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,...
Tagged: stigma
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...
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...
Do You Hold a Stigma on Mental Health?
The stigma that people can hold isn’t a new topic by any means when discussing mental health, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that the stigma is still harmful. Though the conversation...
Looking at Substance Use
Society often looks negatively at those with substance use problems. There is a stigma and a false belief that those struggling with substance use are making a conscious choice to spiral downwards. It is rare...
Say It Out Loud
We at SOVA are mental-health and communications professionals, and we use those skills to design blogs that give you—our readers—information about mental illness in manageable portions that you can grasp. For example, here are just a few...
How To Use Empathy
This video was based on a TED talk by Dr. Brené Brown. She is a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. She has spent more than a decade studying vulnerability, courage, worthiness,...
Who Are You?
What words describe you? If someone did not know you at all—how would you describe yourself? You could probably make a long list of things. People are not one-dimensional. And even if most of...
Benefits of Teen Mental-Health First-Aid Programs
A little while ago one of our blogging ambassadors reported on their positive experience becoming certified in mental health first aid at a workshop at her university. There are scientists who are studying programs like...
Would medication change who I was?
When you get diagnosed with depression, or any mental illness, the first thing you might feel is relief. The realization that your feelings, struggles, and symptoms can be described by a diagnosis can make...
