Mental Health Month may be over, but we are still dedicated to empowering individuals to “light their way” to better mental health, happiness, and improved well-being. As part of this commitment, we are continuing to profile “Mental Health Warriors,” or individuals who have been outspoken in their advocacy and support for mental health issues. This week, we caught up with West Hollywood city councilor, human rights lawyer, and LGBTQ activist, John Duran....

Every June, communities across the world celebrate Pride, also known as “Gay Pride” or “LGBTQ Pride.” For many it’s a celebration of identity, representing freedom of expression and freedom from social oppression. For others Pride represents a time in which they can watch from afar those who have been able to live their lives in an “out and proud” way. For people not in the LGBTQ communities, the month’s events may represent something different....

Despite the fact that an estimated 45% of all marriages in the US end in divorce, I was committed to not be on that side of the bleak statistic. My own parents divorced when I was 11. I remember how difficult it was for me to understand that they didn’t love one another any more, that my love for them both wasn’t enough. I was powerless to bring them back together....

It is possible to experience childhood adversity and still feel good as an adult. In my most recent study of 310 successful men and women — featured in my latest book,The Adversity Advantage— 40% experienced child abuse, witnesseddomestic violence, or had an alcoholic/substance abusing parent struggling withaddiction. If you broaden the definition to include poverty, death of a family member, divorce, or mental illness, 60% experienced serious childhood adversity. In spite of these impactful childhood problems, this group of successful people reported a high level of life satisfaction as adults, much higher than the average in the population....

When Zak married his ex-wife, he wasn’t sure they were compatible. At the time it didn’t deter him, however. He was in love, and that seemed like enough. “I think that’s normal,” Zak said. Rather than spending time as amarried couplewithout children, Zak and his wife started a family immediately after the honeymoon. After their first child was born, and somewhere between multiple moves, career shifts, and learning to be parents, their relationship became strained....

After a 25 year marriage, to the woman who I thought was the love of my life, I am now divorced and single. I know lots of men who say that divorce is the best thing that’s ever happened to them. For me that’s not the case. My ex-wife left me for a man 20 years younger than me. That fact alone was alone was enough to send my mind down a deep, dark rabbit hole....

Well, in short, drawing on my arms with red marker only increased my desire to see real blood and holding ice cubes didn’t hurt enough. At the end of the day, all I wanted to do was cut or burn for real. And I still felt overwhelmed. It turns out I’m not alone in this experience, and these popular substitute self-injury alternatives are partly to blame. The Problem with Self-Harm Substitutes The problem with holding ice or snapping a rubber band on your wrist comes is that these are not alternatives — they are not distracting a person during a moment of crisis — but rather, they are merely substitutes....

It sounds weird to think we need to pay attention to our mental health while on vacation. After all, there’s plenty of evidence showingvacations improve our mental health. But when you go on vacation, you leave behind the comfort of a familiar environment, the support of a therapist, and the consistency of a routine. A vacation can actually trigger mental illness symptom flare ups, whether you’retraveling aloneor with friends or family....

When I worked with atherapistfor the first time, I did not imagine it was something I would ever enjoy. Part of it was the way I started. My parents nagged me into going. After doctors were unable to diagnose or treat mysleep deprivation, my mom suggested it might be related to mental health and that seeing a therapist could help. After months of resisting her recommendations, I finally booked an appointment....

Updated 9/22/2021 Good mental health is both a state of mind as well as a lifestyle. Part of this stems from developing a rational, positive mindset about yourself and the world around you. Doing things you love, and sustaining a manageable level of stress, both help facilitate good mental health and mental wellness. But there’s more to it when it comes to knowinghow to help your mental health. That’s why it’s so important to have a lifestyle that helps maintain a positive state of mind....

Throughout Mental Health Month, we are focused on ways to empower individuals to “light their way” to better mental health, happiness, and improved well-being. As part of this celebration, we profiled “Mental Health Warriors,” individuals who have been outspoken in their advocacy and support for mental health issues. We caught up with famed NFL wide receiver, mental health advocate, and founder of Project 375, Brandon Marshall. Talkspace:You have been open about sharing your experience with havingBorderline Personality Disorder....

Eventually, hysteria came fully to be thought of as a mental illness and not necessarily to be associated with the sexual and reproductive well-being of a woman. The term itself, however,didn’t disappear from doctors’ lexicons until the 1950swhen the American Psychiatric Association removed it from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the bible of modern psychiatry. The most common condition currently associated with classical “hysteria” isBorderline Personality Disorder(BPD). Even now there is a prevailingstigma against people who suffer from BPD....

After a 25 year marriage, to the woman who I thought was the love of my life, I am now divorced and single. I know lots of men who say that divorce is the best thing that’s ever happened to them. For me that’s not the case. While the idea of a 50% divorce rate has embedded itself in our imagination — it’s a difficult number to pin down, but it’s actually been declining since its height in 1980 — divorce remains a life-altering change that brings tremendous stress andanxiety....

While Talkspace is not available to people under 18-years-old, we recognize the importance of providing support for the parents of children with mental health issues. As a mental health nurse practitioner, I prescribe medications to adults on a daily basis. With my son, however, my husband and I took great pause in pursuing a medication regimen for him and putting pills in such a tiny body. Medications help for some people, along with appropriate lifestyle changes....

I was going to have my dream wedding, marry my dream man, and live happily ever after. Unfortunately adult reality does not always align with childhood dreams. My own parents divorced when I was 11. I remember how difficult it was for me to understand that they didn’t love one another any more, that my love for them both wasn’t enough. I was powerless to bring them back together. Those feelings haunted me far into my teens....