Whatever Is Happening Will Pass

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Stories of Hope: An Interview with Ben Scanlan This is part of a series featuring individuals who share their life experiences with mental health issues. Recently, I asked Ben Scanlan about his history of mental health challenges and about some of his 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? BS: Mental health difficulties had been around between the ages of 17 and 24, …

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National Recovery Month

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Each September, SAMHSA, the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration sponsors “National Recovery Month” to increase awareness of mental health and substance use issues. Key themes include: 1) mental health is essential to overall health; 2) prevention works; 3) treatments are effective; and 4) recovery is possible. The Recovery Month initiative encourages persons with mental health or substance use issues and their supporters to become active in promoting positive change through advocacy events by discussing prevention, treatment, and recovery. Current statistics Here’s …

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There’s a Rainbow Waiting for You

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Stories of Hope: An Interview with Richard Brea This is part of a series featuring individuals who share their life experiences with mental health issues. Recently, I asked mental health advocate Richard Brea 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 and those around you before you sought treatment? RB: I first started to get …

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Recovery is a Journey, not a Destination

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Stories of Hope: An Interview with Jim Buchanan This is part of a series featuring individuals who share their life experiences with mental health issues. Recently, I asked mental health advocate Jim Buchanan 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 and those around you before you sought treatment? JB: …

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The Incredible Power of Peer Support

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If you’re at all familiar with issues surrounding mental health and/or substance misuse, you’ve probably heard of the idea of peer support. But what is peer support and how do you become a peer supporter? Let’s cover these and a few other important points about this very effective and helpful approach. What are the origins of peer support? The idea of people helping others with similar needs goes way back in history. In the modern era, peer support has often …

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“Stories of Hope” – Behind the Scenes

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Perhaps you’re already familiar with my “Stories of Hope” series, in which I interview people who have dealt with mental health challenges and who share the lessons they have learned through their journey. I’ve completed and published dozens of Stories of Hope interviews; you can click here to see and read them all. I think you’ll agree that all of these Stories of Hope are candid, inspiring, courageous, and real. I feel privileged to have met all of these wonderful …

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Do You Have a Healthy Lifestyle?

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What constitutes a healthy lifestyle? Perhaps even more importantly, is your lifestyle healthy? Also, how are healthy lifestyle factors associated with health markers such as cholesterol level, blood sugar, and blood pressure? In a study of 4,745 US adults recently published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, researchers assessed for the presence or absence of four “healthy lifestyle” factors, as defined below. 1) Smoking status A blood test was used to test for cotinine, a by-product of nicotine, to determine if participants were …

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Musings of a Mental Health Hero

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Stories of Hope: An Interview with Christina Huff This is part of a series featuring individuals who share their life experiences with mental health issues. Recently, I asked mental health advocate Christina Huff about her history of mental health challenges and about some of her current advocacy work. Here’s our interview: DS: How did your mental health concerns develop? What did you notice and how did these issues affect you? CH: When I was in high school, I was always depressed, had a hard time …

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