When Depression Strikes
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, one-quarter of all adults in the United States are diagnosed with one or more mental disorders. That’s 75 million people.
The Many Faces of Mental Health
With the economic crisis still causing fear, with the threat of terrorism crossing our borders, with the increasing costs of medical care decreasing our treatment resources, we are being herded like sheep into a world of untreated mental illness. Only through education and activism are we able to find our way out of this morass.
Having been a consumer member
New Thoughts for a New Time in Health Care
We must set aside our fears of new thoughts and new ways of doing things and heroically stand with those who are building a changing era. We’ve had the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, the Industrial Age, and the Techology Age; now, it’s time for the Healing Age.
Would They Even Know?
No man would want to be referred to as selfish or as a parasite. No man. Yet, those men who fit that bill wouldn’t recognize themselves in those adjectives and nouns if someone applied them in their direction, anyway.
The Humanity of Public Figures
Is it possible for us to step back, even for a moment, and call to ourselves for restraint and compassion? I certainly hope so, if not for ourselves and the energetic quality of our spirit, but for our children. They are learning how to be from whom they see us choosing to be.
Death Photos
No matter how public a figure, the family should not have to have photos like that plastered all over places like supermarkets and liquor stores for public consumption and I, for one, condemn those who opted to publish those photos, especially on the front cover.
Privacy and the Public Persona
As agrieved as many people are for the loss of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, and Billy Mays, one can understand how the outpouring of sadness and sympathy can turn into a national near-obsession. That being said, one must also find the brake pedal for the intrusion into a celebrity’s private life, especially for the sake of the family.
The Shortest Distance Between Two Points
The beauty of those nostalgic moments is that they’ve been filtered so cleanly of everything that hurt. Now, everything I remember is sweet and loving and in those snippets, I see things with my current level of experience.
My Last Father’s Day with Dad
Not every Father’s Day turns out the way we expect. It is especially hard when there is mental illness involved. This story is meant to speak to the challenges of having a loving father who suffered with mental illness at the end of his life and honor the history of a great man who loved education and awareness.
Depression in “The Busy”
Like many people who have been diagnosed with mild bipolar disorder, I truly do enjoy those manic phases in which I’m so very busy doing so very many things. My challenge has always been the depressive phase. The drops in energy and desire to accomplish anything, the lack of motivation to the point where important things go by the wayside, have been the hardest part of this journey.
