Guest Post: Living with Bipolar 2 Disorder by Cathy Shaw

Having suffered with symptoms of bipolar 2 disorder for over fifteen years, my hope in making this piece for See Change is to give people some understanding of how it feels in the different phases of this complex mental health illness. From the deep despair of the manic depressive stage to the idealistic highs of …

Living with Someone Who Has Bipolar Disorder and Learning as You Go: How to Support Someone with Bipolar Disorder; Part 2

First, let me say it is not easy living with someone with bipolar disorder. Their severe depressions and highest of manic episodes can ruin relationships. Even people who love the person and have supported them for years, can eventually throw up their hands and be done. It is understandable because they have to watch out …

Teen Mental Wellness Day March 2nd: Statistics and Resources

Teen Mental Wellness Day is March 2nd. Please read or watch a video to learn more about it, statistics and resources. TikTok Video Instagram Video Tumblr video Clapper Video Twitter (X) Video

Eating Disorder Awareness Week Information

Video on Tik Tok Video on Instagram MOST COMMON EATING DISORDERS Anorexia Nervosa Bulimia Nervosa Pica Disorders: Binge Eating Rumination Avoidant/Restrictive Purge Eating Night Eating Syndrome OSFED (other specified feeding or eating disorder) STATISTICS Ref 1 16% of adult patients screened positive for an eating disorder.  Anorexia has the highest case mortality rate and second-highest …

Music and Mental Health

Music has been proven to help with your mental health and overall health. Singing, songwriting, listening to music and playing an instrument are all things that you can do deal with your mental health. Ways Music helps: Connects you with your feelings Gives you a way to express yourself Boosts your mood Makes you dance Forms …

Guest Post: Interview with Randye Kaye: Podcast Co-Host of Schizophrenia: 3 Moms in the Trenches and Author of Ben Behind His Voices: One Family’s Journey from the Chaos of Schizophrenia to Hope and Happier Made Simple: Choose Your Words

Randye Kaye is the co-creator and host of the popular podcast, Schizophrenia: 3 Moms in the Trenches. She is the Connecticut State Trainer for NAMI’s Family-to-Family Course, and is the author of Ben Behind His Voices: One Family's Journey From the Chaos of Schizophrenia to Hope (Bowman & Littlefield,2011 and Front Porch Press audiobook 2022), and Happier Made Simple: Choose Your Words. …

Warning! Beware of Tardive Dyskenisia

Petition I have made it a point to not talk about medications on my blog and social media. It is actually a rule in my Facebook group Advocates for People with Mental Illnesses not to talk about medications. My reason is everyone is different and most of us are not medical professionals. I won't be …

Guest Post: What I Learned from Hosting 100 Hours of Peer Support By CeCe Cheng of Sharewell

What I Learned from Hosting 100 Hours of Peer Support By CeCe Cheng, CEO and Founder of ShareWell Peer support isn’t a phrase we hear all that often and I wasn’t fully aware of what itmeant until I needed it. Two years ago, I was in an emotionally abusive relationship and my recovery from thatchanged …

Guest Post: PTSD vs C-PTSD by APN Lodge

After a few years of unprecedented stress, many of us are struggling to cope. Whether you've had a PTSD or C-PTSD diagnosis in the past and it's being exacerbated by the pandemic, or you're just starting to take a closer look at your mental health symptoms, we can all benefit from more support and greater …

Guest Post: Interview with Producers of Spiral- Bipolar Documentary

Who are you? Randall: I'm Randall Scott White, I was married to a wonderful woman named Michelle who fell ill over time from bipolar disorder that went undiagnosed until it was too late.  Jennifer: I'm Jennifer Hutchins, the producer. I met Randall in Austin in late 2019 and he showed me over a decade of home video …

Guest Post: Helping and Compassion Fatigue by Thomas R. Metzinger, LCSW, CCHt (USMC Veteran)

When handling trauma, therapists, counselors, health professionals, caregivers, and others that are helping, seek to understand the person, get a pulse on the crisis, engage in triaging the most devastating issues, and offer interventions that help to restore, or create in some cases, stability.  None of these previously stated tasks are easy.  In fact, the …

Guest Post: Bulimia Nervosa Defined by Emma

Bulimia Nervosa is really difficult to define and has been for years. It dates back in history and was originally classed as an 'ominous variant' (whatever that means) of Anorexia Nervosa. This link to Anorexia Nervosa I do think is important, however, because a lot of people assume Bulimia to be a case of uncontrolled …

Guest Post: Interview with Carolyn Skowron, Author of Unbreakable: Breaking the Silence, Finding my Voice, Sharing my Story

How did you get through the most depressing times?I think having support and love from friends and family is so important in going through hard times. My best friend in the entire world is the reason I am here today. Everyone needs support and someone to talk to regardless of it being friends, family, significant …

Guest Post: Why Diagnosing Bipolar Disorder is So Tough by G. Alex Patten, MD

Since its original description over 160 years ago, Bipolar Disorder has been a tough diagnosis to make accurately. At different times called “circular insanity,” “manic depressive psychosis,” and “manic depression,” Bipolar Disorder was not officially recognized as a standalone mental illness until 1980. Now we know that Bipolar Disorder is actually a group of four …

Guest Post: The Difference Between Mental Health & Mental Illness by Amelia Blackwater

What is Mental Health? Mental health reflects “our emotional, psychological, & social well-being.”  Mental health can affect, how we think, feel, & act.  For example, if we are having a day where our mental health is bad, it can have an impact on our self talk, how we interact with others, handle problems, & make …

Guest Post: Bipolar Disorder and Me by Lou Farrell

It has taken a long time for me to come to terms with my diagnosis of bipolar disorder. It was back in 2002, after the birth of my son, that things became a little strange, shall we say. Before 2002 I had been in and out of the hospital with depression; there was the idea …

Guest Post: Interview with Author of Breakdown: A Clinician’s Experience in a Broken System of Emergency Psychiatry

What inspired you to write the book, Breakdown: A Clinician’s Experience in a Broken System of Emergency Psychiatry, that got published in October of 2018?  I’m in my 14th year as a mobile emergency psychiatric social worker. Although most mobile psychiatric emergency cases have involved mentally high functioning patients, I’ve been most invigorated from helping …

Guest Post: Outside Looking In: A Story Told by The Husband of Someone with Bipolar Disorder by Johnny Whitfield

Johnny Whitfield is a former newspaper reporter and editor. For those struggling with a mental health diagnosis, the most important people in their lives are often their caregivers – the people who make sure they take their medicines, get to doctor’s appointments, and help them deal with the basic necessities of life. The responsibilities of …

Guest Post: 5 Ways to Combat Depression by Ken

Feeling depressed can be debilitating. It can make you feel as if you are in a void. Covered by a cloud of darkness and surrounded by a wave of emptiness. What makes it all the more abhorrent is that you cannot always differentiate that thought process from real life. When I experience a depressed mood, …

Guest Post: A Personal Story About Anxiety and Depression and How Science can be Used to Help with your Well-Being by Nicola

What Is Depression And Anxiety? Understanding The Science To Emotionally Regulate And Support Your General Wellbeing. Two words commonly expressed when discussing Mental Health. Yet are these merely normal emotions everyone feels on the emotional scale, and if so, how do you differentiate between feeling Depression (low mood) and Anxiety (nervous) to having disorders? As …