Mental Health Awareness Month and Content Creation: Lessons in Ethics I've learned in 5+ Years
It’s Mental Health Month 2023. And as over the years I’ve raised awareness in various ways, I am going to do something new and vulnerable. No, it’s not new that I’m being vulnerable, but I’ve been holding onto this info specifically for a few years. So here it goes—the ethics of talking about mental health on Twitch specifically.
On Mental Health Advocates Vs Mental Health Professionals. When Is It Your Place?
Even though 5% (43.8 million people 18 or older) of people experience a mental illness in any given year, many don’t seek help. An advocate is the stop gap, the bridge for people going from “Mental health is all just in your head” to mental health care is just as important to our well-being as our physical health.
How To Talk About Mental Health Safely: A Guide for Streamers
Online, you are not just a content creator but also a community leader. After over a year, 50+ interviews, and countless hours of preparation, combined with my training as a mental health first aid provider, a NoStigmas ally, and an Ambassador for Takethis.org, I’m at a place where people solicit my advice and help on how to advocate for mental health.
Why Taking The Mental Health First Aid Course Is a Great Idea
Did you know you can be certified in Mental Health First Aid like you can be certified for CPR and First Aid? I ask because I honestly had no idea until I started researching celebrities with mental health issues and found a football player who is very passionate about the cause. It likely won’t come as a surprise to any reader that I am not a sports ball fan, but I sure got excited like one.
4 Things You Do After Growing Up With Narcissistic Parents
Narcissism Personality Disorder is a mental health issue which does not have to be synonymous with being mean or vindictive or even a bad parent. But when all those qualities align we, as children, are forced to learn bad habits in order to survive our toxic environment. Here’s a list that may help identify negative coping behaviors we may have picked up through our shared experiences as children of narcissists.
7 Common Signs It’s Time to Actually See a Therapist
Not only is there still a lot of stigma surrounding mental health, but the nature of some illnesses is that it’s easy enough to assume you have it under control, that you’re fine or insert your excuse here. That's why it's hard to argue with someone if they believe they are truly ok.
Anxiety Relief Kit Part I
To manage, somewhere in the back of brain, I have been putting together an Anxiety Kit. It’s a combination of things that I have used to help soothe the bad moments, to distract my mind from itself and avoid the grand finale—a panic attack. It’s a combination of coping mechanisms I have found in workbooks, heard from my therapist, or brought to me by friends. In hopes that it will help you too, I wrote them all down.
No, You Can't Just Suck It Up When You're Depressed
When I am depressed, I tend to avoid reading about other people’s symptoms, because it is usually too painful or hits too close to home. Even though I know so many of us feel the same way, when I am down, I often just want to unplug and not think about the stigma, the pain, and all the other problems that come along with mental illness. However, as if on cue, I will come across stuff like this:
How to End the Mental Health Stigma Club
With 6.9% of Americans reporting to have suffered a depressive episode in 2012 alone, we shouldn’t be saying things like, “what now all millennials are depressed” or “you just need to think positively more”. Instead, maybe we can research the problems and find a way to help those who need it, become comfortable receiving help. Not doing so, leaves people waiting longer to get better. And for those of us who do get help, it feels like you’ve joined a club so secret, even its members don’t know who’s in the club with them.