By Taraji P. Henson People in the African-American community have long been afraid to talk about our mental health; we just don’t do it. We’re told to pray it away, we’re told to be strong, we’re told it’s a sign of weakness or, a lot of times, mental health issues comes off as “rage” and …
In her cover interview for the October 2018 issue of Vogue, Lady Gaga revealed new details about her mental health and what it’s like to live with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and chronic pain, which she says were both triggered by a sexual assault she experienced at age 19. In the interview, Gaga described her PTSD symptoms as being like “that …
Earlier this month, Instagram launched its new “Questions” feature, allowing users to carry out deeper Q&As than are possible using the simpler “Polls” feature. So much deeper, in fact, that when Victoria’s Secret model Sara Sampaio was recently asked a benign question about her eyebrow maintenance, she gave an honest answer about her trichotillomania and detailed her experiences with …
My son has Tourette syndrome. Tourette syndrome is a neurological disorder characterized by vocal and motor tics. It is often diagnosed in childhood, and despite popular belief, it does not always include the shouting of coarse language (coprolalia). Some children who have Tourette’s also exhibit signs of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or have impulse-control …
When First Impressions are the Worst Impressions The first time you ever heard the term “mental illness”, what did you think of? I can tell you what I thought of. I was in the beginning of high school the first time I recall hearing this term. At the time, associated it with people who were …
The Crisis in Mental Health Services The dramatic increase in the prevalence of autism spectrum conditions among children over the past decade indicates that a correspondingly large number of youth will be transitioning to adulthood in the coming years. It is estimated that more than 50,000 adolescents with autism will turn 18 years old this …
Major depressive disorder (MDD) afflicts more than 250 million people worldwide and is the most common source of disability for Americans. In addition to counseling and talk therapy, there is a veritable alphabet soup of medications, from amitriptyline to venlafaxine, currently prescribed to treat MDD. Each class of antidepressant acts on an individual or combination …
Feeling overwhelmed, powerless or angry as you watch news of another mass shooting, this one in Las Vegas? Those feelings are normal, even for people who don’t have ties to Nevada or anyone there, according to counselors. There are tools that can help in handling those emotional reactions. NBC10 Philadelphia’s Tracy Davidson spoke to a …
When a tragedy like the massacre in Las Vegas happens, it can be difficult to know what to say to your children. They may hear or see images about what happened and have questions for you. Author Julia Cook is a national award winning children’s author, counselor and parenting expert. In addition to writing, she …
