Giving Voice to Depression

People with heart problems do not wait for a heart attack to address them. People with diabetes do not rely solely on an epipen to control their illness. And people with mental health challenges cannot wait until suicidal thoughts necessitate emergency actions. Self-care and depression-management involve tuning in with your changing thoughts/moods, establishing and using a safety plan and personalized tools that work for you. No illness is easier to treat when it's an emergency https://qz.com/1381952/suicide-hotlines-really-do-save-lives-i-know-because-one-saved-mine/

Suicide prevention hotlines are available 24/7, ensuring there is always somewhere and someone you can turn to when in crisis. That does not mean there is no one in your life who would help, though it may mean depression has convinced you that's the case. Corinne Purtill credits the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (800-273-TALK) with saving her life, and she's speaking up so that we'll know the bottom does not need to mean the end. qz.com/1381952/suicide-hotli…cause-one-saved-mine/

Suicide prevention hotlines are available 24/7, ensuring there is always somewhere and someone you can turn to when in crisis. That does not mean there is no one in your life who would help, though it may mean depression has convinced you that's the case. Corinne Purtill credits the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (800-273-TALK) with saving her life, and she's speaking up so that we'll know the bottom does not need to mean the end. qz.com/1381952/suicide-hotli…cause-one-saved-mine/

The thoughts we have and the words we chose not only define depression, but predict it. In this episode, we speak with a researcher who anaylyzes online mental health forums and other writing samples. Using computers to analyze the words, he finds a direct connection between "absolutist" words and depression, anxiety and suicide. It's good to know the words so we can recognize them in ourselves and others. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/depression-language-differently-mental-health-kurt-cobain-a8194731.html

The thoughts we have and the words we chose not only define depression, but predict it. In this episode, we speak with a researcher who anaylyzes online mental health forums and other writing samples. Using computers to analyze the words, he finds a direct connection between "absolutist" words and depression, anxiety and suicide. It's good to know the words so we can recognize them in ourselves and others. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/depression-language-differently-mental-health-kurt-cobain-a8194731.html

If you've ever wondered what a podcast on depression sounds and feels like, in just 18 minutes, you can sample 12 episodes of the Giving Voice to Depression podcast in this season in review. From the power of breath, to how to talk to a suicidal friend, the need for hope, and how the pandemic has challenged our mental health on many levels to the fact depression is an illness vs a weakness and other topics of concern to those of us with depression, we summarize the past dozen episodes so that you can tune into full versions of any that interest you.

If you've ever wondered what a podcast on depression sounds and feels like, in just 18 minutes, you can sample 12 episodes of the Giving Voice to Depression podcast in this season in review.

We learned this week that even Royals are impacted by stigma and discrimination when seeking help and treatment for mental-health challlenges and suicidal thoughts. From access, affordability, representation, discrimination and other factors, even when someone recognizes the need for help, they don't or can't necessarlly get it. In the second of two conversations with mental-health advocate Victor Armstrong, we look at the ways the mental-health care system itself is in crisis.

We learned this week that even Royals are impacted by stigma and discrimination when seeking help and treatment for mental-health challlenges and suicidal thoughts. From access, affordability, representation, discrimination and other factors, even when someone recognizes the need for help, they don't or can't necessarlly get it. In the second of two conversations with mental-health advocate Victor Armstrong, we look at the ways the mental-health care system itself is in crisis.

How and why is it a common misconception that people with depression are weak? Imagine starting your day in a pit. Imagine battling the darkest of convincing thoughts playing non-stop in your head. Imagine having to convince yourself there is hope when your own mind is working against you. We can assure you, while it may look like "giving in" or "laziness" from the outside, it is a very different experience on the inside. Depression is NOT a weakness or personal failing. Treating it as though it is, adds to its power and danger.

How and why is it a common misconception that people with depression are weak? Imagine starting your day in a pit. Imagine battling the darkest of convincing thoughts playing non-stop in your head. Imagine having to convince yourself there is hope when your own mind is working against you. We can assure you, while it may look like "giving in" or "laziness" from the outside, it is a very different experience on the inside. Depression is NOT a weakness or personal failing. Treating it as though it is, adds to its power and danger.

If, like us, you're mental-health tools are a little worn out with the pandemic and other stressors and challenges of the past year, the idea of tracking your symptoms might be worth exploring. Notes can give us an objective, quantifiable way to recognize changes in our mental health. And the information could help professionals and other members of our support team, too. The information could also allow us to get ahead of a slide, if we notice it before we're too impacted to be able to react and step-up self-care efforts. Article links: https://www.healthcentral.com/slideshow/ways-to-stay-steady-with-bipolar-disorder https://www.healthcentral.com/slideshow/winter-and-low-mood Mental Health Apps https://www.psycom.net/25-best-mental-health-apps

If, like us, you're mental-health tools are a little worn out with the pandemic and other stressors and challenges of the past year, the idea of tracking your symptoms might be worth exploring. Notes can give us an objective, quantifiable way to recognize changes in our mental health. And the information could help professionals and other members of our support team, too. The information could also allow us to get ahead of a slide, if we notice it before we're too impacted to be able to react and step-up self-care efforts. Article links: https://www.healthcentral.com/slideshow/ways-to-stay-steady-with-bipolar-disorder https://www.healthcentral.com/slideshow/winter-and-low-mood Mental Health Apps https://www.psycom.net/25-best-mental-health-apps

What if... when depression reached the point you could no longer ignore it, or anxiety reached a level it interfered with your life, you could react the same way you would if any other part of your body was creating a problem for you? You'd mention it to a friend. You'd call your doctor. You'd feel free to say "this hurts!" But when the part "not working" is our brains, we feel embarrassed or ashamed or reluctant (or not worthy) to get help help. That's the price of stigma. In this third episode of a 3-part series on the stigma of mental illness, we look at how much better- and SAFER - life would be, if people just recognized mental-health challenges the same way they do physical-health challenges.

In the third of our 3-part series on how ignorance and discrimination (i.e. stigma) affect people with mental-health conditions, we look at how our lives would be better and safer if mental health was treated like physical health is.