When I first started taking anti-depressants, I knew I could benefit from connecting to others over the shared experience but the fear of rejection was too powerful. There’s an enormous stigma against anti-depressants, or taking any medication at all for mental health. But there shouldn’t be.
Tag: depression
How to Lend a Hand in a Mental Health Crisis Part 4: Educate, Normalize, & Comfort
This week’s guest post is Part 4 in a five-part series that looks at how to fill the gaps in our current mental health care system on an individual basis. Lucy Merriman has been guiding us through information about mental health crisis hotlines, basic skills needed to offer support to a person in crisis, and in-depth information about how to guide someone to the other side of whatever they are going through.
How to Lend a Hand in a Mental Health Crisis Part 3: The Process of Processing
This article includes a lot of really valuable information about how to help someone work through an emotionally upsetting time. Whether your friend is in a full-blown mental health crisis, or they’re just having a bad day, these tools are excellent for anyone who wants to be a better source of support.
How to Lend a Hand in a Mental Health Crisis Part 2: Mindset, Limit Setting, and Safety Assessment
Today’s post covers the preparation needed to skillfully offer support to a friend if you don’t have the resources to become a trained crisis worker but still want tools to help your friend when in a mental health crisis.
How to Lend a Hand in a Mental Health Crisis Part 1: Enlisting the Help of a Crisis Hotline
Today’s guest post is part 1 of a series that looks at the gaps in our current mental health care system and provides information on how to fill those gaps on an individual basis if you should find yourself facing a mental health crisis in yourself or someone you care about.
Windows: Snippets from a Mind Struggling with PTSD, Anxiety, and Depression
I spent more than a year searching for the reason that despite multiple skilled therapists and a wonderful social support system, I was still struggling with PTSD to the point that it was debilitating. I wrote this piece prior to my diagnosis of Dissociative Identity Disorder, but now it reads like a textbook list of the symptoms.