As a caretaker and advocate for my mom, it’s been daunting navigating both the cultural barriers in my Latino community and trying to access mental health services. Thus far, these challenges have proven too difficult to surmount in getting my mother adequate treatment for schizoaffective disorder. Years before my mother got an official diagnosis, we viewed her “locura” […]
Relationships and mental illness — can it work out? People who struggle with mental health issues might find themselves wondering if they can handle a relationship as well. I know I did. After all, it’s hard to think about being with another person when some days just managing life feels hard. I didn’t date that […]
Mental health conditions do not discriminate based on race, color, gender or identity. Anyone can experience the challenges of mental illness regardless of their background. However, culture, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation can make access to mental health treatment much more difficult. America’s entire mental health system needs improvement, including when it comes to serving marginalized communities. […]
You may see the signs popping up around your neighborhood this July 4—red, white and blue notices that indicate the home of a vet with the request to “Please be courteous with fireworks.” The signs are the work of a Facebook-launched nonprofit, Military With PTSD, begun by Shawn Gourley, whose husband, Justin, served in the […]
Opioids and other substances that alter how we feel, think and act have overtaken our culture, and have been declared a public health epidemic. We are losing our loved ones, friends, co-workers and neighbors to these substances. But we have yet to implement the solutions that will beat back this epidemic, as we have so […]
Each year, there are about 5 million visits to emergency departments due to mental illness. Five million people whose symptoms escalate to the point of crisis. Five million people who don’t understand what’s going on or what to do and rush to the ER. However, this number doesn’t include the people who experience mental health crises without going to […]
Mike believed he had a good life and felt lucky for all the things he had. He was married to a loving wife, had a good job, owned a nice house and had three healthy kids. Despite all his good fortune, Mike could not shake the nagging feeling that he wasn’t enough: “I should be […]
Many people have a difficult time understanding why the words we use are so important, especially on a topic like suicide. How can certain images or words influence a person’s willingness to take their own life? How can one suicide lead to another? How can conversations, articles, personal stories and media coverage about suicide carry […]
When photographer Letizia Mariotti began meeting homeless LGBTQ youth in New York City, she felt a duty to help spread their stories. She began photographing the queer youth she encountered at LGBTQ gathering places and interviewing them about their experiences. All of the subjects of her photos live, or at one point have lived, at […]
One day, I was standing on the back of my pickup truck and throwing away trash at the town dump when I had an experience that’s hard to describe. My head was swimming, my body felt electrified and I felt detached from the world and myself. A memory then trickled in: I was nine years […]
