“Find That One Little Light That’s Left…”
February 20, 2017 in Be Positive
by Moderator ★
by Moderator ★
Proud2BMe
February 17, 2017 in LINKS
Positive body image, especially during adolescence and young adulthood, can be difficult to keep up. Society is chock full of “standards” for beauty and the “perfect body.” But while these standards are very public in nature, body image is a very personal thing.
So what is body image anyway? Body image is the way one visualizes their own body through mental image. It’s really common for teens and young adults to struggle with keeping up a positive body image. We have a wonderful resource to offer for you today: Proud2BMe is an online community focused on “promoting positive body image and encouraging healthy attitudes about food and weight.”
The website was created by and for teens. On Proud2BMe there are personal accounts, educational material, and expert advice about body image. We wanted to start off your Proud2BMe introduction by sharing one powerful personal story that discusses recovery. The author, Claire Trainor, talks about her recovery from an eating disorder. The entire story, “4 Things No One Tells You About Recovery” is inspiring and well worth the read. Here are some excerpts where Claire discusses recovery from mental illness:
“It’s important for anyone who has missed out on life due to mental illness not to blame his/herself. There’s no way to redo what you missed. All we can do is realize that the experiences we have helped us in our understanding, both of others and ourselves. They helped us to learn to deal with pain of mental illness and the pain of recovery.”
“But recovery is, in my humble opinion, a never-ending process. You learn to integrate struggle into your life and take it for what it is: a bump. No more, no less. Recovery is messy by nature, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth it.”
“Eating disorders, like all mental illnesses, come with a bundle of judgments attached to them. It’s easy for people in the midst of the pain to feel angry, uncomfortable, or disrespected because of others’ stigma. But most of the time, judgment isn’t malicious, it’s just naïve. Breaking down stigma requires two willing parties: one to explain and one to learn.”
by Moderator ★
Tips for Telling Others About Your Depression
February 15, 2017 in Educate Yourself
Depression is often times misunderstood. This can often cause apprehension surrounding sharing your feelings of depression with others, compounding with the symptoms of depression that a person is already feeling. When preparing to tell someone about your mental illness it’s important to maintain appropriate expectations. The people you tell will likely be concerned and want to help you but at the same time lack the knowledge to understand what it means. Telling those how they can support you can be helpful.
Understanding the Scope of Depression shared some tips on how to tell your loved ones about your depression.
For family and friends:
- Ask your doctor or therapist for advice about how to explain depression.
- Use educational materials such as books, brochures or Web pages that have been recommended by your doctor therapist.
- Be sure to explain that depression is common and treatable.
- Reassure your family that you want to get better.
- Photo Credit: ohthecuteness via Compfight cc
Sharing and discussing mental illness can be difficult but with these tips hopefully it will ease some of the tension behind it. You can for find more tips about disclosing to family, friends, and in the work place within Understanding the Scope of Depression.
Do you have any other tips you’d like to add?
by Moderator ★
Q&A with a Mental Health Therapist
February 14, 2017 in Educate Yourself
Recently, I had the opportunity to ask a local therapist some questions about therapy. The therapist’s name is Shannon Toomey, MS-CP. She works at a local outpatient mental health clinic. The clients seen at the clinic range from adults to children ages 2+ with mental health concerns that are treatable in an outpatient setting.
Why does therapy work?
Photo Credit: All Reverse Mortgage Flickr via Compfight cc
Ms. Toomey spoke about the trusting, professional relationship the therapist and the client build together. This aspect of therapy is the foundation for accomplishing the client’s goals. Ms. Toomey also talked about the uniqueness of the therapeutic relationship. She stated that in therapy, the client can “gain skills they might not get otherwise.” Lastly, Ms. Toomey spoke about the outsider’s perspective that the therapist can provide for the client. This perspective is unbiased and nonjudgmental. This third party view can provide a different look at the situation and how things are.
What are some good things for clients to know about therapy, especially if they’ve never experienced it before?
Ms. Toomey emphasized that therapy is a process. Change doesn’t happen overnight. She also spoke about the “magic wand” therapists are expected to have that doesn’t actually exist. The therapist works with the client to navigate through issues and identify potential solutions. This can take some time – but that’s okay! Additionally, Ms. Toomey mentioned that while the therapist can teach the skills, and that medication can help the process, it’s best for the client to be on board with the work as well.
How can you tell if sessions are going well with a client?
For this answer, Ms. Toomey spoke about the client’s participation and feedback throughout the session. She said that sometimes, clients are uncertain if therapy will work, but that’s okay. It might take some time, but if the client is willing to give it a try it can lead to a trusting partnership to discuss what’s been bothering them.
Is there anything that would be good for an adolescent/young adult considering therapy to know?
She spoke about the fact that therapy does take some work. Ms. Toomey explained that one cannot change the people around them, but they can certainly work on themselves and their thoughts and reactions to the people around them. Focusing on creating these changes within can make all the difference. She also cautioned that while the client can be making great, progressive changes, those surrounding them might not be. It’s just good to be aware of this so one doesn’t run into failed expectations. Lastly, Ms. Toomey said that therapy is a growing process!
Do you have any questions you’d like to ask a therapist? Let us know in the comments below!
by Moderator ★
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Depression
February 13, 2017 in Be Positive
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been really open about his experience with depression during his early adulthood. Check out this video where he breaks down “having faith” that depression can be managed.
The Rock was 23 at the time and had just been cut from the Canadian football team he was playing for, after being rejected from the National Football League. He moved back in with his parents and worried that things wouldn’t turn around for him. With hindsight, Dwayne Johnson had this to say about depression:
“And often times it happens, you just, you feel like you’re alone and you feel like it’s only you, and you’re in your bubble, and I wish I had someone at that time who could just pull me aside and say ‘Hey, its gonna be okay, it’ll be okay’…”
by Moderator ★
Dear Black Women
February 10, 2017 in LINKS
This open letter featured on Huffington Post was written by Minaa B. the founder of Respect Your Struggle. “Respect Your Struggle is a digital magazine that focuses on real life issues experienced by the ordinary individual who is set out to turn their struggles into their strengths.” It was created to de-stigmatize mental health within the minority community and empower people. The articles are centered on self-care, mental health and life challenges.
Yes, you are queens. Yes, you are magical. Yes, you are strong and yes, you have a resilient heart that is capable of enduring pain and surpassing any struggle. But I want you to know that above all else, you are human, and mental health is a serious illness that does not discriminate. Despite popular belief, it is not a “white people problem,” and our young black boys and young black girls are also susceptible to this growing epidemic consisting of physical and mental dysfunction and maladaptive behaviors. Mental illness has no remorse, and once it enters you, it will try to strip you of your crown and your strength will not be identified with how independent you are or how successful you become.”
by Moderator ★
Mental Health Apps
February 9, 2017 in Social Media Guide
Focusing on your mental health can be made easier by having self-care at the tips of your fingers on your phone. There are many apps out there for both iPhone iOS and Android devices. The benefits of some of these apps makes it easy to prioritize mental health. When experiencing anxiety or depression, it can be difficult to ask for help right away. These apps can help you get a jump start on managing your wellness. If you are seeing a professional to address mental health concerns, these apps can also come in handy between sessions. Some of these apps help you track your mood/symptoms—something that can be shown to the professional during sessions. There are a wide array of apps out there to help with your mental health.
Here are a few apps we’ve found related to mental health, particularly anxiety and depression. All of these apps are free for download and available to iPhone iOS and Android!
SAM: Self Help for Anxiety Management
This app allows users to track and record their anxiety level and identify triggers. It also suggests self-help options for users cope with the physical and mental symptoms of anxiety. There’s an option to build a personalized anxiety toolkit.
Breathe2Relax
Designed to assist with stress by educating users on breathing exercises. While it might sound trivial, breathing can go a long way in stabilizing mood and managing anxiety.
MoodTools
This app provides education about risk factors, treatment, and depression symptoms. There’s also a thought diary (good to show to work on between therapy sessions to show to the therapist) and safety plan as well as guides to meditation.
MindShift
This app I meant for adolescents, teens, and young adults working to manage their symptoms of anxiety. In the app, there are specific lists of suggested coping strategies meant for the different types of anxiety. It also helps users track symptoms and progress.
T2 Mood Tracker
This app helps users track emotional changes. This app could be used to report changes between sessions to a mental health professional. Useful for people with symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Pacifica
This app helps those with anxiety and stress and mood disorders. It also teaches deep breathing and other therapeutic techniques and exercises to replace negative ways of thinking with positive ones. This app makes it easy to personalize the help you need and is meant to be used in conjunction with therapy, rather than a substitute.
This information came from Psychiatry Advisor and the Anxiety and Depression Association of America websites. Check out these apps and let us know what you think.
Do you have any apps that help you manage your mental health. We’d love to know in the comments below!
by Moderator ★
Mental Health in the African American Community
February 8, 2017 in Educate Yourself
“African Americans are no different when it comes to prevalence of mental health conditions when compared to the rest of the population. However, your concerns or experiences and how you understand and cope with these conditions may be different.” NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness
Although African Americans have the same prevalence of mental health conditions often times they can become more severe because of a lack of treatment. The differences in obtaining treatment can be explained by many factors. Major depression, Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Suicide (among young African American men), and Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are four mental health illnesses common among the African American community. Some of the risk factors for developing these conditions are heightened by African Americans’ risk of being exposed to violence and homelessness.
Photo Credit: Souls of San Francisco via Compfight cc
Barriers that stand in the way of African Americans getting treatment for mental health conditions include a lack of information and awareness of the mental illnesses, turning to faith instead of mental health professionals, and inequality of care. There is a lack of understanding and misinformation in the African American community about mental health because mental health is not discussed and is stigmatized as being a personal weakness.
The symptoms and signs of mental illness can be expressed differently in African Americans as well. For example, depression may be described as “the blues” or something to “snap out of.” This can make it more difficult for African Americans to recognize the symptoms, as well as for the doctors to recognize the symptoms if they are not practicing with cultural competence. If you don’t recognize the symptoms then a person is less likely to seek out care.
Faith and spirituality is a great source of strength and support in the African American community. However sometimes faith and spirituality cannot replace therapeutic treatment that may be necessary. With that said, faith and spirituality can have a significant role in recovery and can be apart of a treatment plan to help work through and improve your situation.
Provider bias and inequality of care is a real fear. There has been a history of bias and unethical treatment in the medical field against African Americans. This has created a mistrust for some African Americans towards the mental health field because of discrimination, inadequate treatment and misdiagnoses the community has historically faced. This is why it is so important to have culturally competent service providers. “Culture—a person’s beliefs, norms, values and language—plays a key role in every aspect of our lives, including our mental health. Cultural competence is a doctor’s ability to recognize and understand the role culture (yours and the doctor’s) plays in treatment and to adapt to this reality to meet your needs.”
Examples of questions to ask your doctor and health care team to look for the cultural competence are listed below:
- Have you treated other African Americans?
- Have you received training in cultural competence or on African American mental health?
- How do you see our cultural backgrounds influencing our communication and my treatment?
- How do you plan to integrate my beliefs and practices in my treatment?
You can learn more by going to NAMI. Although there are many barriers to receiving care this does not negate the importance and necessity of getting treatment and taking care of your mental health.
by Moderator ★
Stand Together Staff Interview Pt. 2
February 7, 2017 in Educate Yourself
In the past few weeks, we’ve done a couple of blogs on the program Stand Together. We first discussed the work that the initiative does and then had the chance to sit down with the project coordinator, Danyelle for an interview. During the first part of the interview, Danyelle spoke about Stand Together and the work they do to combat stigma in schools. If you haven’t already, check out part one! During the second part of the interview, Danyelle spoke about her personal experience with mental illness. Danyelle has a dual-diagnosis (two diagnoses that often occur together) of bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder. Danyelle spoke with SOVA about her lived experience with mental illness and her passion for helping others…
To start, Danyelle spoke about her personal experience
Until the age of 20, Danyelle said she lived undiagnosed in an environment that attempted to normalize her mental health concerns. She recalled thinking, “maybe everyone feels this way.” Danyelle also spoke about how the environment she grew up in wasn’t always helpful in addressing her mental illness. As a result, Danyelle said she became closed off and used unhealthy behaviors like self-medicating to cope with what she was experiencing. Danyelle spoke about going off to college and how this worsened her mental health. She said she created fake safety nets that weren’t ultimately helpful in addressing her mental illness. This resulted in suicide attempts which led to getting help through rehabilitation in 2010.
Danyelle stated using her personal experience to help others. Because she didn’t know about mental health in high school, she now works to help others understand mental illness so as to prevent the same course/experience she had. Danyelle stated that she “didn’t know that it didn’t have to be like this” when she was experiencing her mental health decline. But Danyelle emphasized that “people can and do recover.” She is proof of this!
Do you have any experience with stigma against mental illness in adolescence and young adulthood?
Danyelle said with her anxiety and borderline symptoms, she believed “everything had to be perfect” and that nothing could be wrong. Danyelle recalled putting on a front of being okay. She went on to say that “putting on these masks” was exhausting. When considering those around her, Danyelle said others didn’t know how to respond. She experienced a fear of being judged as a result of this.
What would you say to a younger version of yourself?
“It’s okay to not be okay.”
“It’s okay to get help.”
“Mental illness is not your fault.”
“I am not alone.”
We want to thank Danyelle for sharing her expertise, both about the Stand Together initiative and about her personal experience with mental illness. Check out the Stand Together website for more information on the project.
What would you like others to know about your personal experience with mental health. We’d love to hear in the comments below!
by Moderator ★
The Light at the End of the Tunnel
February 6, 2017 in Be Positive
“No matter what you’re going through, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and it may seem hard to get to it but you can do it and just keep working towards it and you’ll find the positive side of things. “
– Demi Lovato
What’s your light at the end of the tunnel today?
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