing ketamine as the most significant new development in psychiatry given its high efficacy for treating major depression. Recent evidence has shown that in addition to depression, ketamine may also be a promising treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and a number of other treatment-refractory neuropsychiatric disorders. In a recent paper published in Drug Discovery Today, researchers explore ketamine’s role in revolutionizing new mental health treatments and discuss how this drug’s mechanism of action has led to an influx of new research and studies on depression treatment. Ketamine was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1970 as an anesthetic and safe alternative to phencyclidine. The therapeutic benefits of ketamine as an antidepressant were explored years later because of a stigma on from its widespread recreational use during the late 1960s and 1970s, and this agent was initially only administered intravenously. In 2000, researchers found that ketamine had strong, fast-acting, and long-term effects in depression. In a randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover design study, patients with depression received 0.5 mg/kg of ketamine or saline on the first day of testing. Treatments were switched 1 week later. Researchers found that the antidepressant effects of ketamine began within 4 hours, peaked at 72 hours, and lasted for 1 to 2 weeks thereafter.1 In a 2006 study, this finding was […]
BC2M 4th Annual SF Student Summit 300 BC2M High School club members gathered in San Francisco on November 2nd to mark our 4th Annual Student Summit. Thanks to our amazing host, Pinterest, these teens spent an afternoon engaging in mental health conversations, participating in exciting activities, and meeting other students from around the Bay Area. We are so grateful for our keynote speaker, Jen Gotch, CCO and founder of ban.do, in sharing her personal story and path to successfully managing her mental illness. She spent hours engaging in Q&A following her time on stage!After a morning filled with various speakers and an exciting activity fair, our students dispersed into breakout sessions where they chose workshop tracks covering the following topics: Advocacy in High School and Beyond; Mental Health & Interpersonal Relationships; Mental Health in the 21st Century; and Identity and Mental Health. The track system was a hit and our students gave us amazing feedback on this new change we implemented. The BC2M Summit is one of the biggest highlights of the year for the students and allows them to learn from one another, build a movement of change in their community, deepen their understanding of mental health topics, and make life-long friends. With the inspiration and hope that filled the room, we know that these students will put an end to stigma and create a more empathetic and compassionate world. Special thanks to our sponsors for making the event possible: […]
Annabel Driscoll and Mina Husain The Guardian Mon 21 Oct 2019 11.04 EDT With films playing a key role in shaping attitudes to mental health, two doctors say Joaquin Phoenix’s troubled supervillain perpetuates damaging stereotypes As junior doctors who work on acute inpatient psychiatric wards, serious mental illness is our daily reality. We have, therefore, watched the controversies around Todd Phillips’s Joker – in which Joaquin Phoenix plays a troubled loner who turns to violence – with professional interest. The film’s dominance in the debate about portrayals of mental illness in the movies comes at a curious time. Recently, we’ve witnessed great leaps of awareness about relatively common mental-health issues such as depression and anxiety, and with that awareness, increasing dismissal of the sort of unhelpful prejudices that used to surround them. These are now readily discussed without shame and often represented in the media with a well-informed grasp of the facts, thanks to effective information campaigns. Joker review – the most disappointing film of the year 2 out of 5 stars. Read more However, severe mental health conditions, such as psychotic illnesses, remain shrouded in stigma and are consistently misrepresented and misunderstood. Portrayals of mental illness in film can perpetuate unfounded stereotypes and spread misinformation. One of the more toxic ideas that Joker subscribes to is the hackneyed association between serious mental illness and extreme violence. The notion that mental deterioration necessarily leads to violence against others – implied by the juxtaposition of Phoenix’s character Arthur stopping […]
Five years ago I began a friendship with my friend H.Dale who was incarcerated because of a psychotic episode. We began exchanging letters. Since that time I have come to know him as a brilliant young man who like many of us got blind sided by a serious mental illness. Unless you’re the one who […] The Flower of Purpose — Shedding Light on Mental Health
Psychology Today Posted Sep 23, 2019 Tracy S. Hutchinson, Ph.D. New research suggests that PTSD is a normal response to common life events. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 7.7 million adults suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Along with a surge of awareness regarding PTSD, there are also many misconceptions. For example, some believe it is only associated with war veterans, events such as 9/11, or natural disasters. Although this diagnosis has historically been associated with military veterans who undergo multiple deployments, there are many other events that can trigger symptoms of PTSD. For example, prolonged exposure to emotional and psychological abuse (e.g., verbally abusive relationships, alcoholism, or stressful childhoods) are risk factors for developing symptoms. Some of these lingering misconceptions may be due to the fact that development and recognition of the disorder is relatively recent and has really only blossomed in the last three decades. History In 1980, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) formally recognized PTSD as an actual mental health diagnosis. Historically, it had been formally recognized as “shell shock” and was thought only to occur in military war veterans. Further, PTSD had historically been thought of as something that someone “gets over” over time. This may be true for some, but it isn’t for others. Researchers continue to discover risk factors that can cause PTSD symptoms. This includes emerging research on the study of what happens in childhood and how it affects adults in their lifetime (van Der Kolk, 2014). For example, some of my clients […]
When I ask a group of participants to think of all the words associated with someone who has mental illness here’s what I get: crazy, looney, nuts, attention seeking, dangerous, violent, etc. Then I ask the question what are words you hear about a cancer survivor. Those words are: hero, warrior, brave, strong, etc. Then […] The bias of mental illness — Shedding Light on Mental Health
Charles Trepany, USA TODAYPublished 10:22 a.m. ET Sept. 5, 2019 Billie Eilish is getting real on her mental health. The “Bury a Friend” songstress confessed in her cover story for Elle magazine that, despite early career success, she hasn’t always been happy. “Two years ago, I felt like nothing mattered; every single thing was pointless,” she said in the article published Thursday. “Not just in my life, but everything in the whole world. I was fully clinically depressed. It’s insane to look back and not be anymore.” Eilish has been accused by trolls of faking her depression, which she admitted have been painful to read. “It hurt me to see that,” she said. “I was a 16-year-old girl who was really unstable. I’m in the happiest place of my life, and I didn’t think that I would even make it to this age.” More: Billie Eilish, 17, rips Nylon Germany for topless cover: I ‘did not consent in any way’ The 17-year-old said her mental health has since improved, calling happiness a “crazy” feeling. “I haven’t been happy for years,” she said. “I didn’t think I would be happy again. And here I am—I’ve gotten to a point where I’m finally okay. It’s not because I’m famous. It’s not because I have a little more money. It’s so many different things: growing up, people coming into your life, certain people leaving your life.” More: Believe the hype: Billie Eilish proves she’s a once-in-a-generation talent at NYC concert The singer added […]
Melanie Lockert remembers checking the traffic for her blog, Dear Debt, and feeling shocked at the results. Someone had found her site by searching, “I want to kill myself because of debt.” Lockert started Dear Debt in January 2013 after spending the previous year feeling depressed about her student loans. She posted monthly updates about her efforts to pay off […]
My father committed suicide in 1992, put a shot-gun in his mouth. I was 28 years old, we were estranged since I was a teen. A trigger hit me like a hurricane this week. I’m having memories, not the worst. You put the the pressure on my shoulders to arrange everything, who to call. I had to face the chore of the house, a man living out of touch for many years. Worst was going to morgue, hand me original note and his bloody shotgun. Could you not see your friends were different? They were thieves but not in the same universe. They all took advantage of you, move in move out and steal what they want. One roommate committed suicide with your gun in your house. Down on their luck, will make payments on car, he was lucky to get three payments. He would have to track down and repo the car. They would come back begging and he would do it again. His friends were people at the bar he parked cars at. All the ladies got special attention, my father walked the lot to make sure the cars were secure. They all flirted with him, fake flirting, trashy bar, easy women going to bar in the hood looking for love. One night feeling the black dog, I went to the bar where my father parked cars. We played a game of pool, sitting at the bar he […]
This is a must see video. Jeremy Forbes shares great information to help you have a real conversation with a friend or love one. I did not see the twist coming, he’s a Survivor. M
This is a repost from 2015 I thought might help someone today. If you’ve reached the bottom and not sure where to turn, please talk to your doctor about all of your options. ECT has allowed me to celebrate my 56th birthday this year. I’ve had 20+ ECT treatments. The treatments are necessary when I hit bottom becoming delusional and […]
People Posted byChristobel Hastings Published16 days ago Camila Cabello is no stranger to speaking out about her mental healthstruggles, and in a bid to raise awareness of the effects of anxiety, the singer shared the self-help technique she turns to when she’s feeling overwhelmed by the chaos of everyday life. In an age when our perception of the world is so often viewed through a heavily filtered lens, it can be tough to keep a cultivate a positive self-image. But despite the heavily-filtered images and aspirational messages we consume on our social media feeds, more and more celebrities are taking steps to break through the illusion of perfection and present a more nuanced reality. One star leading the way when it comes to disrupting the narrative is Camila Cabello. The singer is no stranger to speaking out about her struggles with mental health, and in a candid note to her followers last month, she opened up about her experiences with anxiety, and the ways she’s learned to cope with being “incredibly nervous” and “socially anxious.” This time around the Señorita singer is continuing her mental health conversation by sharing the coping mechanism she turns to when she’s feeling overwhelmed: breathing exercises. Taking to Instagram, the singer posted a long note to her followers acknowledging that she has the power to influence positive change in people’s lives through her social media platform, even if in “small ways.” “To anyone on here who is struggling, which we all do […]
August 29, 2019 By 23andMe under 23andMe Research A new genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving more than 490,000 individuals, including 75,000 23andMe customers who consented to research, offers an intriguing glimpse into the complexity of sexual behavior. While the study found thousands of genetic variants with very, very small affects on same-sex sexual behavior, it did not find any “gay gene,” nor did the researchers expect to. The study, “Large-scale GWAS reveals insights into the genetic architecture of same-sex sexual behavior,” reveals some differences in the genetics of same-sex sexual behavior between men and women, for instance. It also shows that human sexuality is more nuanced than many believe. Rather, like personality and other complex human traits, a mix of genetic and environmental factors influences sexual behavior. The researchers — in the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Australia, — did not find any patterns among genetic variants that could be used to meaningfully predict or identify a person’s sexual orientation or behavior. “[M]any loci with individually small effects…additively contribute to individual differences in predisposition to same-sex sexual behavior,” they write, describing genetic patterns consistent with many personality, behavioral, and physical traits. 23andMe is just one of the many institutions involved in this international collaboration, which includes scientists of different disciplines and areas of expertise from some of the world’s top academic and research bodies. Because it’s a controversial topic, funding has historically been limited and recruitment of participants was difficult — many of the studies that […]
Psychology Today How to live by your highest ideals. Posted Aug 11, 2019 Steven C. Hayes Ph.D. Get Out of Your Mind Source: Pixabay/CC Being in touch with your values is essential to living a rich and meaningful life. By knowing what you care about most, you become inspired to live by your highest ideals, bringing out the best in yourself. In short, values help you find direction, meaning, and inspiration in life. Unfortunately, however, it’s more complicated than this. Because too often enough, we get sidetracked. Too often, the demands of the day pull our attention away from what really matters, to serve our immediate emotional needs. We then lose touch of our ideals, and revert back to old – often destructive – habits. If you wish to stop this from happening, break the cycle of bad habits, and bring forth the best of yourself, you have to reconnect with your values whenever you lose touch. And the easiest way to accomplish this, are value triggers. What Are Value Triggers? A value trigger is a physical reminder of your core values. By merely looking at it, you refocus back on what matters most, making you act more in line with your highest ideals. The trigger can be almost anything, as long as it makes you remember your values. Here are a few ideas: Card in Wallet. Write down a few core values on an index card, and put it in your […]
August 6, 2019 By 23andMe under 23andMe Research By Rafaela Bagur Quetglas, PhD You are what you eat, is the old adage, but what does your diet actually say about you? 23andMe has a unique opportunity to explore that question, as we investigate how dietary habits, along with genetics, demographics, lifestyle and other data can influence overall health outcomes. Looking at diet specifically, our scientists analyzed the data of more than 850,000 people who consented to participate in research and who shared details about their own eating habits. Using machine learning techniques* we were able to see that dietary choices clustered into four distinct types of eaters, which were mainly characterized by two dietary behaviors. The first one represents the spectrum of foods’ nutrient content from high nutrient-dense foods (i.e. low caloric foods with high nutrient content like vegetables, leafy greens, fruit, beans or whole-grains) to low nutrient-dense foods (i.e. high caloric foods with low nutrient content like. processed foods, sweets, sodas, pastries, saturated fats or fast food). The second main behavior differentiating diet groups is the meat intake, in particular, red and processed meat (e.g., sausages, hot dogs, ham, or cured bacon). Dietary Types Using these two behaviors as axes, we can plot the four main diet groups: On one end, we find people who eat high nutrient-dense (HND) foods like vegetables, leafy greens and fruits and tend to avoid high caloric foods with low nutrient content like refined carbs, processed foods, saturated […]
By David Konow 08/06/19 Bell revealed on Instagram that lately she’s been “feeling very off,” but she is utilizing resources and her support system to help her through it. Kristen Bell, star of Veronica Mars, is one of many celebrities who has been open about her mental health. She recently posted on her Instagram story, “Lately I’ve been feeling very off.” Bell added, “I’m checking in with my support systems and my resources and I hope you are too because we can handle whatever life throws at us if we ask for hope.” Several days earlier, Bell posted a picture of herself in a split image. In one image, she looked happy, in another image, she looked depressed. “Ever feel like this?” she wrote. “Me too. Often. It’s okay to not feel ok. We’ll get through it together.” On Instagram, Bell also suggested ways to battle back against tough mental health days, like going on Google and looking up “workouts near me, mental health resources near me, therapists near me, support groups near me.” In previous interviews, Bell has been very open about her mental health struggles. She learned about her family’s difficulties with mental health when she was 18. Her mother told her that there was “a serotonin imbalance in our family line, and it can often be passed from female to female.” Her grandmother had endured electroshock therapy, and Bell learned how to take care of her own mental health through her mother. When Bell decided to […]
Bring Change to Mind is excited to announce that we have partnered with Mental Health for US, a nonpartisan educational initiative focused on elevating mental health and addiction in policy conversations by empowering grassroots advocates and improving candidate and policymaker health literacy. The initiative is powered by a coalition of stakeholder groups from around the country dedicated to uniting the American people to make systemic, long-term change with civic engagement tools and resources. The movement launched at The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s 10th Annual Advocacy Forum by former U.S. Representative and co-chair of the Mental Health for US initiative Patrick J. Kennedy (D-R.I.). Former U.S. Senator Gordon H. Smith (R-OR), a long-time mental health advocate, will also serve as co-chair. “The suicide rate has skyrocketed over the past 20 years because mental health and substance use disorders often go undetected and undertreated,” said Sen. Smith. “Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in America. Now more than ever, we need our government leaders to stand up and champion systemic change. We have to make our voices heard.” Join us in building this movement of change! Learn More About Mental Health for Us
Repost from 2014 I started seeing my Psychopharmacologist in 1992 and he intimidated me. He’s not a chipper guy and it took years to see through his shell. I was in a very dark place and spiraling down. I didn’t think he understood how depressed I was. He only provides medication management, 15-minute appointments at most. We had a couple of frustrating meetings. I didn’t know how to reach him, I didn’t know doctor talk. He is one of the best in Texas and finding a Psychopharmacologist is difficult. I wasn’t walking away. During another frustrating meeting, he left the room to talk to a therapist he worked with. He did me the biggest favor and no doubt saved my life by asking me to talk with the therapist. I sat down with her and expressed my frustration in getting thru to him. They had worked together for 13 years, she could provide insight into his personality and how best to communicate with him. Once we were on the same page, he was able to give me the help I needed. Psychopharmacology: is the scientific study of the effects drugs have on mood, sensation, thinking, and behavior.The field of psychopharmacology studies a wide range of substances with various types of psychoactive properties, focusing primarily on the chemical interactions with the brain.Psychoactive drugs interact with particular target sites or receptors found in the nervous system to induce widespread changes in physiological or psychological […]
Most people don’t think of Mental Illness when discussing Chronic Pain. Mental Illness can be physically debilitating with many spending large amounts of time in bed. For someone like me who is challenged by both, daily life can be difficult. Today I’m in bed juggling my laptop on one knee trying to avoid the pain screaming on the left […]
Nick Reilly May 16, 2019 10:13 am BST Read more at https://www.nme.com/news/tv/maisie-williams-says-game-of-thrones-stardom-affected-her-mental-health-2488647#ZzzRIZF429jpTWLX.99 “You can just sit in a hole of sadness” Game of Thrones actress Maisie Williams has explained how finding fame on the hit show adversely affected her mental health. The actress, who has drawn widespread acclaim for her portrayal of Arya Stark, told Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast how it was tricky to navigate fame as a teenager. The star was just 13-years-old when she was cast in the role and said that she often became overwhelmed by negative comments on social media. “It gets to a point where you’re almost craving something negative, so you can just sit in a hole of sadness,” Williams said. While Williams now gives less attention to negative thoughts, she admits that she still considers how they affected her. Maisie Williams as Arya Stark ” I still lie in bed at, like, 11 o’clock at night telling myself all the things I hate about myself,” Williams said. “It’s just really terrifying that you’re ever going to slip back into it. That’s still something that I’m really working on, because I think that’s really hard. It’s really hard to feel sad and not feel completely defeated by it.” Describing her desire for a “normal life” after the show ends on Sunday, Williams admitted: “I don’t want any of this crazy, crazy world because it’s not worth it.” READ MORE: ‘Game of Thrones’ season 8 episode 5 review: Did Daenerys just jump […]
By Deborah DoroshowDeborah Doroshow is a physician and historian of medicine at Yale University and the author of “Emotionally Disturbed: A History of Caring For America’s Troubled Children.”May 20 In the two decades since the massacre at Columbine High School, digging into the psychology of mass shooters has sadly become an all-too-familiar habit — now something we seem to do almost weekly. After the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, media coverage pointed to the shooter’s odd behavior as a child and his near-mutism as a college student. After the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in 2012, newspapers described the shooter as “withdrawn and meek” and suggested that he might have had Asperger syndrome. The two people responsible for the shooting at STEM School Highlands Ranch in Colorado on May 7 are already the subjects of forensic investigation of their presumed troubled pasts. This practice is not just a phenomenon of the post-Columbine era of mass shootings. It has its roots in the early 20th century, and it represents an effort to shift blame and find an area of consensus after massacres that could otherwise force uncomfortable conversations. In the process, this practice fosters stigma against one of the most vulnerable groups of Americans: the mentally ill. In the late 19th century, reports of mass shootings were typically very brief. But by the turn of the century, coverage grew more detailed, often describing how the shooter had […]
Bring Change To Mind Washington Post Live Last week, our Co-Founder Glenn Close spent the day on Capitol Hill at the invitation of U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) to advocate for Stabenow’s Excellence in Mental Health and Addiction Treatment Expansion Act.This legislation would renew and expand funding for clinics that provide a comprehensive set of mental health and addiction treatment services. Glenn started the day with a Washington Post Live event on mental health and the addiction crisis and participated in a number of meetings with House and Senate leaders throughout the rest of the day.Photo: BC2M Co-Founder Glenn Close, U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO), and U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). Learn More
I am alive, happy, productive and helping other Survivors. I’m very blessed. My childhood and teenage years were so difficult I truly believed suicide was the only answer. My first attempt was at 9 years old, I took all the pills in my dad’s medicine cabinet. I got a buzz then my stomach pumped. Suicide was always on my mind since the abuse was every day. If it wasn’t physical abuse, it was constant mental abuse by my mother. At the same time, I saw my mother physically and emotionally abused by my alcoholic stepfather. At 13 years old I left my abusive life behind. It sounds great but you are so wounded you don’t want to look anyone in the eye, they may hit you or call you names. My mind stripped down and filled with trash, my mother took every drop of confidence I had. Over time my confidence grew and I started building who I am today. I did get called names and had a couple good fights. Sounds like any teenager trying to spread their wings. I have many unresolved emotions, responses, and fears. Who doesn’t? What I can say for sure, I’m a survivor and so much more. Survivors have to dig really deep after being kicked down. It took years for me to discover what I liked and longer to get over my fear of failure. My mother told me I was stupid all the time. I know better […]
by Imogen Calderwood April 16, 2019 The pair will be co-creators and executive producers of the series, according to an announcement on Wednesday from Kensington Palace via Harry and Meghan’s new Instagram account, SussexRoyal. The multi-part series is due to be broadcast next year on the recently announced US streaming service, Apple TV+, which will launch this autumn. It’s not yet known, however, how viewers in the UK will be able to watch. According to the statement, the show will “focus on both mental illness and mental wellness, inspiring viewers to have an honest conversation about the challenges each of us faces, and how to equip ourselves with the tools to not simply survive, but to thrive.” The palace said the series would build on the Duke of Sussex’s extensive work on mental health. Instagram Harry has previously spoken out about the “quite serious effect” the death of his mother, Princess Diana, had on his life, and said that he has “probably been very close to a complete breakdown on numerous occasions.” “I truly believe that good mental health — mental fitness — is the key to powerful leadership, productive communities, and a purpose-driven self,” said Harry, in a statement about the documentary. He also revealed that he feels the “huge responsibility to get this right as we bring you the facts, the science, and the awareness of a subject that is so relevant during these times.” “Our hope is that this series will be positive, enlightening, and inclusive — […]
in pain in pain frustrated distracted self-conscious feeling fat wanting to sleep wanting a different me feeling lazy wanting sunshine wanting a new day
I’m blown away Stacey Chapman at https://fightingwithfibro.com awarded me The Disability Award. You have to check out her site, here’s the original award post, https://fightingwithfibro.com/2019/04/27/the-disability-award/ Her sunny personality welcomes you with every post, she’s informative, topics are fresh, up to date and she reviews products we might be interested in. She is very knowledgeable. Following her is a must. As part of my nomination, I choose other Disability Bloggers to give this award to. They are as follows: Wendy at simplychronicallyill.wordpress.com Patricia at https://patriciajgrace.wordpress.com Colly at https://dopaminequeen.com Alyssia at https://fightingmsdaily.com Mackenzie at lifewithanillness.com Robert at https://robertmgoldstien.com Gavin at https://sedge.com Nominees: Please answer the questions, choose your own nominees and develop your own set of questions. Stacey’s questions are so good I’m going with her’s. Display the award badge. What was the first sign of your illness? My chest and right clavicle starting hurting and would not go away for months. What is your worst symptom and how do you cope with it? Whatever it takes, pain meds, a nap, meditation, looking at the flower garden, put feet in the pool, letting them float. What one thing about you has changed as a result of your struggles? I understand people with all types of disabilities better. What words of advice or encouragement would you give to someone else suffering? Accept it, embrace your illness as part of your daily life and work on what relieves your pain. Name one good thing that has come out of having […]
How often do you update your medication checklist with all of your doctors? I make a habit of taking an updated list to every appointment. It’s up to me to keep everyone informed. That doesn’t mean side effects or mishaps don’t happen. I fired my Lyme doctor because he prescribed medicine in a class I was already taking. In this case, drugs from that class don’t mix with another in that category. It made me Psychotic for a week, walking in circles in the house 24 hours a day, I thought I learned a new language and was with my tribe of Indians. It was a horrible experience. It was half of my responsibility, doctors dispense too many medications to know all the side effects. My habit is to go to FDA.gov and read the Prescribing Instructions from the manufacturer. I can read all the side effect data and know what to look out for. In this case, I had put the medication aside for a week because I was too sick to look up the information and too stubborn to ask my husband for help. I paid the price. We have to manage our medications along with the doctor, they only have 15 minutes at best and most of the time new prescriptions aren’t written till the end of an appointment. Read the information given by the pharmacy. The information will at least include the most common side effects […]
A tightening of my chest suddenly interrupts my breathing. I’m trying to inhale, but only a tiny passage of air streams into my body. My head is feeling light as I start to see blurry, shaky, vision. I’m losing control. Am I dying? What is going on? I think I’m dying. Someone. Anyone. Please…. help…. […] Battle of Attacks — Only Michy
BY CAITLIN O’KANE APRIL 5, 2019 / 12:00 PM / CBS NEWS A special education teacher from Fremont, California, made a “mental health checklist” for her students. Now, teachers around the world are doing the same. Erin Castillo posted a photo of her mental health poster on Instagram and it went viral. She made a version of it available to download for free, and teachers around the world are posting photos of the chart in their classrooms. The mental heath checklist asks kids if they are “great,” “okay,” “meh,” “struggling,” “having a hard time” or “in a really dark place.” Students are encouraged to write their names on the back of a post-it and stick it on the poster under the section describing how they’re feeling. If they put their post-it in the “struggling” section, they know they should try speaking with an adult about their feelings. If they say they are “having a hard time,” or “in a really dark place,” Castillo checks in with them. The teacher knows it’s important to take time and focus on mental health – especially for high school kids. “My heart hurts for them,” Castillo wrote on Instagram. “High school is rough sometimes, but I was happy that a few were given a safe space to vent and work through some feelings.” Castillo teaches high school English to special education students, as well as a peer counseling class to general education students, she told CBS News. Her […]
Variety ByDANIEL NISSEN Taraji P. Henson shed light on the history and stigma of mental health in the black community at Variety’s Power of Women NY presented by Lifetime. Henson received the honor on Friday for her work with the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation. “Our vision is to eradicate the stigma around mental health in the black community by breaking the silence and breaking a cycle of shame. We were taught to hold our problems close to the vest out of fear of being labeled and further demonized as weak, or inadequate,” said Henson. Breaking down in tears, she called the state of mental health for black people a “national crisis.” “My dad is one of the reasons I started this foundation, and my son, and my neighbor, and my friends, my community, our children is why I keep going,” she said. The actress named the foundation after her father, who experienced mental illness after returning from his tour of duty in Vietnam. She continued, “The history of mental illness for black people in America stretches all the way back 400 years, 15 million people, and an ocean that holds the stories.” Henson reflected on the roles in her career where she has depicted the experiences of black women during Jim Crow segregation. She referenced Katherine Johnson, a NASA mathematician who helped launch the first man in space, and Catana Starks, the first black woman to coach a college men’s golf team. Finally, […]
Sometimes the worst part of mental illness are the dreams left behind. The shattered and tattered remnants of a life once filled with promise and opportunity. There is no greater healing than acknowledging the pain, feeling it and then moving forward with what can be. Things can really be difficult. It’s hard to always stay […] via Overcoming the pain from disappointment — Shedding Light on Mental Health
April 2019 E-Newsletter Explore Your Definition Of Hope And Experience What It Can Inspire You To Do! Bring Change to Mind’s High School Program is proud to introduce its first collective call to action week for all participating clubs nationwide. Starting April 8th, we are dedicating this five-day campaign to the hashtag “Hope Is An Action.” We invite our entire community to join us in sharing this inspirational week with your family, friends, and social networks. Throughout this week, we aim to encourage communities to explore what hope means to them by exploring their own definition of hope, what it can look like, and experiencing what it can inspire you to do. These hopeful discoveries can be used to incite positive change while nurturing empathetic and compassionate conversations about mental health. For each day’s theme, BC2M has suggested a few different ways you can engage in this campaign. Most activities incorporate social media presence to spread the message throughout your community and throughout the greater BC2M community. We are thrilled to have our 180 clubs and more than 5.000 club members participate in our first BC2M-wide campaign activation and we can’t wait for you to be a part of this collective! Hope is something that everyone needs and it is particularly important to those living with mental illness. We ‘hope” that you will be inspired to join this growing movement of mental health advocacy and share the importance of compassion with […]
When dealing with severe pain it’s easy to forget you have a mental illness that requires as much attention, if not more. It’s critical to have the right doctors, I see a Pain Management Doctor for my Chronic Illnesses, a Psychiatrist for my Mental Health and a General Practitioner for everything else. The doctors are not trained to do […]
I had to accept the loss of everyday control once diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. I go to bed with plans for the next day, when the morning rolls around, I can’t get out of bed. In the past, I would beat myself up, feel shame and anger. A shower takes an hour, it’s painful and exhausting. Instead, I use hospital approved cleansing wipes […]
Guest Amy Gamble from http://www.sheddinglightonmentalhealth.com I was talking with a friend at the National Council on Behavioral Health’s annual conference in Nashville. We had just watched a movie about Andy Irons a world-class surfer who had bipolar disorder and died at 37. It was an emotional documentary. I felt sad. But the emotion that got my attention was anger. […] via An Olympic training approach to managing bipolar disorder — Shedding Light on Mental Health
I’ve written 76 WordPress post on Chronic Lyme, rarely acknowledging the other Chronic Illnesses I have. When I started treatment for Lyme someone said to me, just wait you’ll get all types of other illnesses. I thought I was dying, having IV Therapy treatment seven days a week, Sunday bandage change, and do it all over again. I flew to D.C. […]
Teen Vouge By De Elizabeth March 10, 2019 Getty Images “Been struggling a lot. Just feeling super disconnected and weird.” Justin Bieber got real about mental health again — and asked his fans for their continued support. In an Instagram post on March 10, the singer-songwriter expressed that he wanted to update his fans on what he’s been going through, in hopes that it will “resonate” with his followers. “Been struggling a lot. Just feeling super disconnected and weird,” he wrote, adding that he always “bounces back” so he isn’t worried. Still, he said that having his fans’ support and positivity is helpful, adding that he’s been “facing my stuff head-on.” From the comments, it’s clear Justin’s fans have his back every step of the way. One fan, who shared that they experience depression, wrote: “Love you always and I hope you can find a way to feel better and more like yourself again.” Another Belieber told the singer, “We all believe in you!” View this post on Instagram Just wanted to keep you guys updated a little bit hopefully what I’m going through will resonate with you guys. Been struggling a lot. Just feeling super disconnected and weird.. I always bounce back so I’m not worried just wanted to reach out and ask for your guys to pray for me. God is faithful and ur prayers really work thanks .. the most human season I’ve ever been in facing my […]
Ideas.Ted.Com Mar 4, 2019 / Daryl Chen Jenice Kim Here are three common-sense tips to help you feed your hunger and not your emotions, from dietician Eve Lahijani. This post is part of TED’s “How to Be a Better Human” series, each of which contains a piece of helpful advice from someone in the TED community. To see all the posts, go here. Imagine if eating were as simple as, say, refueling a car. You’d fill up only when an indicator nudged towards E, you couldn’t possibly overdo it or else your tank would overflow, and you’d never, ever dream of using it as a treat. Instead, for many of us, eating is anything but straightforward. What starts out as a biological necessity quickly gets entangled with different emotions, ideas, memories and rituals. Food takes on all kinds of meanings — as solace, punishment, appeasement, celebration, obligation – and depending on the day and our mood, we may end up overeating, undereating or eating unwisely. It’s time for us to rethink our relationship with food, says Eve Lahijani, a Los Angeles-based dietician and a nutrition health educator at UCLA. She offers three common-sense steps to help get there. 1. Reconnect with your hunger. So many things drive us to eat — it’s noon and that means lunchtime, it’s midnight and that means snack time, we’re happy, we’re anxious, we’d rather not bring home leftovers, we’re too polite to say […]
February 25, 2019 By 23andMe under 23andMe Research We’ve always known that getting enough sleep is important and can have a significant impact on one’s health, but scientists have just begun to unravel the genetics behind why some people are more prone to sleep problems. Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder. About 30 percent of adults report short term problems, while about 10 percent report chronic insomnia. It’s also the second most common mental disorder. Recently, 23andMe collaborated with researchers from VU University Amsterdamand Netherlands Institute for Neuroscienceon one of the largest genome-wide analysis studies to identify genes associated with insomnia. Published in the journal Nature Genetics, the study used data from more than 1.3 million consenting research volunteers from the 23andMe database and the UK Biobank. “Our study shows that insomnia, like so many other neuropsychiatric disorders, is influenced by 100’s of genes, each of small effect,” said Guus Smit, a VU-University neurobiologist involved in the study. “These genes by themselves are not that interesting to look at. What counts is their combined effect on the risk of insomnia. We investigated that with a new method, which enabled us to identify specific types of brain cells, like the so-called medium spiny neurons.” Study Size The sheer size of this research cohort enabled us to ask questions about genetics of insomnia and its relationships with other conditions and sleep-related problems individuals may face. With this large dataset, researchers […]
TIME By JAMIE DUCHARME February 13, 2019 A new recommendation from a group of independent experts convened by the government could help more new and expecting mothers avoid depression, one of the most common complications of pregnancy and childbirth. The recommendation is the first from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) on preventing perinatal depression, which strikes during pregnancy or after childbirth and affects almost 15% of new mothers. The guideline states that clinicians, namely primary care providers, should provide counseling services, or references to them, to all pregnant and postpartum women at increased risk of perinatal depression. The guidance could help prevent mental health issues in this vulnerable population, and prompt more insurance providers to cover counseling services for pregnant and postpartum women. After reviewing the relevant research, the USPSTF specifically recommended that at-risk women try cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which focuses on changing a person’s thoughts to change how they feel, or interpersonal therapy, which focuses on building relationship skills. Those at heightened risk of depression include single, young and lower-income mothers, people with a history of depression and women showing depressive symptoms including low energy and mood. The proactive focus of the recommendations is important, says Jeff Temple, a psychologist in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Texas Medical Branch, who was not involved with the task force. Past USPSTF recommendations have focused on screening for existing depression among all adults, including […]
February 4, 2019 By 23andMe under 23andMe Research In the largest genetic study of its kind, scientists have identified more than 200 genes associated with depression that could give new insights to researchers looking for treatments to what is the leading cause of disability in the world. Combining anonymous data from more than two million people who […]
February 4, 2019 By 23andMe under 23andMe Research Some of the same genes that influence a person’s propensity toward impulsiveness also affect whether or not he or she will use drugs, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. Published today in the Journal of Neuroscience, the […]
By 23andMe on Fri, 01 Feb 2019 17:49:06 Africans and African Americans are among the most underrepresented populations in genetic health research, yet they face some of the most daunting health outcomes. It’s a bitter irony of the current state of research that among those most in need are the least served by our ever-expanding genetic knowledge. Africans, African Americans, as well as Latinos, still make up less than four percent of individuals included in genome-wide association studies, according to a recent study. Genetic Diversity This despite the fact that Africans and people of African ancestry are more genetically diverse than all other populations in the world combined. This is because humans originated in Africa and have lived there continuously for more than 200,000 years, adapting to the varied climates and regions. The rest of the world was populated by small groups of people who first migrated out of Africa some 60,000 to 130,000 years ago. In genetics this is called the Founder Effect. Including people of African ancestry in genetic study will likely uncover unique genetic variation that help scientists better understand conditions that affect people of African ancestry, who thus far have not benefited from many of the breakthroughs in genetic science. Yielding Results 23andMe’s efforts to improve diversity in its research has yielded results. The most promising is that we now have one of the largest groups, if not the largest, group of African Americans who […]
Todos golpeamos las carreteras en la vida, algunas semanas duraderas, otros años. Para sobrevivir a la paliza que tiene que permanecer centrado en los pasos hacia adelante, incluso los pasos nano están avanzando. Tuve la suerte, el abuso, el trauma y el odio propio comenzaron cuando era muy joven. Crecí oyendo lo estúpido que me convencí de que era verdad. […]
New England Journal of Medicine January 24, 2019 Dinah Miller, M.D. We talk about the toll suicide takes on families and the tragedy for the people who’ve died. What we don’t openly talk about is suicide’s toll on the doctors who have treated these patients. But when a patient dies by suicide, it leaves us profoundly changed. The news came by text as we drove home from brunch. My patient had died that morning by suicide. I read the text and wailed. My husband was driving, and our adult children happened to be away, traveling together on an exotic journey. I struggled to gather words, and my husband held control of the car through those excruciating moments when he thought something horrible had happened to our kids. I calmed down enough to tell him that the tragedy involved a patient. He was relieved. I was not. U.S. suicide rates increased by 25.4% between 1999 and 2016.1 It’s been estimated that at least half of psychiatrists will lose at least one patient to suicide during their career.2 There are no estimates on how many primary care physicians will have the same experience, though they often treat psychiatric disorders. Among people who complete suicide in the United States, 46% have been diagnosed with a mental health condition, and many more people have undiagnosed mental illness. We talk about the toll suicide takes on families. They experience grief, guilt, regret, anguish, anger, and stigma, […]
By 23andMe on Tue, 22 Jan 2019 17:03:37 23andMe received FDA clearance to report on the two most common genetic variants influencing what is called MUTYH-associated polyposis (MAP), a hereditary colorectal cancer syndrome.This new clearance is part of… The post 23andMe Receives FDA Clearance for Genetic Health Risk report that looks at a Hereditary Colorectal Cancer Syndrome appeared first on 23andMe Blog.
My father committed suicide in 1992, put a shot-gun in his mouth. I was 28 years old, we were estranged since I was a teen. A trigger hit me like a hurricane this week. I’m having memories, not the worst. You put the the pressure on my shoulders to arrange everything, who to call. I had to face the chore of the house, a man living out of touch for many years. Worst was going to morgue, hand me original note and his bloody shotgun. Could you not see your friends were different? They were thieves but not in the same universe. They all took advantage of you, move in move out and steal what they want. One roommate committed suicide with your gun in your house. Down on their luck, will make payments on car, he was lucky to get three payments. He would have to track down and repo the car. They would come back begging and he would do it again. His friends were people at the bar he parked cars at. All the ladies got special attention, my father walked the lot to make sure the cars were secure. They all flirted with him, fake flirting, trashy bar, easy women going to bar in the hood looking for love. One night feeling the black dog, I went to the bar where my father parked cars. We played a game of pool, sitting at the bar he […]
The Fluidity of Friends By: Sean Krainert Living with bipolar disorder I have a lot of experience in accepting things as they are. I also have a lot of experience in knowing that the more I focus on the things I can change, and accept that I am powerless over other people, places and things, the more good I do […]
How to Support Bring Change to Mind through Amazon Smile With a few simple clicks, you can give back to BC2M as you shop on Amazon. Shop and checkout as you would on Amazon. No extra cost is passed on to you, but Amazon will automatically donate 0.5% of your purchases to BC2M! Follow the simple steps […]
December 31, 20189:49 AM ET BECKY HARLAN In a particularly difficult season of depression, photography was one of the tools Tara Wray used to cope. “Just forcing myself to get out of my head and using the camera to do that is, in a way, a therapeutic tool,” says Wray, a photographer and filmmaker based in central Vermont. “It’s like exercise: You don’t want to do it, you have to make yourself do it, and you feel better after you do.” In July, she published Too Tired for Sunshine, a book of her photos from that period, taken between 2011 and 2018. Some of the images show a stark beauty, others a raw loneliness, and some capture hints that the world may be slightly off-kilter. Photographically, Wray says she’s drawn to light, the honesty of dogs and “things that are humorous and maybe aren’t trying to be.” Making these images helped keep her buoyant. Having a camera functions as “a sort of protection, a buffer that gives me a reason to be somewhere,” she says. “It helps me move through an environment with a purpose when I might otherwise feel out of place.” And, like exercise, photography provides a kind of release. “When I’ve made what I think is a good picture, I can feel it, and everything else momentarily falls away.” Through creative expression, Wray says she’s able to focus her “ruminating or obsessing” into “something bigger.” “There were moments that I felt […]
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Psychology Today Shainna Ali Ph.D., LMHC A Modern Mentality If you’re a human who uses social media, you’ve likely seen flocks of folks commenting on Netflix’s recently released psychological thriller, Bird Box. Based on the post-apocalyptic novel by Josh Malerman, the adaptation has spiked in recent popularity as Netflix claims it has been watched by over 45 million viewers in just one week. Bird […]
Sky Sports Friday 16 November 2018 07:48, UK Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love says some types of masculinity portrayed in the NBA are “outdated” and “dangerous” and stop men from getting help for depression and anxiety. The five-time All Star has personal experience after he suffered a panic attack during a game last November and realised he needed help and started seeing a […]
By David Konow 10/30/18 “I was so down on myself. I didn’t have any self-love and, quite honestly, I just didn’t want to be alive.” Michael Phelps has won 28 Olympic medals, but despite his incredible history as a swimmer he’s also had serious bouts with depression, anxiety and alcoholism. Since getting help, Phelps has been very open with the public about what he went through, but he recently admitted on Today that he’s “struggling weekly” with his mental health. “From time to time, I’ll have bad days where I do go into a depression state,” Phelps said. “Being an athlete, you’re supposed to be strong and be able to push through anything. My struggles carried on through my career and I hid them well. There are so many people who struggle from very similar things that I go through and still go through… At times, it was a little scary and challenging to go through, but I found a way to get through it and I’m addressing these issues that I have.” Phelps has certainly come a long way since he hit his personal bottom in October 2014. Phelps said he was so engulfed in despair, he couldn’t leave the house for five days and felt suicidal. He admitted that he had “at least half a dozen depression spells” before this one. He recalled, “I was so down on myself. I didn’t have any self-love and quite honestly, I just didn’t want to be alive. It […]
Originally posted on Coolncreative:
This week (15-21st October) is Invisible Disabilities Awareness Week, a week dedicated to raising awareness to all chronic conditions which you cannot see. In fact 96% of people who live with a chronic illness live with an illness which you cannot see. So with this in mind you may not know that someone you know is…
I stand watching the darkness settle in. The black dog comes to torture me. Emotions, negative feelings left behind are brought out like dolls in a toy box. I fight, fight hard not to fall in the abyss. Mask are taken out of their resting place, the mask are for me, which one will I need today. Lies and hurtful […]
Twenty six years have passed. When you looked in the mirror what did you see? A happy man with a fulfilling life? A man who could not see the illness? A man who refused to fight the illness? Your demons staring at you? Looking in the mirror with no reflection at all? I looked at the mirror stained with your blood. M
Amanda Southworth came up with AnxietyHelper to help teens with mental health issues. Here’s how it works and how to know if a mental health app is helpful. Amanda Southworth shows her anxiety app to Apple CEO Tim Cook. Can smartphone apps help people cope with anxiety and depression? A 16-year-old software developer in California thinks they can. Amanda Southworth […]
Journal 12/23/2001 Just to go home and spend time with my pets will make a big difference in mood. I look forward to seeing Christmas Cards and learning how friends are doing. The stack of mail will cover the dining table. Plenty of new magazines to read going into new year. After ECT on Friday I’m determined to go home, […]
Netflix original series “Afflicted” season one has started and you can look at latest trailer at http://www.netflix.com/title/80188953 The Netflix promo grabbed me by the neck and said watch me. “Afflicted” is a show with the people who have baffling long-term chronic illnesses telling their story. Talking with medical professionals, most are clueless what is causing the illnesses. M
Melanie Lockert remembers checking the traffic for her blog, Dear Debt, and feeling shocked at the results. Someone had found her site by searching, “I want to kill myself because of debt.” Lockert started Dear Debt in January 2013 after spending the previous year feeling depressed about her student loans. She posted monthly updates about her efforts to pay off […]
Journal Entries I can only have visitors from 7-8 pm and no way Gramps can drive that late. My brother and fiancé brought my grandparents one night. I was thrilled until the goodies they brought were taken away. Fuming, I almost checked out. I have to share a room, the worst is we don’t have a bathroom in here. I […]
Documenting your every move on social media can take its toll Monday 16 April 2018 15:27 The rise of social media has meant that we as a global population are more connected than we have ever been in the history of time. However, our reliance on social media can have a detrimental effect on our mental health, with the average […]
WordPress sent a nice badge informing me Looking for the Light Blog was celebrating its ninth anniversary. I can’t find the badge and will improvise. Looking for the Light became an outlet to share past trauma. The shame, guilt, self-hatred, my father’s suicide, each beating and bruise remembered. During this time I met many people going thru trauma and pain. […]
My Journal What a day! Checked in at 1:00 processed at 3:00. Next step is the questions, why so many questions. Telling your traumatic experiences to a stone faced woman waiting for her shift to end. Now a strip search and off to search my bag. No CD player or wire bound journal someone may hurt themselves. Losing it, […]
I am a Survivor After years of therapy and my grandparents love, I was pulled from the abyss. I have a clear heart, no anger or self loathing. Not forgiving….forgetting, allowing me to move forward. Over the years, people brought sunshine into my life. I can’t thank them enough. You were like Angels dropping in when I needed a push or […]
By Bethany Bray May 31, 2018 Recent research has revealed an alarming development: The number of youth admitted to the hospital for a suicide attempt or suicidal ideation nearly doubled between 2008 and 2015. The findings, published in the May 2018 issue of the journal Pediatrics, analyzed seven years of billing data for emergency room and inpatient visits at children’s […]
MEN”S HEALTH Chris Marvin had a secret morning ritual that he practiced in college. Sunlight creeping through drawn shades, he’d roll out of bed around 7 a.m. with a pounding head. After making sure his door was locked, he’d rummage through drawers and the depths of his mini fridge. Then, on a white marble desk that would have been pristine […]
Published: May 17, 2018 5:58 p.m. ET Feel like your workplace is especially depressing? Scientists found out why. A stressful job can lead to serious mental health consequences. Some 14% of common mental illnesses could be prevented by reducing job strain, a study published Tuesday in the journal Lancet Psychiatry found. The study, conducted by Australian mental health nonprofit the […]
This is a must see video. Jeremy Forbes shares great information to help you have a real conversation with a friend or love one. I did not see the twist coming, he’s a Survivor. M
This is the most unusual and heartfelt Ted Talk video I’ve seen. Please take the time to watch the entire video, he surprises all in the end. M
This video was extremely educational for me. I hope you find value in her words. M
Great speaker, educational and enlightening. M
It’s been almost a year since I started working on Twitter with charities and organizations that are close to my heart. I feel great to have almost 5,000 followers but this means nothing if you are not reading the great resources. Subjects like Mental Health, Child Abuse, Sexual Assault, Suicide and more. I only reblog tweets that have value to […]
I’m thrilled Bring Change to Mind is elevating their presence in the Mental Health field. The videos are short and easy conversations, teens will pick up on the message. Please pass on to anyone who struggles with depression and hope the lines of communication open up. M
SEXUAL ASSAULT Effects of Trauma on Mental Health “Every survivor’s healing journey is unique and it’s crucial that we’re aware of the effects trauma can have on mental health,” said Keeli Sorensen, vice president of victim services at RAINN. “It’s time to start speaking openly about mental health concerns, and dismantle the environment of shame, fear, and silence that too often prevents […]
Burden Exhausted Not moving Not contributing Giving nothing to society To sick to care Exhausted Can’t move In bed Frozen Hopeful
Reblogged from our friend Amy Gamble at http://www.amygamble.wordpress.com I had an opportunity to teach a group of school teachers about mental illness. After last weeks Florida school shooting I was prepared for questions about mental illness and violence. It’s beyond sad this is an ever occurring topic. But what happens to those of us who live with a mental illness […]
