Mental Health Awareness Q & A

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I was asked to be interviewed by Melanie Luxenberg, a mental health advocate and writer, who blogs for the International Bipolar Foundation. In recognition of Mental Health Week in Canada and Mental Health Awareness Month in the US, Melanie asked me to respond to several questions about mental health, stigma and support for people with a mental health condition. With Melanie’s permission, I’m reprinting her interview with me below, or you can link to the original blog post on the …

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11 Effective Ways to Recruit New Members for Your Cause

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Are you involved with a great club, group, charity or organization you really feel passionate about? Would you like to recruit additional new members or supporters? This may sound easy on the surface, but it can be quite a challenge. The past decade has seen steady and significant decreases in various types of group membership, from churches to civic clubs to professional organizations. One possible reason is a generational change in how people choose to connect, with younger people preferring …

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It’s Time to Raise Awareness about Mental Health

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May is Mental Health Awareness Month. It’s a great time to get involved in promoting greater understanding of mental health issues and helping those who are dealing with a mental illness. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, encourages individuals and organizations to take the “stigmafree pledge.” It has three parts: Learn about mental health—educate myself and others See the person not the illness—strive to listen, understand, tell my own story Take action—spread the word, raise awareness, make a difference …

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10 Easy Ways to Root for the “Mental Health Team”

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As I was watching our state championship high school basketball game, I couldn’t help but notice how enthusiastic and organized the supporters for each team were. I’ve seen this happen time and time again over the years in all different types of sports venues. So I thought, “Why can’t we show this same level of enthusiasm in our support for people with mental health concerns (or any number of other personal challenges in life)? ” Then it dawned on me. We can. …

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Finding Meaning in My Life

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Stories of Hope: An Interview with Kelly Davis This is part of a series featuring individuals who share their life experiences with mental health issues. Recently, mental health advocate Kelly Davis graciously offered to share about her personal mental health challenges 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? KD: My story is pretty messy, which I think is a lot more …

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Thinking Outside the Box to Treat Serious Mental Illnesses

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Chances are you may not be familiar with cognitive enhancement therapy, or CET. It’s a rehabilitation-focused approach which has been shown to improve thinking, memory, attention and other brain functions among individuals with schizophrenia or other serious mental illnesses such as severe depression, schizoaffective disorder or bipolar disorder. According to Ray Gonzalez, Executive Director of the Center for Cognition and Recovery in Cleveland, Ohio, CET is “physical therapy for your brain,” since it targets many of the common cognitive (thinking) difficulties seen among …

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Alzheimer’s, Country Music and Love

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It was a classic love story. 1981. A talented, attractive dancer meets a successful, handsome singer on a blind date. Love at first sight, marriage, three beautiful children, and happily ever after. Flash forward thirty years to 2011. The now iconic singer and his family announce he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, a common cause of dementia. Sound familiar? The famous singer, songwriter and guitarist is Glen Campbell, arguably one of the most popular US country artists of all time. …

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Learning a New Way of Living

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Stories of Hope: An Interview with Belinda Bennetts This is part of a series featuring individuals who share their life experiences with mental health issues. Recently, author and coach Belinda Bennetts graciously offered to share about her personal mental health challenges and her current activities. Here’s our interview: DS: Tell us about your first awareness of concerns related to your mental health. How did these issues continue to affect you before you sought treatment? BB: From the age of about five I became aware that I was ‘different’ to others. I …

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