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In: Living with Mental Illness, Personal Stories, Supporting a Loved One
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Mental illness is very real and affects everyone around, not just the person living with it. Do you know anyone with a mental illness, have you lived with someone and seen it first hand? If not, you won’t know how stressful it truly can be. As someone who knows, it can play a tole on you and you may not even realize it. I’ve already been through it with my father and brother and it was very stressful. I don’t know if it was the best way, but my way of handling my father and his manic depression was living a life in books. ReadingRead More →

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In: Agoraphobia, Anxiety, Depression, Living with Mental Illness, Personal Stories, Supporting a Loved One
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This was written by someone very close to me who lives with mental illness. I see what it’s like for them to develop anxiety and panic just because they have to go out the door or when it comes time to write an email. I see first hand how isolating mental illness can be, by family and friends and themselves…like they say, it’s lost freedom. People need to know living with mental illness IS NOT a choice.Read More →

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In: General, Living with Mental Illness, Personal Stories, Supporting a Loved One
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As I’ve speak about frequently,  my family, in the form of my daughter, has been crucial to my recovery. When it came down to it, and I truly needed her to be there, she was.  When I was in the hospital in Orlando, the first outside call I made was to her.  My life was in crisis, and I knew I had her unconditional love.  Which she freely gave.  And we planned on my making a move to live near her. However it could be accomplished.  Not everybody is as lucky as I was in this regard.  Many of those living with mental illness don’tRead More →

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In: Bipolar, Coping Tips, Living with Mental Illness, Personal Stories, Supporting a Loved One
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By Elena Peters thebipolarmaniac.com   In many ways, my marriage is no different than anyone else’s marriage. This is the second marriage for both my husband and I. We both have children from previous marriages. We both have ex-spouses that are still involved in our lives on a daily basis. We have extended families with varied backgrounds, sprinkled all around the world. We have jobs and mortgages and commitments that pull us in all sorts of directions. Just like any other marriage, there are things that bug me! My husband leaves the toilet seat up, doesn’t put the cap back on the toothpaste and leavesRead More →

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In: Coping Tips, Depression, In The Workplace, Living with Mental Illness, Personal Stories, Supporting a Loved One
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Being broke and having depression go hand-in-hand. I’m really sick of it. Even if money can’t buy happiness, it can buy basic necessities like food and shelter. It’s pretty hard to be happy without those things. I need more money, but my symptoms of depression make finding a job really difficult. While the average person in their twenties focuses on building a resume, I’ve been focused on surviving my depression. Instead of attending post-secondary school, I’ve been in depression treatment, learning about my own experiences and how to cope in everyday life. Living with depression is a full time job.Read More →

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If you are a friend or relative of a loved one with mental illness, you too suffer the effects of the disorder. Burn out, compassion fatigue, hopelessness and feelings of powerlessness can go hand in hand while accompanying someone on their journey of recovery. As much as the struggle is theirs; it’s yours as well. You, as a personal caregiver are equally if not more vulnerable to burnout as those who are in the helping professions. Caregiver burnout: not just a sporadic weekend of feeling overwhelmed and overtired, but an unrelenting fatigue and emotional exhaustion which forces hundreds of people to take extended periods ofRead More →

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In: Anxiety, Coping Tips, Living with Mental Illness, Supporting a Loved One
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Silver & Grace guest post author, Jill Green, expands on this with an entire list of advice for loved ones of anxiety sufferers. If you love someone who suffers from severe anxiety or panic attacks, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed and frustrated. You know they are in a lot of pain and struggle with aspects of life that you don’t quite understand. You want to help, but maybe you don’t know how to approach the situation. Here are 10 tips to help a loved one with anxiety.Read More →

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In: Depression, In The News, Living with Mental Illness, Personal Stories, Supporting a Loved One
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BELLEVILLE – Michael Teasdale never thought about killing himself. But he did feel like curling up in a corner and letting life roll over him until it flattened him out of existence. The Stirling man and Loyalist College student was just one of the walkers in Wednesday’s Defeat Depression at the school, aimed at raising awareness of mental illness.Read More →

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In: Coping Tips, Depression, Living with Mental Illness, Personal Stories, Supporting a Loved One
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Last November, I was diagnosed with depression. Depression is an illness which provokes a wide range of reactions in people, depending on their own experiences. It is, to me, something intangible- just when I think I’ve understood its impact on my life and those around me, it slips away and mutates into something else. Some days I am able to brush it aside, other days it lies on me like a hot, heavy, suffocating blanket, preventing me from doing anything and leaving me tearful with frustration. I think for sufferers and for those who deal with them, be it friends, family or colleagues, depression isRead More →

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A Guide To Understanding Paranoid Disorder How to Cope with Paranoia Living with someone who has been diagnosed with paranoia requires patience, compassion, and strong personal boundaries. The following tips can help you provide the necessary support and assistance to help him in his struggle to overcome paranoia. Encourage compliance with treatment – His mistrust may interfere with his willingness to take prescribed medications or attend therapy sessions. This occurs commonly in people being treated for paranoia and slows their recovery significantly. Encourage him to follow his treatment program.Read More →