Understanding the cycle of depression (and how to break it)
Depression is a mental health condition that can seriously impact the state of your life. It’s usually a chronic condition. This means that a person is likely to experience symptoms more than once throughout their lifetime. The symptoms of depression can feel like a...
How to help your child cope with PTSD after a sibling’s death
Having one of your children pass away can cause an imaginable pain that refuses to fade. While the death of a person is a loss to all of those closest to them, their immediate family feels it the most. And if you’re a parent who lost a child, it’s easy to think of the...
How to help teens who cut (or self-harm in other ways)
We all get cuts and bruises, right? When you see one on your teenager, you ask, “What happened?” and they’ll probably reply with something like, “My friend’s cat scratched me,” or “I hit my hand on a desk at school.” But what do you do when those cuts and scrapes...
When to take your teen’s suicide threats seriously
Suicide is a serious matter, but we often hear teens make “jokes” like “If I have to look at one more math equation, I’m going to kill myself,” or “I’d rather die than have to wake up early tomorrow.” While their tone may be light, the implication can still be...
7 steps to take when someone with PTSD pushes you away
What do you do when you want to help someone close to you who has PTSD, but they keep pushing you away? It’s never easy, especially when you see them struggle with a mental health disorder like PTSD. What is PTSD? Post-traumatic stress disorder is a psychiatric...
“People don’t fake depression; they fake being OK”: How to recognize depression in a loved one
When you meet someone, it’s easy to make a snap judgment about them. We believe that based on their behavior, personality and facial expressions during a conversation, that we have an understanding of who they are. But people often wear a mask, and you may be...
My friend is a depressed divorced parent: How can I help them?
Marriage is hard, but divorce can be harder, which is why depression can occur after a married couple breaks up. While the rate of marriage is 5.1 marriages per every 1,000 people, divorce has a rate of 2.3 per every 1,000 people. As an adult, you probably know at...
How to recognize high-functioning bipolar disorder (and how to help)
Some people have mental health disorders with very prevalent symptoms. Yet there are also people who have high-functioning disorders with symptoms that aren’t easy to notice. Symptom noticeability can also vary from person to person. As a result, it may seem like a...
What to do when your spouse’s mental illness is affecting your family’s income
Mental illness can affect every part of a person’s life. It can damage their mental and emotional health as well as their ability to handle everyday responsibilities. For example, a symptom of bipolar disorder is having trouble concentrating, while many people with...