Search results for: mental health
Pregnancy and Mental Health: How One Psychiatrist Told Me I Shouldn’t Have Kids
Can you imagine the shame of having a psychiatrist warn you not to have children because “they could turn out like you?” No one should have to go through that, but here’s the story of one woman who did. We need to know the shocking truth of her story, as well as the horrific cases of forced sterilization, to address the harm of mental health stigma.
Read More7 Things You Should Expect from a Mental Health Professional About Cultural Competency
You deserve a therapist who will honor your cultural identity. Check out this article to learn what you should expect from a culturally competent therapist.
Read More5 Ways to Rebuild And Love Yourself After An Emotionally Abusive Relationship
If I could describe the impact and aftermath of emotional abuse in one word, it would be invisible. Emotional abuse may leave no physical marks, but the depth of the scars and the weight of the pain creates a burden that people can’t see—or don’t want to. According to Psychology Today’s Andrea Matthews, emotionally abusive…
Read MoreSocial Media Has Its Pitfalls But You Can Use It For Positive Change—Here’s How
Every time I speak up and share people reach out to me; they let me know that they feel empowered to share their own story.
Read MoreDo You Have A Social Media Addiction? Here’s How You Can Heal
I have a family history of drug and alcohol addiction and overcame an eating disorder that was rooted in the same constant desire for control, so it was actually painful to think of my social media habits as toxic and addictive.
Read More5 Transformative Justice Experts On What We Should Do With ‘Sexual Predators’ In Our Communities
There is no one way to do TJ — it looks different because communities are different, geography is different, violence is different
Read MoreI’m An Activist. Am I Allowed to Unplug From the Internet?
We’re allowed to unplug from the Internet and take a step back from social media—and not just during times when we’re already feeling fatigue and burnout.
Read MoreWhat Can Laughter Do For Social Justice?
Laughter can be used as a way for the marginalized to reclaim power while engendering a crucial dialogue around social justice.
Read More9 Toxic Relationship Habits We Mistake as Healthy
Sometimes, the relationship habits that we romanticize or consider to be ‘normal’ can actually be damaging and unhealthy.
Read MoreHow To Practice Immediate Self-Care When Social Media Says the World is Burning
We can’t be prepared for every eventuality, but having a self-care plan for social media emergencies is a great first step, and so is being able to ask for help when you need it.
Read MoreHow To Set Social Media Boundaries For Yourself — And Stick To Them
Whether it’s the fact that you’re using it too much or that what you’re seeing online is overly negative, just face it: you may need a social media break.
Read MoreHow You Can Responsibly Take Accountability When You Cause Harm To Another Person
I’m a rape and sexual assault survivor. For almost two years, I was in an emotionally, sexually, and physically violent friendship that frequently crossed my boundaries and made me feel unsafe. It took time for me to heal from what happened and relearn that the situation wasn’t my fault. My abuser never took full accountability…
Read MorePublic Forgiveness: The Crucial Missing Step To Making Call Out Culture Non-Toxic
We all know that one person who you and your friends no longer ask about, a persona non grata within social justice. For the purposes of this article, let’s refer to her as G. She’s just one of the many people who have been excommunicated from social justice activism by way of social media call…
Read MoreA Quintessential Guide To Self-Care For Student Activists
Two weeks after my birthday, I remember sending out text messages to close friends about my whereabouts as I was getting ready to protest Hillary Clinton. It was Oct. 30th, 2015 and I — along with eight other AUC Shut It Down student organizers — planned to interrupt Hillary Clinton as she spoke to Black…
Read More5 Ways Trumpcare Screws Over LGBTQ+ Seniors
As I get older, making new friends within the LGBTQ+ community becomes more difficult. My 30-year-old self rarely seeks out kindred spirits on the dance floor because my body just won’t allow for it. In addition, queer-friendly spaces that aren’t nightclubs are rapidly shutting down due to gentrification. This bothers me because building accountable and…
Read More5 Problems I Still Deal With After Being Called ‘Too Sensitive’ As a Child
“There’s something about you that’s very… blank,” a friend admitted to me a few years ago. “Like, you say everything in this emotionless way.” It hadn’t always been like that. I used to cry at cartoons because I loved getting so wrapped up in the story, it felt like it was my own. My parents…
Read MoreHaving a Mental Disorder is Not Trendy
Editor’s Note: While this comic asks people to avoid trivializing mental illnesses, it’s also true that self-diagnosis is often the first step towards seeking mental healthcare. For more information on the usefulness of self-diagnosis, please see this article. To learn more, check out: 5 Unhelpful Things People Say to Trivialize Mental Health Issues A…
Read MoreIf Your Goal In Therapy Is To ‘be Happy,’ You Might Want To Rethink That. Here’s Why.
So if you’re not going to therapy or living life to become happy, what’s the point? I started asking the same thing. And what I learned along the way kind of blew my mind wide open.
Read More5 Ways Your Critiques of Psychiatry Might Be Ableist
Originally published on Let’s Queer Things Up! and cross-posted here with his permission. I won’t beat around the bush: Mental illness has pushed me to the edge many, many times. There were times when I was so detached from reality, it necessitated urgent and even drastic interventions to bring me back. There were times when the pain…
Read MoreWhat You Need to Know About Dating While Mentally Ill: A Guide By Mentally Ill Women
In my experience, one of the most frustrating challenges about living with a mental illness is that the seemingly small things in life are often the most difficult. Take a first date, for example… or just trying to get a first date. “I’d see things on dating profiles like ‘no crazy chicks haha’ or ‘if…
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