I attended a funeral last week. The sudden death of my friend’s husband left family and friends with shattered dreams and broken hearts. Losing a loved one precipitates a journey of grieving. And although this experience of loss is nearly universal, it is also exquisitely personal.   Photo from: http://www.fulfillmentdaily.com/resilience-in-grief As my heart aches for […]

With the start of a new year, we all engage in some form of accounting – taking stock of the last twelve months and setting resolutions for those on the horizon. In doing so, almost universally, we focus on aspects of our lives that are intimately associated with our mental health and wellbeing. Here are […]

Dear Readers, Another year of musings on mental health. From the gut biome to the unintended consequences of focusing on resilience. From explorations of gun violence and suicide to the teenage brain, concussions, technology, and the mental health benefits of nature and laughter. From weddings to child’s play to turning ninety. From exploring ways that […]

Suicide is more common around the holidays, right?   Wrong. It is a myth that suicide rates increase around the holidays. Perhaps because we hope that the holidays will be a time of enhanced joy and connection, it feels especially poignant when someone dies by suicide at this time of year. The gap is especially great […]

My goal with Five on Friday is to raise awareness about mental health by opening conversations that link mental health topics to our everyday lives. Thus was born the 2017 Headlines Challenge. For fun, my friend, Tracy, picked five front page articles from around the world that did not appear to be about mental health and challenged me […]

I am all for being happy. Who isn’t?  But the happiness industry? That’s another thing altogether.     The happiness industrial complex promises that bliss will be found when we get our eating, exercise, sleep, journaling, weight, complexion, clothing, and all our Christmas shopping exactly right, including remembering our own reusable grocery sacks. And beyond […]

This Monday, my dear friend, Jim Spool (AKA Grandpa Jimmy), will be ninety years old. Born on December 3, 1928, Grandpa Jimmy arrived on earth the same year that commercially available sliced bread was invented. Really. It was also in 1928 that scientist Alexander Fleming discovered a particular mold in his petri dishes that put […]

Everyone knows that thanksgiving is a compound word expressing the essence of this favorite American holiday focused on giving thanks. But did you know that beyond “thanks” and “giving” there are another 346 Scrabble-approved words we can make out of the letters in “thanksgiving?!” Here are a few of my favorites: It is my hope […]

It is football season in the United States. That means Friday night lights for families with high school kids, and weekends filled with games from the 5-year-old MightyMites to collegiate and professional rivalries that now don’t finish until late Monday evening. With growing awareness of head trauma in recent years, this season is also characterized […]

Isn’t that what we all want? To be healthy, and if healthy, enjoy long lives? So why should it be any different for someone with serious mental illness? But that’s not how it typically goes. The odds have it that individuals with serious mental illness (schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder and major depression) […]