June 1, 2016
A PTSD Month Statement From Our CEO
With the start of June, we begin PTSD Awareness Month and as with so many other mental health challenges, individuals with PTSD often face loneliness and stigma. The traumatic events that can cause PTSD, like a sexual or physical assault, the unexpected death of a loved one, an accident, a battlefield experience or a natural… View Article
June 1, 2016
#WriteOnSarah: Mental Illness in Children – Invisible Until You Look
Sarah Vander Schaaff is a writer, blogger and a mother of two from New Jersey, who has struggled with Obsessive-compulsive disorder for as long as she can remember. Her courageous column in the Washington Post (“Obsessive –compulsive disorder nearly ruined her life”, January 4th) received international attention for its honesty and openness. This is the… View Article
May 31, 2016
Mental Health: Truth and Gratitude Time
May is Mental Health Month but what about the other 334 days of the year? For most of us in this line of work every month is mental health month and we are all too intimately familiar with the anguish and despair we hear from those who are struggling. For many who reach out to… View Article
May 23, 2016
Why We Fought to Make A Film About Mental Health
A few years ago, I read a pair blog posts, from professional screenwriters, about how you don’t often see depression in films or on TV. The (somewhat understandable) general concession from each writer was that it’s tough to get a general audience to follow a character whose state renders him/her more “passive” than “active” –… View Article
May 23, 2016
DJ Wilkerson: Growing & Thriving Thanks to MHA-NYC
Nothing. That’s what I’ve been called. That’s what I’ve been amounted to. That’s what I felt like. That’s never what I thought I’d be. I was born and raised in Harlem. My father gone before I was born, my older brother gone by the time I was 6, and my mother a devout Christian. I… View Article
May 22, 2016
New Film Addresses The Missing Voice in Suicide Prevention Efforts
A new film, ‘A Voice at the Table‘, addresses the need for the inclusion of attempt survivors in suicide prevention efforts. Until recently, their voices have gone unheard. “The Center for Disease Control tells us that approximately 38,000 people in the United States die by suicide. With those 38,000 that die by suicide, 25 attempt…. View Article
May 10, 2016
My Work in Child Welfare for MHA-NYC
Working in the field of child welfare, whether it is preventive, foster care, or child protection is a choice and it is not for everyone. There are probably some days, sometimes where we might think it is not even for us. The choice to go out into the field, into people’s homes (sometimes invited, sometimes… View Article
May 6, 2016
#WriteOnSarah: One Sunday in May is not Enough
Sarah Vander Schaaff is a writer, blogger and a mother of two from New Jersey, who has struggled with Obsessive-compulsive disorder for as long as she can remember. Her courageous column in the Washington Post (“Obsessive –compulsive disorder nearly ruined her life”, January 4th) received international attention for its honesty and openness. This is the… View Article
May 4, 2016
Help Us Support National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day
In celebration of Mental Health Awareness Month, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is supporting National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day (Awareness Day) efforts to increase access to behavioral health services and supports for children, youth, and young adults who experience mental or substance use disorders and their families. The Awareness Day… View Article