Anger Management for Voters?

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Guest Blog by Joan Cook, Ph.D. It’s hard not to feel all the anger spilling out at presidential election campaign rallies, particularly from the fans of Donald Trump. As a psychologist who’s spent a lot of her professional life working with combat veterans, I’m very comfortable with intense trauma-related anger. But the causes and effects of sustained anger among voters are less clear to me. Anger is a normal, healthy emotion. It becomes problematic when it is experienced too frequently, …

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Your Life Is Worth Fighting For

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Stories of Hope: An Interview with Allison Williford This is part of a series featuring individuals who share their life experiences with mental health issues. Recently, I asked author, blogger and advocate Allison Williford about her own mental health challenges and what’s she up to now. 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? AW: I was 16, in …

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How do I Know if I’m Drinking Too Much?

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I’ve worked for many years with people who have concerns about their use of drugs and alcohol. A question that comes up frequently is “How do I know if I’m drinking too much?” Perhaps they have had one hangover too many, or their friends have begun to express concerns about how much they’re drinking. Even worse, they may have been pulled over for driving under the influence or they may have failed to complete important tasks at work or school …

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Don’t Give Up!

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Stories of Hope: An Interview with Neesa Sunar This is part of a series featuring individuals who share their life experiences with mental health issues. Recently, I asked mental health peer specialist Neesa Sunar about her personal journey with mental health challenges and about some of her current work in peer support. 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 …

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Let’s Stop Bullying: 10 Things You Need to Know

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I had the opportunity to participate in an excellent online program called “Bullying Prevention and Response Training” sponsored by stopbullying.gov, a website of the US Department of Health and Human Services. I found it very educational and enlightening, so I thought you might be interested in hearing about a few of the highlights. I’ve summarized them here in a handy list of “10 things” you should know about bullying prevention and response strategies. 1) Definition   According to the US Centers for …

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You Are Not Alone

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Stories of Hope: An Interview with Katrina Milburn This is part of a series featuring individuals who share their life experiences with mental health issues. Recently, I asked mental health advocate Katrina Milburn 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? KM: My parents noticed behavioral problems, such as it was hard for me to understand and communicate effectively, and my grades started dropping severely in high …

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Take the “What Do You Know About Mental Health Medications?” Quiz

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Perhaps you or someone you care about takes medication to help manage a mental health condition. There’s a whole alphabet soup of such medications, from Abilify to Zyprexa and everything in between. There’s also a lot of inaccurate information out there about these types of medications. How savvy are you about the basics of mental health medications? Take this quick quiz, saying “True” or “False” for each of the 10 questions. The answers and explanations can be found below each question. …

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The Power of Family

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Stories of Hope: An Interview with Janet Singer This is part of a series featuring individuals who share their life experiences with mental health issues. Recently, I asked blogger, author and mental health advocate Janet Singer about her son’s mental health challenges and some of the lessons her family has learned over the past several years. Here’s our interview: DS: Tell us about when you first started noticing concerns related to your son’s mental health. How did these issues continue to affect him and your family …

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