There’s lots of information out there about crisis resources for people thinking about suicide, but resources accomplish very little if we don’t reach out to access them. There are many potential barriers to help-seeking, and I wanted to talk about a few of them here, based on my own experience with major depressive disorder and […]
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The language people use when it comes to mental health matters. A lot of words are tossed around to describe who we are and what we experience, and in this post, I’ll consider some of the issues around labelling and mental illness and whether certain words are helpful or harmful. Role identities We all have
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In 2013 the International Society for Bipolar Disorders and the Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments combed through the scientific literature and put together these guidelines for the pharmacological treatment of bipolar disorder. Treatments are classified as 1st, 2nd, or 3rd line based on the strength of existing evidence to support their effectiveness. The
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This post is a conglomeration of various quote posts I’ve done over the years. The first few gems in the post full o’ quotes are mental health-related tidbits from Eeyore, Winnie the Pooh’s eternally pessimistic friend. When I was young, I had Winnie the Pooh wallpaper, and Eeyore was my favourite. A sign of things
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If I Could Tell You How It Feels: My Life Journey With PTSD captures Alexis Rose’s journey toward healing from PTSD. The book consists of narratives interspersed with poetry, along with beautiful art by Janet Rosauer. The chapters are short, which I always appreciate since it makes it easier for readers with concentration problems, and they
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Job interviews are unpleasant at the best of times, and to me have always felt very fake. But throw mental illness into the mix, and they can be a huge obstacle. There are a number of aspects of job interviews that particularly worry me. Answering unexpected questions My cognitive symptoms of depression aren’t as bad
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In Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions, Johann Hari takes a stand against the idea of biological causation of depression and anxiety. I expected going in that I would disagree with what Hari had to say, but it surpassed my expectations. To start off, let me tell you
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Here are some of my favourite TED Talks that relate to mental wellbeing. The Gift and Power of Emotional Courage (Susan David) I recently reviewed Susan David’s book Emotional Agility, and this talk covered similar subject matter. She points out how problematic it is to avoid emotions that are considered negative or illegitimate. She says
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In A Series of Unfortunate Stereotypes: Naming and Shaming Mental Health Stigmas, author Lucy Nichol invites us to join her in breaking down stereotypes until we’re ready to say “Stigma? What a load of old shit!” I loved the no-BS tone, with expletives liberally strewn throughout (any time an f-bomb is dropped by page 7,
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This week’s TED Talk picks are focused on trauma and come from a diverse range of experiences. How Childhood Trauma Affects Health Across a Lifetime (Nadine Burke Harris) In this talk, Nadine Burke Harris passionately addresses the findings of the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study. This study found a significant correlation between number of ACEs
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