David Susman

Your Life Awaits You

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Stories of Hope: An Interview with Stephanie Anne Allen This is part of a series featuring individuals who share their life experiences with mental health issues. Recently, I asked mental health advocate Stephanie Anne Allen about her mental health journey and her current advocacy activities. Here’s our interview: DS: Tell us about when you first started becoming aware of concerns related to your mental health. How did these issues continue to affect you before you sought treatment? SA: I was first diagnosed …

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How to Express Your Mental Health Advocacy (part 1: while in your jammies)

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So you want to be a mental health advocate. You’re well informed about the issues. You have a passion to make a difference. You want your voice to be heard. You’re ready to take action. Now what? How can you express your mental health advocacy? There are many, many options. There’s even a lot you can do from your couch at home while you’re still in your pajamas. Or there are other options that might require you to be fully dressed …

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Accept Who We Are in This Moment

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Stories of Hope: An Interview with Mike Stroh This is part of a series featuring individuals who share their life experiences with mental health issues. Recently, I asked mental health advocate and graduate student Mike Stroh about his mental health journey and his current advocacy activities. Here’s our interview: DS: Tell us about when you first started becoming aware of concerns related to your mental health. How did these issues continue to affect you before you sought treatment? MS: I …

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10 Ways to Help Your Therapist Help You More

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You may already know that I’m a big fan of psychotherapy to treat mental health concerns and other personal and emotional challenges. In previous posts, I’ve discussed various aspects of the therapy process, including “How to Find a Good Psychotherapist,”“Psychotherapy Works!,”“20 Life-Changing Benefits of Psychotherapy,” and “10 Things You May Not Know About Your Therapist.” Now, let’s talk about some simple but important things you can do to help your therapist. Help your therapist? That’s right. By being more in …

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I Have So Much to Live For

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Stories of Hope: An Interview with Julia Stabler This is part of a series featuring individuals who share their life experiences with mental health issues. Recently, I asked mental health advocate and stylist Julia Stabler (pictured with her niece) about her mental health journey and her current activities. Here’s our interview: DS: Tell us about when you first started becoming aware of concerns related to your mental health. How did these issues continue to affect you before you sought treatment? …

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How To Publicly Share Your Mental Health Story

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In two recent posts, we talked about the “Honest, Open, Proud” program, which describes a process for deciding whether to disclose your mental illness to others. In the first post, “Should You Disclose Your Mental Illness?”, I reviewed lesson one, which helps you thoroughly consider the pros and cons of sharing your story. In the second post, “How to Begin to Disclose Your Mental Illness,” I went on to review lesson two from the program, which covers several different ways to disclose …

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One Person’s Story Can Save Another Person’s Life

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Stories of Hope: An Interview with Brett Francis This is part of a series featuring individuals who share their life experiences with mental health issues. Recently, I asked mental health advocate, author and radio host Brett Francis about her mental health journey and her current activities. Here’s our interview: DS: When did you first start becoming aware of concerns related to your mental health and how did that affect you before you sought treatment? BF: I was diagnosed at age …

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How To Begin to Disclose Your Mental Illness

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In a recent post, I introduced the “Honest, Open, Proud” program, which addresses the issue of disclosing your mental illness to others. In that post, I reviewed the first lesson of the program, which takes you through a process for considering the pros and cons of sharing your story. The ultimate decision of whether to disclose your illness is yours alone to make. The final two lessons from the Honest, Open, Proud program assume that you have decided to share …

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