08
Apr
2016
Written by Therese Borchard / Everyday Health
Whenever I hit a depression rut, where I feel disabled by the illness and therefore pathetic for being brought to my knees by a bunch of thoughts, it helps me to review celebrities — esteemed politicians, actors, musicians, comedians, astronauts, writers, and athletes — that I admire from both the past and present who have also wrestled the demons of depression andbipolar disorder. I feel less alone knowing that this infuriating condition doesn’t discriminate, and that I’m fighting alongside some of the world’s most talented and accomplished people. Here are a few of the luminaries that have, over the course of their lives, shed some of the stigma of mental illness with their stories and who serve as inspiring role models for those of us in the trenches.
1. Ashley Judd
While visiting her sister, country singer Wynonna Judd, at a treatment center in 2006, counselors suggested that the actress and political activist check herself in, too. So Ashley Judd did just that and spent 47 days in a Texas treatment facility for depression and emotional problems. In a Today interview, she told Matt Lauer:
I was absolutely certifiably crazy, and now I get to have a solution. And for those who are codependent or suffer from depression, there is a solution.
In her memoir, All That Is Bitter and Sweet, Judd describes the abuse and neglect in her turbulent upbringing that led, in part, to her emotional pain and breakdown — and also the hope she feels by focusing on humanitarian work around the world.
07
Apr
2016
Written by Brian Zahn / New Haven Register
n New Haven, says Abbe Miller, director of the Graduate Art Therapy program at Albertus Magnus College, there is a lively art scene, one in which art is sometimes identified as a way to heal. Art therapy is a profession that uses artistic techniques, Miller said. In practice, an art therapist uses both art as therapy and therapy as art. Evie Lindemann, associate professor and clinical coordinator for the Albertus program, called it a “blended program.” The graduate program at Albertus Magnus is the only accredited art therapy program in the state, and only one of 39 in the nation, Miller said. The program was established to address mental health challenges in 1997, conceptualized by professor Ragaa Mazen.
06
Apr
2016
Written by Maranda Tankersley / The Oracle
Ah, spring. The sun is shining, the temperatures are remotely higher than before and the amount of depressive episodes I face will hopefully decrease now that the weather is getting better. Yes, you read that correctly. My name is Maranda and I suffer from clinical depression and anxiety. I have days where getting out of bed is the hardest task I have to face that day and I struggle with getting through the day without letting my depression show. I put myself under immense pressure to be the best for everyone else, ignoring my needs. Turns out that I’m not alone. 44 percent of American college students experience symptoms of depression, according to Healthline Network. To make matters worse, 75 percent of college students do not seek help for those mental health problems, and young adults diagnosed with depression are five times more likely to attempt suicide than adults. Why do so many students neglect their mental health during some of their most important years in life? Is it because of the stigma society has put on mental issues? Is it the stubbornness of our generation, where admitting that we need help ultimately means that we are weak or a failure? Or is it the fear that our friends, family or classmates will judge us for having it? All three? If so, I get that. I’ve been there. It’s taken years of pent up emotions and a multitude of bad life experiences for me to finally walk into the Counseling Center and say those three dreadful words: “I need help.” It took two years to admit to my mother that I had once attempted suicide, while I was away at school. I was (and still am) afraid of what everyone in my life thought of me and of the decisions I make on a daily basis. If you’ve experienced that or something similar, I’m sure I know how you feel. But once I did seek help, the weight of the world has slowly been lifted off my shoulders.
05
Apr
2016
Written by Claire Galvin / The Daily Campus
Ruff Day, a new student initiative, is looking to bring more pets to campus to combat mental health problems and the general loneliness that students sometimes feel living on a college campus. The organization will make their first appearance at the University of Connecticut’s Fresh Check Day, held on April 23 from noon to 4 p.m. Fresh Check Day is a mental health initiative and the signature event of the Jordan Porco Foundation. Porco committed suicide as a college freshman, and in response his family began the nonprofit to help other students in need and to reduce the stigma about mental illnesses. Fresh Check Days take place throughout the Northeast and are expanding nationwide. The Fresh Check Day will serve as a pilot test for Ruff Day. If student feedback is positive and expansive, the organization will look to make more animal therapy appearances at campus events.
04
Apr
2016
Written by Gabrielle Moss / Bustle
On the surface, it might seem like there’s not too much of a difference between bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder. Both mental health disorders can involve mood shifts and problems with impulse control — so much so that even doctors in a clinical setting can sometimes have a difficult time telling the two disorders apart when making an initial diagnosis. Though bipolar disorder involves a series of manic or depressive “mood episodes,” while borderline personality disorder is more about an ongoing pattern of behavior, the extreme ups and downs that sufferers of both disorders must deal with can make them look awfully similar from the outside. If you have questions about a loved one’s unpredictable moods — or even your own — you might have a hard time figuring out which disorder seems more applicable to your situation.
02
Apr
2016
Written by Kristy Eldredge / Splitsider
The link between depression and comedy is well known; Woody Allen shot to fame joking about low self-esteem, while currently, Maria Bamford and Louis CK turn depression into comic gold — even if, in Bamford’s case at least, the off-stage struggle with it was painful and scary. The British Journal of Psychiatry found in a 2014 study of 523 comedians that they scored “significantly higher” than the norms for depression in four areas, noting, “Most striking was the comedians’ high score on both introverted anhedonia and extroverted impulsiveness.” “Introverted anhedonia” is a good way to describe the humor of talented standup comedian Aparna Nancherla, whose pithy expression of the depressive mindset is gaining her an impassioned following on Twitter, where she contributes one-liners that rival Allen’s in their self-deprecating moroseness.
31
Mar
2016
Written by Leonor Vivanco / Chicago Tribune
Rats genetically bred to be depressed improved greatly after spending a month in a stimulating “playground” with toys and hiding places, Northwestern University researchers reported. The study, published Tuesday in the Translational Psychiatry journal, set out to determine whether a fun environment would decrease depression or a stressful environment would increase depression, said lead study investigator Eva Redei, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. The study found that rats genetically bred to be depressed saw a “dramatic” reduction in depression-like behavior after undergoing rat psychotherapy: spending one month in a “playground” — large cages where they could play with toys, climb and hide, Redei said.
30
Mar
2016
Written by Jo Abbott / The Conversation
The relationship between insomnia and mental illness is bidirectional: about 50 percent of adults with insomnia have a mental health problem, while up to 90 percent of adults with depression experience sleep problems. Sleep problems can also create a loop, slowing recovery from mental illness. People with depression who continue to experience insomnia, for instance, are less likely to respond to treatment for depression. They are also at greater risk of relapse than those without sleeping problems. It is unclear how insomnia makes a person more likely to develop mental illness. Research suggests, however, that it may affect our ability to process negative emotions. In one study, sleep-deprived people were found to show greater emotional reactivity to unpleasant images than to pleasant images or images with neutral emotional content. People who weren’t sleep-deprived showed no differences in emotional reactivity. In another study, brain scans revealed that people with insomnia showed greater activity in the brain’s emotional processing area when they used a strategy to reduce their negative reactions to images than when they did not use this strategy. That suggests insomnia makes it difficult to react appropriately to negative emotions. This may exacerbate their sleep difficulties and make them vulnerable to experiencing depression.
29
Mar
2016
Written by JR Thorpe / Bustle
If you suspect a friend is suffering from an anxiety disorder and you want to help them, the first order of business is to talk to them about it — because you can’t help your friend unless they agree that they want your help. But how can you tell if they’re struggling with anxiety in the first place — especially if your friend isn’t quite sure about it, either? Anxiety disorders, like many mood disorders, are unfortunately sometimes hard to spot, since they’re not like visible diseases — the sufferers don’t go around with red spots and a temperature. If you know what you’re looking for, however, it becomes a little easier to see whether your friend is simply a bit high-strung, or if they are suffering from something more intense and disordered.
28
Mar
2016
Written by Goldie Taylor / The Daily Beast
Sixteen months after the horrific, near-fatal accident that claimed the life of of one of his closest friends, funnyman Tracy Morgan made a triumphant return to Studio 8F in Rockefeller Plaza. Fellow comedian James “Jimmy Mack” McNair died in the multi-car pileup on a rain-soaked highway in New Jersey, and Morgan was lucky to be alive, he told the Saturday Night Live audience. “I’m back. It feels so good to be here,” Morgan exclaimed from center stage. “You may have seen on the news I was in a terrible car accident a year ago. It was awful. But it also showed me how much love and support I have in this world.” What he did not say as he opened the show that night—and what the audience could not have possibly known—is that after eight days in a coma and amid months in a hospital bed, Morgan suffered a debilitating mental collapse and contemplated taking his own life. “I was in a very dark place,” Morgan told Rolling Stone. “I was sitting right here, contemplating suicide.” His path to recovery was as much about the rigors of physical therapy as it was about making peace with himself and embracing the road ahead.
Morgan battled what is known as “survivor’s guilt.” As he spiraled into depression, trapped in a fog of grief, Morgan blamed himself for the tragic collision that killed McNair.