Concealing my Depression
I first encountered depression symptoms when I was 11. As a kid who was bullied, coming from a broken home with emotionally unavailable parents, these feelings were almost inevitable. We never talked about our feelings in...
Category: Educate Yourself
Can Schools Influence Stigma?
Our environments can have a powerful impact on how we view things, especially in how we view the things about ourselves. Because adolescents spent a lot of time in school, their teachers, their classmates,...
There’s No Shame in Taking Antidepressants
I was about four years into my battle with depression when I began taking Lexapro. I had been in and out of therapy in the preceding years, and each therapist I visited asked if...
A Minority in Mental Health: Asian Americans
The “model minority stereotype” of Asian Americans perceives them to be hardworking, and academically, economically, and socially successful when compared to all other racial minority groups. Because of this, Asian Americans are assumed to...
Can a Poor Diet Predict Mental Illness?
Food is so much more than gaining energy to get through the day. Many see food as an experience: some see cooking as therapeutic, eating with others as a way to deepen relationships, and...
Can You be Extroverted and Have Social Anxiety?
Our minds often give us images of certain types of people when we think about certain things. For example, we tend to think of those with anxiety to be by themselves, preferring to be...
The Mental Effect of Family Separations
There have been a lot of stories lately, particularly in the last couple of years, regarding immigration. They have a more depressing tone to them, often discussing how there have been more attempts to...
Little Things You Can Do to Help Through a Depressive Episode
I have been in a depressive episode for a few weeks now. If you’re unsure on what constitutes a depressive episode, this definition by Bridges to Recovery offers a great start: “A major depressive episode is a...
Why Do We Like Getting Scared?
Whether it’s celebrating on the first day of Autumn, the entire month of October, or just today on Halloween, now’s not just the time for posting photos of changing leaf colors and apple picking,...
Why Your Physical Space is Important for Recovery
LEAD Pittsburgh hosted its first speaker series for FOCUS (For Our Children and Us) this month, addressing topics concerning children’s mental health to the adults that have a presence in their lives. During this...
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