MH@H Blog Posts Index - Mental Health @ Home

This index provides an overview of the posts that appear as part of major recurring theme on the Mental Health @ Home blog. The weekly MH@H blog schedule includes:

Guest blogs may show up Mondays & Wednesdays from the Emerging blogger series and Tuesdays & Thursdays from the Wounded Healers interview series.
Wednesdays are book reviews
Fridays are the What is… series, which looks deeper into the meaning of a variety of psychology-related terms
Saturdays are weekend wrap-ups, a look at what’s going on in my world that week
Sundays are for blogging about blogging – there’s a directory of these posts on the Blogging & Writing Tips page.

Topics covered in this index include:

Identity

Psychiatric medications

My book Psych Meds Made Simple has plenty of info about psych meds all in one place. The book and these posts draw on my training and experience as a mental health nurse and former pharmacist.

Psych Meds 101 Series

This series is a great place to go for the basics on common types of psychiatric medications:

Med info posts

Do antidepressants work? What a new meta-analysis says – some people insist antidepressants just don’t work, but overall, this study shows they do
Do We Know How Psych Meds Work? – some people say psych meds aren’t valid because we don’t know how they work – except that’s not really true
Evidence-based treatment of anxiety – treatment guidelines for anxiety
Evidence-based treatment of bipolar disorder: the CANMAT/ISBD guidelines
I dream of ketamine – ketamine for treatment-resistant isn’t universally available
Medication Use in Pregnancy
Naltrexone – An Opioid Blocker That Gets Around – this medication has a variety of uses, including for dissociation
The role of medications in borderline personality disorder – they can help, but only so much
Treatment resistant depression: When what’s supposed to work doesn’t
What the STAR*D study means for depression treatment – STAR*D was a large study that looked at antidepressant use in real-world conditions
Where did our meds go? – dealing with medication shortages

Side effects

Antidepressants and Suicide Risk – a look at what the research evidence actually shows
Dead if you do, dead if you don’t? Weighing the risks & benefits of medications – medications can cause some serious side effects, but the effects of untreated mental illness are also significant
Do I look fat in this Seroquel? – psych meds and weight gain
Do you tend to blame your illness or your meds? – when you’re experiencing something negative, do you tend to think of it as a symptom of your illness or a side effect of your medication?
Meds that can make you crazy (literally) – medications that can have psychiatric side effects

Experiences taking meds

My experiences of going off meds – I’ve stopped taking meds a couple of times in the past; this is what it was like for me
My Version of Being Pro-Medication – the MH@H stance on medication
Our complicated relationships with medications – psych meds aren’t simply something we take
Pill popper RN – the psych meds that this nurse takes

Suicide

Suicide is a huge issue for people dealing with mental illness. It’s important that we talk about it, and that conversation needs to address a range of different experiences with suicide as well as the need for more effective mental illness treatment to mitigate risk.

The MH@H Store has a free Safety Plan resource to guide you through planning ahead of time to cope when thoughts of suicide are getting bad.

Cognitive deconstruction and the lead up to suicide
How picky should we be about suicide-related language? – is “committed suicide” something worth making an issue out of?
How Should Social Media Handle Reported Suicidal Posts? – what happens who you report a suicidal tweet to Twitter?
No regrets? Surviving attempted suicide – not everyone regrets it afterwards
Privacy and completed suicide – a look at whether it’s ok to share the writings of someone who died by suicide
Stigma and How the Public Views On Suicide
TED Talks on depression and suicide
The way the media talks about suicide matters – media guidelines for suicide reporting
What goes too far on social media? – is it useful to widely broadcast suicidal messages?
What if a stranger tells you they’re suicidal? – handling suicidal messages received from people you don’t know
Working On Us mental health prompts on suicide and passive suicidal ideation
World Suicide Prevention Day – Suicide is not selfish

Suicide prevention

Barriers to help-seeking for suicidal ideation – when help is available, what stops people from reaching out?
Crisis resources for suicide prevention – has a listing of suicide crisis lines and crisis text/chat services
Guilt Is Not a Suicide Prevention Strategy – trying to make someone feel guilty for how others would feel if they died is not effective
How do we prevent suicide?
Some thoughts on suicide – effective prevention requires more effective treatment options for the mental illnesses that can lead to suicide
Will suicide ever be 100% preventable?

Therapy

Besides the posts listed here, I’ve also done book reviews that cover acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT), and other therapeutic approaches. A therapy mini-ebook collection is also available from the MH@H Store.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

Exploring values
Get Out of Your Mind & Into Your Life – a review of this book that gives a great grounding in ACT
Setting sail with the ACT life compass
Suppression of unwanted thoughts
Thoughts as leaves on a stream

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

CBT for insomnia
What is… CBT for pain
Cognitive distortions
Cognitive distortions: Getting personal
Drilling down to core beliefs
Pass the magical thinking hat
Shoulding Ourselves to Death
The Should Monster
What is… Exposure and response prevention (ERP)
What is… Safety behaviour
What, You Don’t Do Mind-Reading?!?

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)

Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic

What is… a Defense mechanism
What is… Freudian psychoanalytic theory
What is… Psychodynamic psychotherapy
What is… Transference & countertransference

Other

Links to free Mental health worksheets and mental health workbooks
My therapy journal (a guest post on PanoramicCounseling.com)
Psychotherapy alphabet soup – an overview of different types of therapy
What is… Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT)
What is… Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), aka tapping
What is… Hypnotherapy
What is… Motivational interviewing

Toxic Positivity

Trauma

The Mental Health @ Home Store has a mini e-book PTSD Treatment Options: An Overview.

Creating a trauma account (based on cognitive processing therapy)
EMDR therapy (guest post)
How trauma-informed practice can improve mental health care
TED Talks on trauma
The neurobiology of traumatic fight/flight/freeze
What is… Stockholm syndrome (trauma bonding)
What we can learn about trauma from the ACEs study: the Adverse Childhood Events study was pioneering research about the effect of childhood trauma on health in adulthood
Why is complex PTSD not in the DSM-5?

Work, workplace bullying, and mental health

I’ve faced negative attitudes at work related to my mental illness, and I’ve also experienced workplace bullying. It’s important to talk about these things since they can be so isolating.

Adapting ambition to circumstances – changing career goals as a result of mental illness
Disclosing mental illness at work: The good, the bad, and the ugly
Flush… is that my career going down the toilet? – getting closer to being unable to work due to mental illness
Learning to name workplace bullying
Making sense of workplace bullying
Managing working (or not) with disability
Mental illness and the dreaded job interview – mental illness can create some significant challenges when approaching a job interview
The Effects of Bullying on Mental Health
The other #metoo: Experiencing workplace bullying
What is… Burnout