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By Marisa Lancione About Marisa Lancione Marisa Lancione is a mental health advocate who was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder II 8 years ago. Despite being stable for the past 4 years, she still struggles to find balance in life while managing a mental illness. Marisa is a media relations professional and when she isn’t fighting stigma, she can usually be found reading, writing or tweeting. Since I started to share my mental health story with the public, people keep telling me that I’m brave. As flattering as that is, I don’t consider myself brave because many before me, and many after me, will share storiesRead More →

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As the mother of a daughter who suffers from anxiety and panic attacks, Pringle has a personal stake in bringing awareness to mental health issues. Valerie Pringle is recognized for her contributions to the communications field and as an advocate. She is an accomplished master of ceremonies and delivers presentations that focus on bringing people together to find solutions, whether it’s about mental health, empowering women, or workplace awareness.Read More →

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I thank Mark for our brief conversation the other day and the opportunity to share his story. He has given me permission to post his articles on our blog….look for them as I post them. Very insightful!! Informed by his direct experience with stigma and the mental health care system as an adolescent, Mark dedicated his life from an early age to opening minds and creating change. He has served as the youngest President of a provincial Canadian Mental Health Association division in history. He is currently the youngest ever board member for the Mental Health Commission of Canada.Read More →

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Hamilton Spectator By Rachael Williams Danielle Berman vividly remembers the day she pulled up to her driveway in a friend’s vehicle and got the news that her father had died by suicide. Fifteen years later, the Dundas native has finally made peace with his death and is biking across Canada to raise awareness about the stigmatization of those suffering from mental health issues. She started her 4,280-kilometre trip in Vancouver in July and will arrive at Dundas Driving Park on Sept. 7.Read More →

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by Mara Wilson http://www.cracked.com/ We live in the Age of Awkward. It’s hip to be square, cool to be uncool, and sexy to be nerdy (and above all, quirky). And there’s no better way to assert your individuality and weirdness than branding yourself “so OCD” about something. Except that OCD isn’t a quirk or a set of tendencies or a BuzzFeed list; it’s an incapacitating, isolating disease that makes you afraid of your own mind. Here’s what it’s really like to have OCD.Read More →

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by Nilam Chhetri http://sidebysidemh.com/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/sidebysidemh Twitter: @nilam_chhetri I am captivated by the topic of mental health. I spend countless hours reading new studies, shuffling through blogs, attending workshops, listening to Ted Talks, watching documentaries – all to get a deeper and wider understanding of mental health and wellness. It’s almost an obsession. Almost. It’d be downright weird if I didn’t have a good reason for it. I do: I lost my brother to suicide about 15 years ago, and soon after, my sister was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. I am neither articulate nor imaginative enough to accurately describe how difficult the diagnosis was forRead More →

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A soldier returns safely after surviving sniper fire and roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the hypervigilance and suppressed emotions that kept him alive have taken a heavy toll. By Jeremy Profitt I came home from Iraq in March 2004, yet I’m still fighting a war, a war here at home. It’s a war of shadows, one that no one seems to really understand. A war of anger and anxiety, fought in the recesses of my mind.Read More →

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Gwen Marsh http://www.heretohelp.bc.ca/ It was supposed to be an ideal solution. My husband had a new job in a new city. I could keep my old job by working from home. Having flexible hours meant more time for my four-year-old little girl. However, the ideal turned out to be a set-up for disaster. I work as an interaction designer (i.e., I optimize how people interact with the Web) and market researcher for an online company. Before our move, I was heavily involved in a big project that required me to work long hours. I loved it. Despite the pressure, I was keenly aware that IRead More →