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Tag: mental health issues

  • Rep. Dan Crenshaw Checks On Pete Davidson After Mental Health Scare

    Rep. Dan Crenshaw Checks On Pete Davidson After Mental Health Scare

    After Pete Davidson made a concerning mental health post on Instagram, Rep. Dan Crenshaw called him to offer his support.

    Despite being mocked by Pete Davidson about a month ago, Texas Rep.-elect and veteran Dan Crenshaw recently reached out to the comedian after Davidson made a concerning post on Instagram. 

    According to The Washington Post, Davidson’s post read, “i really don’t want to be on this earth anymore. i’m doing my best to stay here for you but i actually don’t know how much longer i can last. all i’ve ever tried to do was help people. just remember i told you so.”

    After seeing the post, Crenshaw called Davidson to check in on him, the Post reports. 

    “It was pretty devastating,” Crenshaw told NBC affiliate KPRC. “You don’t want to see somebody in that kind of position to the point where they’re actually putting out a cry for help on social media. That’s not a good place to be in.”



    “We don’t go back very far. We’re not good friends. But I think he appreciated hearing from me,” Crenshaw added. “What I told him was this: Everybody has a purpose in this world. God put you here for a reason. It’s your job to find that purpose — and you should live that way.”



    Davidson raised controversy after an SNL segment where he made fun of the fact that Crenshaw wears an eyepatch. Crenshaw wears the eyepatch because he lost his right eye due to a blast during a 2012 tour in Afghanistan. 

    There was extensive backlash from Davidson’s comments, the Post states, and eventually he apologized on air for his behavior, as well as in person to Crenshaw.

    “I made a joke about Lieutenant Commander Dan Crenshaw, and on behalf of the show and myself, I apologize,” Davidson said, according to the Post. “I mean this from the bottom of my heart. It was a poor choice of words. . . . The man is a war hero, and he deserves all the respect in the world.”

    This is not Davidson’s first social media post drawing attention to his mental health. He has discussed it openly, including his diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. He recently posted about being the victim of online bullying. 

    According to Crenshaw, he told Davidson, “Know that you have value and that you do more good than you realize for people.”


    “Especially a guy like that,” Crenshaw told KPRC. “He makes people laugh. Sometimes he makes people mad — but he makes people laugh a lot. And that’s what we talked about. It was a good conversation.”

    According to the Post, the NYPD also confirmed making a wellness check on Davidson after being alerted about the post. 

    Some celebrities and fans also reached out to Davidson. Among them were rapper Nicki Minaj, actress Jada Pinkett Smith, TV personality Meghan McCain and rapper Machine Gun Kelly, according to the Post.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Is It Holiday Stress Or Symptoms Of Depression?

    Is It Holiday Stress Or Symptoms Of Depression?

    A recent Forbes article explores the differences between holiday stress, holiday blues and depression and what you can do to contend with them.

    While the December holiday season is typically a joyful time of the year, it can also be a period of considerable stress over gift-giving, travel and visitors, workloads and a host of other related issues.

    Expectations of happiness can also result in the “holiday blues” – feelings of loneliness, loss or isolation that can be exacerbated by the pace and tone of the time period – which can be compounded by the clash between a negative or sad experience, like the loss of a loved one and the pace of the holidays. In some cases, these feelings may be indicative of an actual underlying depression.

    A new essay by Forbes contributor Jeanne Croteau attempts to differentiate between holiday stress, holiday blues and genuine depression that may occur as December winds down into the new year, and what you can do to contend with them.

    As Croteau noted, it’s normal to experience some holiday stress due to the sheer amount of expectations and obligations that happen, often at the same time, during this time of year. The shorter, darker days of the winter months can also have an impact on your mood and can result in Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), which can take a toll on your mood, energy and ability to sleep. Treatment options for this condition can include therapy, medication or light therapy. 

    What’s important, according to the feature, is to be aware if you are feeling depressed or alienated during the holiday season and to take action when possible. It can be easy, as Croteau noted, to wait for others around you to take notice of your feelings, but in the hectic pace of the holidays, they may miss the often subtle suggestions of depression. As a result, individuals can feel that those whom they consider loved ones don’t care, or consider them a burden.

    Reaching out to friends and family during periods of holiday depression can be crucial. Letting people know what one is experiencing can be an important first step in receiving support that can lead to more substantive assistance. Face-to-face meetings, phone calls and texts can all be lifelines that are needed in the face of oppressive sadness.

    There are also professionals who can provide greater insight or assistance to those in need. Therapists and support groups can be useful options, depending on your location and financial ability; barring those, the article cited the National Suicide Prevention Hotline (1-800-273-8255) and Crisis Text Line as viable options for immediate assistance.

    The Forbes piece concludes with a call to readers to reach out to others – friends and family or otherwise – to reaffirm commitments and care. Calling or spending time with friends and loved ones and asking – and listening – to how they’re doing can be, as Croteau stated, “the biggest gift you can give anyone during the holiday season.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Patrick Kennedy On The State Of Addiction, Suicide Rates

    Patrick Kennedy On The State Of Addiction, Suicide Rates

    “If this were some other illness that evoked the same type of compassion that other illnesses receive, we would be spending dramatically more money to combat these rising suicide and overdose rates,” Patrick Kennedy said.

    Patrick Kennedy recently spoke to US News about the latest statistics on addiction and suicide and what he believes could be at the root of the problem.

    Kennedy says recent news about the drop in US life expectancy due to suicide and drug overdose deaths was “extremely shocking, but frankly, not surprising.”

    He added, “As a nation, we’re absolutely in denial about how bad this crisis is. If this were some other illness that evoked the same type of compassion that other illnesses receive, we would be spending dramatically more money to combat these rising suicide and overdose rates.”

    Kennedy has been very vocal about the stigma surrounding addiction and mental health. In his book, A Common Struggle, he detailed his own experience of living with addiction and bipolar disorder. Kennedy believes stigma plays a massive role in preventing people with addiction and/or mental health issues from getting the treatment they need.

    “The real tragedy is what it says about the people who suffer from these illnesses – they’re still shamed by their illness, they’re overwhelmingly stigmatized,” he tells US News. “They’re relegated to a system of care that is substandard at best.”

    Addressing the increased rates of addiction and suicide, Kennedy said, “There is obviously great complexity to all of the causes and how they converge together to create the crisis that we’re in right now,” and he also felt “there’s a well-established narrative here that pharma had a huge responsibility for this, and there should be a huge national settlement in helping to create this crisis…”

    Kennedy added, “I think that both insurance companies and Big Pharma made a lot of money in this process, and a lot of people died. And I think if we’re going to go after the pharmaceutical industry, then it would be absolutely inexplicable why we would not also go after the insurance industry with the same fervor for their part in letting this crisis unfold without doing what we needed to do to address it.”

    Kennedy also took time to reflect on the 10-year anniversary of the Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, which he called “a medical civil rights bill” where people are treated for mental health and addiction on the same “primary care level, secondary care level and tertiary care level as you would find when treating any other medical surgical illness.”

    Yet Kennedy recently acknowledged that the act still has a long way to go, and he started a website in October called Don’t Deny Me, where people can report insurance companies that won’t cover their addiction and mental health issues.

    He told The Washington Post, “There are plenty of solutions to bring people the care they need, but what is missing is the political will and the economic and legal pressure to make it happen and that’s why we’re marking the anniversary.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Rob Tanchum's New Comedy Album Finds Humor In Mental Health

    Rob Tanchum's New Comedy Album Finds Humor In Mental Health

    Rob Tanchum drew from his own mental health issues to create his new rap/comedy album Disturbed, Depressed, Inadequate.

    Finding ways to cope with mental health issues can take a myriad of forms, from traditional therapy and medication to meditation, massage and yoga. Writer and comedian Rob Tanchum has found a very unique means of contending with his depression and anxiety: He used them as the basis for his comedic hip-hop concept album, Disturbed, Depressed, Inadequate.

    The New York-based Tanchum – who has written and directed work for Upright Citizens Brigade, among others – wrote and performed the album’s 11 tracks, which, according to the album’s storyline, are the inner workings of his mind after being extracted by aliens who have abducted him.

    Community creator Dan Harmon voices one of the aliens and serves as the album’s executive producer, and he is one of Tanchum’s primary inspirations in seeing the project to completion, which he describes to The Fix as “a cathartic challenge.”

    Tanchum says that he’d tried to record concept albums before Disturbed but found himself unable to see them through. “I get to a point where I’m overcome by anxiety and self-doubt,” he says. “And I want them to be perfect, and I have a pathological need for external validation.”

    As a self-described “hip-hop nerd,” he also worried about using the music form for his own project. “I don’t want to be an interloper, or defile or lessen it in any way. I constantly start and give up working on these albums because I don’t want to be that person,” notes Tanchum. 

    Disturbed got a crucial boost from Dan Harmon, whom Tanchum met after sending him an original rap song that referenced one of Harmon’s own freestyle inventions. Tanchum said that he brought pitches of song ideas as possible collaborations with Harmon but also voiced his concerns about recording a hip-hop album. “He convinced me to do it,” says Tanchum. “I wasn’t going to turn down that opportunity.”

    Once the project was set in motion, Tanchum began drawing on his own issues as the root of the material. “I’m a comedy writer, and just by virtue of who I am, my mental health always seeps in,” he says. “You write about what you know, and that’s the perspective I’m interested in. I try to uncover my neuroses and look at myself, my depression and my anxiety as character traits.”

    Despite his concerns and self-doubt, recording Disturbed proved to be a positive experience for Tanchum. “It’s been nice to hear from people who have said that it’s exactly how they feel,” he says. “And I listened to the album months after making it, and it was really helpful for me to hear it because I was at a particularly low point.”

    Tanchum also cites the NBC series Parks and Recreation as having the sort of impact he’d like to have with listeners. “There are so many characters [on the show] that are dealing with depression and feelings of failure, and getting back up after those things,” he explains. “That’s what defines you, and that’s the kind of thing I want to make – something funny but helpful.”

    Disturbed, Depressed, Inadequate is currently available via iTunes, SoundCloud, Spotify and TIDAL. It’s also available as a special edition cassette from Harmon’s SBI Press, which features 35 minutes of bonus material and a 10-minute improv scene.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Psychiatric Directives May Be A Game Changer For Mental Health Patients

    Psychiatric Directives May Be A Game Changer For Mental Health Patients

    Psychiatric advance directives give mental health patients a way to express ahead of time, when they are in a sound state of mind, how they would like to be treated during hospitalization or treatment.

    Steve Singer, who has bipolar and borderline personality disorders, knows that he sometimes needs to go to the hospital. However, he also knows that certain treatments from staff — like getting the police involved or keeping Singer in a locked room — can make his condition much worse, not better. 

    Because of this, Singer drafted a psychiatric advance directive, a document that is entered in his medical chart and dictates his wishes, even when he is unable to express them. 

    “That psychiatric advance directive, I think is so important,” he told The New York Times. “It allows me to turn things around.”

    For mentally ill patients and their families, hospitalization and treatment can be terrifying. While people are experiencing psychosis or other symptoms of mental illness they are often desperate for support, but certain treatments or medications can exacerbate the situation rather than calm it. 

    Psychiatric advance directives allow people with mental illness agency over how they are treated by giving them a means to express ahead of time, when they are in a sound state of mind, how they would like to be treated. The documents can cover issues such as which medications should be avoided, what words can help cut through psychosis or which family member can make decisions during crisis. The directives are added to a patient’s chart and should be followed as long as the conditions within meet the patient’s best interests. 

    This type of advance directive is authorized in 27 states and can be incorporated into different types of medical directives in other states. Now, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is considering ways to encourage directives, and Medicare and Medicaid are requiring hospitals to ask if patients have a directive. As awareness grows, clinics are being held around the country to help patients draft psychiatric advance directives.

    Effective directives “would enhance people receiving appropriate treatment,” said Dr. Mark Rapaport, chairman of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University. “But this is going to be really hard to do.”

    The directives need to be notarized and given to medical professionals or be logged in the state’s system. They also need to be realistic, requesting treatment that medical professionals can provide in a crisis. 

    Dr. Marvin Swartz, a Duke psychiatry professor, said that just the act of drafting a directive can be empowering for patients and improve their interactions with their health care team. He offered 239 patients the opportunity to write a directive and found that those who did had fewer crises and involuntary hospitalizations. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Ashley Tisdale Reveals Depression & Anxiety Struggles On New Album

    Ashley Tisdale Reveals Depression & Anxiety Struggles On New Album

    “This is the first time I’m being super vulnerable. This is me sharing my journey through anxiety and depression.”

    Ashley Tisdale, who first broke through starring in High School Musical, is now confessing her years long battle with anxiety and depression in a new album, aptly titled Symptoms.

    Tisdale told People that with Symptoms, “This is the first time I’m being super vulnerable. This is me sharing my journey through anxiety and depression. I didn’t know the anxiety symptoms I had in the past while touring. Before, I would freak out before going on stage. That was a panic attack. I had no idea what that was until I started reading about it.”

    About the lead single from the album, “Voices in My Head,” Tisdale explains, “There are so many times I’m at an event or even just a social party and I feel like I’m not good enough to be there, and I feel that a lot of us struggle with that. That negative thinking, that little voice in your head…”

    Tisdale hopes her new album will help erase the stigma around mental health issues. “The reason I wanted to do this album was because I wanted to make someone at home not feel so alone in what they go through. They could look at me and go, ‘We’re all human. We all go through things.’”

    Tisdale adds, “It’s so easy for people when someone goes, ‘Does anyone have anxiety?’ Everyone at the table will go, ‘Yeah, I do.’ If someone says, ‘Do you have depression?’ Nobody really wants to talk about it.”  

    She also told AOL, “I feel really vulnerable talking about it, and it’s weird to talk about it, but if I could make someone at home feel less alone, then I’m doing my job as an artist. I’ve gone through a journey. It’s obviously painful and hard, but it’s also the most beautiful thing.”

    When recording the album, Tisdale called the studio “my happy place,” and “my safe place” where she could be creative, and she called recording Symptoms “therapeutic. I feel like it saved me from just dwelling in what I was feeling.”

    And through the process of recording Symptoms, Tisdale learned to accept and embrace herself. “I think that when you struggle with those things, instead of being like ‘Oh I hate that stuff,’ I really accept it. I think that’s what makes you beautiful, that you’re not perfect.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Could Limiting Social Media Use Improve Your Mental Health?

    Could Limiting Social Media Use Improve Your Mental Health?

    A new study examined whether excessive use of social media contributed to feelings of depression and loneliness.

    The more time you spend scrolling through social media, the more likely you could be contributing to your own feelings of depression and loneliness. 

    A new study from Penn State researchers has determined that social media use correlates with both depression and feeling lonely. 

    The study was led by Melissa Hunt of Penn State’s psychology department and involved 143 students from the university. The students were broken into two groups—one being told to limit social media use (Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat) for 10 minutes per app, the other instructed to continue using it as normal—and then monitored for three weeks. 

    Over the course of the study, students were assessed each week through testing for depression, social support and more. Their social media use was monitored through the iOS battery use screen.

    According to the study authors, levels of loneliness and depression decreased significantly over the three weeks. 

    “The limited use group showed significant reductions in loneliness and depression over three weeks compared to the control group,” authors wrote. “Both groups showed significant decreases in anxiety and fear of missing out over baseline, suggesting a benefit of increased self-monitoring. Our findings strongly suggest that limiting social media use to approximately 30 minutes per day may lead to significant improvement in well-being.”

    On the other hand, areas such as self-esteem and social support did not increase over the three weeks. Following up with the students was difficult, so authors were unable to fully determine if prior feelings returned or habit changes were implemented. 

    According to TechCrunch, Hunt states that by taking time away from social media, people are likely to instead focus on more fulfilling things in their lives. 

    “Some of the existing literature on social media suggests there’s an enormous amount of social comparison that happens,” she said. “When you look at other people’s lives, particularly on Instagram, it’s easy to conclude that everyone else’s life is cooler or better than yours. When you’re not busy getting sucked into clickbait social media, you’re actually spending more time on things that are more likely to make you feel better about your life.”

    The researchers did point out that their study was limiting. In future studies, they state, it could help to have a more diverse group of participants, include more social media outlets, extend the timeframe of the experiment and allow for more comprehensive follow-up with participants. Researchers also state that the set time for social media use could sway results.  

    Whatever the case, Hunt says, it’s important to take time away from technology to connect with others in your life. 

    “In general, I would say, put your phone down and be with the people in your life,” she stated. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Oregon Tries To Break Cycle Of Jailing People With Mental Health Issues

    Oregon Tries To Break Cycle Of Jailing People With Mental Health Issues

    A new initiative was created to divert people with mental illness from the criminal justice system in Oregon.

    There’s been more attention given to the fact that a significant percentage of incarcerated Americans suffer from mental illness.

    “The vast majority of the individuals are not violent criminals,” according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). “Once in jail, many individuals don’t receive the treatment they need and end up getting worse, not better.”

    They also tend to remain in jail longer and are at a higher risk of victimization than the non-mentally ill.

    Officials in Oregon are trying to break this cycle with a new initiative: the Justice Reinvestment Initiative.

    A new committee of 28 officials from state law enforcement, justice and health care, government officials and more—named the Behavioral Health Justice Reinvestment Steering Committee—will submit policy recommendations for how to divert people with mental illness from the criminal justice system.

    The committee is planning to submit a plan for the 2019 legislative session.

    “The criminal justice system was designed to prevent, protect against and prosecute criminal offenses. It was not designed to treat mental illness or substance addiction,” said Oregon Health Authority Director Patrick Allen, who is on the committee.

    Instead of cycling this population in and out of jails, where they will receive no support, Allen says there needs to be a long-term solution. “The best way to support people with behavioral health needs is to connect them to treatment in their local communities. The Justice Reinvestment process will allow us to develop solutions that better promote individual recovery while preserving community safety.”

    Senate Republican Leader Jackie Winters is also on the committee. “It’s not appropriate for the jail to be the place for the mentally ill,” she said, according to the Statesman Journal. It is for the committee to figure out: “how do we treat the individual without sending them into the criminal justice system?”

    The committee has begun reviewing jails across Oregon and gauging the needs of counties. They will work in concert with state health and criminal justice officials, who will contribute data to the initiative.

    “We know that when we make meaningful change in behavioral health treatment and addiction recovery, we lift a burden off of our prisons, our hospitals, and our law enforcement,” said Governor Kate Brown.

    “Oregon successfully used justice reinvestment to slow prison growth and expand programs that help people succeed outside of prison. By focusing on the intersection of the behavioral health and criminal justice systems in this new model of reinvestment, we can continue to improve both health and public safety,” the governor said.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Does Tech Addiction Play A Role In Workplace Mental Health Issues?

    Does Tech Addiction Play A Role In Workplace Mental Health Issues?

    Mental health in the workplace is an evolving issue that needs to be addressed.

    While technology is largely helpful in today’s professional world, it can also be somewhat hindering for mental health, according to Mike Serbinis, the founder and CEO of Canada-based employee benefits platform League. 

    “If people feel like they always have to be on, it’s stressful and hard to relax and get the downtime and rest your brain needs,” Serbinis tells Forbes.

    Mental health in the workplace is an evolving issue that needs to be addressed. In fact, mental illness is now the greatest cause of disability in the world, according to the World Health Organization. 

    It’s an issue close to home for Serbinis too; 44% of employees in his country of Canada have faced a mental health issue in their place of work. 

    “We see it among our data [at League] too,” Serbinis tells Forbes. “Between one-third to one-half of all employees using us are checking in or accessing a service that has to do with helping them manage stress, anxiety, depression, and so on.”

    In the United States, similar statistics demonstrate that one in five U.S. adults are living with mental health issues of some sort, though the number is likely higher due to lack of reporting. 

    According to Serbinis, it’s important to distinguish between the types of mental health issues. He says two of the biggest are depression and anxiety. “There’s a range of different conditions and illnesses,” Serbinis tells Forbes. “People speaking about mental health as one sort of general category almost doesn’t do it justice.”

    When it comes to struggling with mental health in the workplace, Serbinis says “tech addiction” likely plays a large role.

    “What’s happening is that people are getting conditioned to see those signals or numbers and feel like they have to go back and check constantly,” Serbinis says. “And that triggers this fight or flight response. Which jacks up adrenaline, which jacks blood pressure, which can lead to cardiovascular issues, which leads to anxiety… it’s a whole cascade of events that really emanates from this constant interruption.”

    One solution is to expand employee benefits to cover mental health, Serbinis says. 

    Forbes says that in addition to covering mental health services, some companies are also taking time for mental health “office hours,” during which a therapist may visit a workplace. Or, as an alternative, companies are covering subscriptions for online tools such as Talkspace. 

    Another recommendation is to not encourage employees to constantly check work-related notifications during non-working hours. “We suggest that people to turn off their notifications at home, and dedicate time for messaging and emails at work that’s separate from your other tasks,” Serbinis tells Forbes.

    When it comes down to it, Serbinis says, workplaces need to change their approach to mental health. 

    “The current way of doing things is not sustainable,” he said. “Employers need to see employee health and wellness as a core part of their strategy to build a top company.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Claire Foy On Anxiety: It's My Mind Working A Thousand Beats A Second

    Claire Foy On Anxiety: It's My Mind Working A Thousand Beats A Second

    “I used to think that this was my lot in life, to be anxious… but now I’m able to disassociate myself from it more.”

    Claire Foy, who is best known for playing Queen Elizabeth on the Netflix series The Crown, is having a banner year. Foy recently won an Emmy for Lead Actress in a Drama, and she’s also getting strong reviews for her performance in First Man, where she stars alongside Ryan Gosling.

    Despite Foy’s success, she’s had to cope with more than her share of anxiety—in fact, she recently confessed that her anxiety “exploded” as her career took off. 

    “When you have anxiety, you have anxiety about—I don’t know—crossing the road,” she told The Guardian. “The thing is, it’s not related to anything that would seem logical. It’s purely about that feeling in the pit of your stomach, and the feeling that you can’t, because you’re ‘this’ or you’re ‘that.’ It’s my mind working at a thousand beats a second, and running away with a thought.”

    Like many performers who struggle with self-doubt, Foy has had to fight off “lots of thoughts about how shit I am.”

    She recalled her parents separating when she was eight years old, and wanting to “make everyone happy. Never be angry. Be really sweet and well-behaved. I didn’t want to upset people.”

    Like many who suffer from anxiety, she began over-thinking everything and second-guessing herself. 

    Her self-doubt did not go away when she landed her role on The Crown, or when she played Anne Boleyn in the BBC Two series Wolf Hall (2015). “I just thought: ‘I’m not her. Not in any way, shape or form.’ Anne was so intelligent, so alluring, so able to be mysterious and have people be fascinated with her. Anne knew she was special… I just didn’t see it.”

    When Foy found out she was pregnant, it “upped things. I feel like the game was on in life. I had to get my shit together.”

    Foy went to therapy. “I’m glad I did,” she says. “All your shit—and everybody has shit—it doesn’t go away. It’s still there, but I guess I don’t believe it so much any more. I used to think that this was my lot in life, to be anxious. And that I would struggle and struggle and struggle with it… But now I’m able to disassociate myself from it more. I know that it’s just something I have—and that I can take care of myself.”

    View the original article at thefix.com