Mental Health

Open, honest dialogue about mental health is so important. These posts offer perspectives often missing from the conversation.

A white woman sitting next to closed blinds, using her fingers to open them and peek through the window to outside.

How Can We Protect Our Mental Health When Discussing Disability and Assisted Suicide?

Content note: discussion of mental illness, suicide, and physician-assisted suicide If you or someone you know are in need of support, please consider the following resources: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 En Español: 1-888-628-9454 For people who are deaf/hard-of-hearing: 1-800-799-4889…

Bobcat Front track Skid loader surrounded by grass and fallen leaves.

“Move Your Head” – A Lesson in Conquering Doubt and Worry

“What did you say?” I asked J.P. “You heard me. Move your head! It’s in the way!” We were within five inches of each other’s face. Close enough for a kiss, but the usually dreamy blue-green eyes of my husband…

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Safeguarding My Mental Health While Fighting Queerphobia in Zimbabwe

When you live in a country where laws are upheld that marginalize people who look like you, openly existing is a radical act of defiance. You know the risks of openly defying such laws. People vilify your existence, harming or…

Hungry for Change: On Inaccessible, Exclusionary, and Discriminatory Care for Autistic People with Eating Disorders

Trigger warnings: eating disorders, racism/racist health disparities, mental health disparities; ableism, misogyny, gaslighting of Black women and Latinas with eating disorders, homophobia, transphobia, fatphobia, and oppressive barriers to care The link between autism and anorexia is an international conversation,…

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Speaking Up Against the Hierarchy of Mental Illness Taboos

There’s a moment I think back to often from my senior year of college. Before the start of a meeting, I noticed my friends were visibly upset about some of the outrageous things a mutual friend with bipolar disorder (who…

A shape of a person's head filled halfway with bright, colorful holiday items including a snowman, christmas tree, ornaments, and a santa hat, juxtaposed with greyed out items on the rest of the face. The background is a gray cloudy sky.

Taking Care of My Mental Health During This Pandemic Holiday Season

The holidays can bring about emotions ranging from happiness and excitement to stress, grief, and loneliness. Figuring out how to navigate the many different elements of the holidays can be complicated, but it’s even more so this year as the…

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Four Ways to Improve Crisis Intervention Services for the Disability Community

Content note: includes discussion of mental health crises and police brutality In 2012, my own fear of the police due to previous trauma impacted my ability to call the crisis response team for a friend who was having a mental…

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Pushing Back Against Internalized Ableism: The Only Way Out is Through

Content note: includes discussion of eating disorders and treatment experiences, use of ableist slurs Before I had even heard the word “ableism,” I knew what it was. It was that pit in my stomach I got when meeting non-disabled people,…

Photo of the author wearing pink headphones and a hot pink jacket.

Coping with Body Dysmorphia

Finding information that are about body dysmorphia that’s by and for people who experience it can be incredibly challenging. The material is there, but you have to know where to look-it’s buried, mired in a lot of academic language. Let’s…