Finding a Sense of Peace

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Stories of Hope: An Interview with Suzy Favor Hamilton This is part of a series featuring individuals who share their life experiences with mental health issues. Recently, I asked Suzy Favor Hamilton, former Olympic athlete, best-selling author of “Fast Girl: A Life Spent Running from Madness,” and mental health advocate to share a little about her journey and how she’s doing today. Here’s our interview: DS: As we know, mental health issues don’t just emerge overnight. Tell us about when you first started becoming aware …

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‘First Aid’ for Mental Health Concerns

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Most of us are familiar with basic first aid approaches to manage medical situations, or perhaps you’ve even had a first aid course at school or work. But did you know you can now take a special type of first aid course to learn how to better handle mental health concerns and crises? I had heard about “Mental Health First Aid” some time ago, so I was very excited when I was able to attend a one-day class in my community. I’d like …

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Learning About Mindfulness

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A Conversation with Dr. Ruth Baer, Ph.D. I recently had the opportunity to talk with my colleague Dr. Ruth Baer, a clinical psychology professor and internationally recognized expert on mindfulness. I asked her a few questions to help us better understand what mindfulness is and how it can help with a variety of mental health issues. Here’s our conversation: DS: Mindfulness is certainly very popular these days. For those who aren’t very familiar with the topic, what’s a simple way …

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How You Can Help Me With My Recovery

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We all know how critically important help, support and encouragement are if you’re recovering from a physical or mental health issue or substance misuse. But it’s really hard to ask for help because of fear, shame, guilt, anxiety, and a host of other challenges and barriers. If you’ve ever wanted to reach out for help and support with your recovery but you weren’t sure what to say, here are some ideas to help you get started, in the form of …

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It’s More Than OK to Ask for Help

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Stories of Hope: An Interview with Aidan O’Connell This is part of a series featuring individuals who share their life experiences with mental health issues. Recently, I asked mental health advocate Aidan O’Connell about his history of mental health challenges and about some of his current advocacy work. 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? AO: My mental health difficulties …

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How to Become Stigma-Free

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If you’re somewhat health conscious, you may have decided to opt for food or beverage choices that are sugar-free, fat-free, gluten-free or caffeine-free. Or perhaps you have achieved the admirable goal of becoming drug-free, smoke-free or even debt-free. But have you ever considered becoming stigma-free? If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you’ll know I’ve written a fair amount on the issue of the many negative effects of stigma related to mental illness and several simple but effective ways …

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Don’t Give Up On Your Dreams

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Stories of Hope: An Interview with Dave Wise This is part of a series featuring individuals who share their life experiences with mental health issues. Recently, I asked mental health advocate Dave Wise about his history of mental health challenges and about some of his current advocacy work. 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? DW: I first became aware …

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