According to NAMI, 60 millions adults (1 in 4) in the US suffer from mental illness, such as depression and panic disorders. Out of these folks, 14 million people (4 in 100) have a serious mental illness, ranging form bi-polar disorder, schizophrenia, and and severe depression. An estimated 15 million children (1 in 5) suffer from [...]
We've seen a rise in gun violence and school shootings in our country in the last decade. It seems that every week there is a new incident of violence that we (as a society) feel hopeless to prevent. There has been a lot of emphasis on more stringent gun control laws, which I agree with, [...]
Everyone has a story. Each day is a new page. Each moment in your life is a new sentence. Sometimes it's not clear what's going to happen next in your story. The future might be unclear. But it will be written. Different characters will enter your story. They will change your life in some small [...]
On January 20 of 2010 my husband had me committed to the psychiatric ward in London, Ontario. He persuaded our daughter to call me and to ask me to meet her at a restaurant so that we could talk. When I arrived a police officer took me under a warrant. I was taken to the [...]
I suffer from depression. I've struggled with my mental health since my teens, though at that time I didn't really know that’s what it was for the longest time. It has taken many subtle forms which I didn't realize were part and parcel of it, or really abnormal in any way. A lack of focus, [...]
It wasn’t until after I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder at the age of eighteen that I could see the signs of mental illness throughout my childhood and young-adulthood. The “hyper attacks” and moments I called “mad scientist” were early manic episodes. The times when I was too angry or sad to [...]
STIGMA AND ITS HARSH CONSEQUENCES “There is a perception that there is no stigma. But know, that it is alive and thriving” Mental illness can strike anyone at anytime! It knows no age limits, economic status, race, creed or color. Yet despite widespread efforts to reduce the stigma attached to mental illness, Americans still perceive [...]
