Welcome to another round of Mental Health Monday, your weekly source of goodness to help you get your mojo back and/or learn more about mental and emotional wellness and other vital information for your everyday life.
Also, too, happy birthday to Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds" (58), Q-Tip (47), and Orlando Jones (49) and their graceful aging. Shoutout to melanin.
THIS WEEK'S GOODNESS
"A Black Woman's Depression Story" by Porscha Coleman [She Knows]
"I was a young black woman, unemployed, needing help with my mental health. Any of these things would have been difficult, but the combination was beyond description, beyond my comprehension. I was raised in a household with a strong matriarch. My grandmother, a community activist and volunteer, worked tirelessly for children and senior citizens. My mother, a woman with more than 20 years employed with the federal government, was a volunteer in her own right. This was not supposed to be me. I was not supposed to need help with the act of coping."
"blank pages are safe... (anxiety poem)" by Alise Leslie [In My Mental Mind]
"Hi. Hello. Howdy. How’s it going?
If that’s okay to say
Sometimes I mess up salutations
I mean occasionally I am good at hellos
But I seem to be extra proficient at goodbyes
Yeah, I am really good at goodbyes.
Farewells are my specialty
Loss is pervasive, I got lots of practice."
via Instagram (Sonaksha)
"This Bengaluru artist's series on mental health is taking down taboos one alphabet at a time by Monalisa Das [The News Minute]
"A is for Anxiety disorder, which cannot be wished away and can actually get worse over time.
B is for Bipolar disorder, that causes unusual manic episodes and does not mean temper tantrums.
C is for Cotard delusion, a rare mental condition where a person believes that they are dead."
"Online Therapy Necessary To Address Growing Mental Health Burden" by Kate Kelland [Huffington Post]
"A “massive and growing” mental health burden across the world can only be tackled successfully with a major expansion of online psychiatric resources such as virtual clinics and web-based psychotherapies, specialists said on Tuesday.
With resources tight and the global mental health system only serving around 10 percent of patients even now, specialists speaking at the European Congress on Psychiatry (ECP) said the web is the only option for significant extra treatment capacity.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said last week mental disorders ― in particular depression ― are now the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide."
"Facts about Mental Illness in America" [Job Loving]
"People With Mental Illnesses Reveal How Depression, Anxiety, and Anorexia Can Make Them Seem Rude" by Kashmira Gander [Independent UK]
"From depression to anxiety, mental health issues are often painted as invisible illnesses, that aren't noticeable like a broken bone or a cut to the skin. Instead, the person silently battles against themselves behind closed doors.
But people who suffer from mental illness know that their conditions can indeed affect those around them. At times, symptoms like racing thoughts, paranoia and rock-bottom self-worth can make a person behave out of character. Sometimes, they can just come off as rude. And because of the stigma attached to mental illness, people can feel afraid to admit that they are acting up because their health is suffering."
"Do You Zone Out? Procrastinate? Might Be Adult ADHD" [NPR]
"Do you pop up from your seat during meetings and finish other people's sentences? And maybe you also procrastinate, or find yourself zoning out in the middle of one-on-one conversations?
It's possible you have adult ADHD.
Six simple questions can reliably identify adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, according to a World Health Organization advisory group working with two additional psychiatrists."
"The impacts of parenting on mothers struggling with mental health issues" by Fiona Pepper [Australian Broadcasting Co]
"Parenting is stressful at the best of times, but what if you're struggling with a mental illness?
Anne Buist, professor of women's mental health at the University of Melbourne, said we were struggling to support women with severe mental health issues.
"Maternal suicide is actually the leading cause of maternal deaths," she said.
"We've managed to treat infections, we've improved our ability to bring blood pressure down, but we are still battling to get on top of these really serious mental health problems.""
RESOURCES
Veterans and Active Duty Info (National Alliance on Mental Illness)
Resources for Victims and Survivors of Domestic Abuse (National Coalition Against Domestic Abuse)
