Depression is the leading cause of disability in the world; in the United States, close to ten percent of adults struggle with the disease. But because it’s a mental illness, it can be a lot harder to understand than, say, high cholesterol. Helen M. Farrell examines the symptoms and treatments of depression, and gives some tips for how you might help a friend who is suffering.
This post was contributed by my good friend, and fellow Friends in Tech member, Kevin Devin. This past Tuesday morning my colleagues and I were summoned to a 15 minute all-hands meeting within the hour. Of course, impromptu all-hands meetings never end up with “we think you all deserve a raise!” or anything else of…
I realize that this particular resource that I want to share with you is not going to be for everyone. So if you don’t want to hear about the Church or Christianity, feel free to skip past this post. On the other hand, those of you who know me know that the way that many…
How to help someone with a mental health concern. I especially agree with the first rule, “Offer your Friendship and Support”. You’d be surprised how effective you can be just by being available to listen. It may not seem like much, but it is so infrequent that someone actually takes the time to really stop…
Pin Since it’s Pride Month, I’ve seen a few references on social media to the higher rates of suicide of LGBTQ youth. I’ve also seen a number of explanations for it, and things that you could do to help, but I wanted to share this quote from the Inside Mental Health podcast, where the host, Gabe Howard, was interviewing Dr. Amy Green, from the Trevor Project, because it really cuts to the chase with data, and facts.
When we look at that, the data is striking. One of our data findings found LGBTQ youth who have at least one accepting adult are 40% less likely to report a suicide attempt. When I say risk factors, rejection is one of the biggest ones on the other side for protective factors, it’s acceptance, its affirmation, its support. It’s so crucial during the adolescence and young adult period.
If you go listen to the whole podcast below, you’ll see that the things that increase the risks for suicide among LGBTQ youth are very much socially based. It’s not that LGBTQ youth have some sort of genetic quirk that makes them more likely to deal with mental health issues, it’s because they are so much more likely to be rejected, and unable to live their authentic lives. That one thing, is something that has an oversized impact on suicide rates for everyone, and happens to LGBTQ kids more often.
So, here’s something you can do that will have a huge affect on the likelihood a LGBTQ kid in your life will be lost to suicide, just accept them. Just allow them to be who they are, and live their life accordingly. That’s it.
Given abuse victim’s severe dislike for anything they can’t control, and depression sufferer’s tendency to feel completely overwhelmed when things don’t work they way they should, maybe working with computers wasn’t the best choice I could have made. When things go wrong, they really tend to go wrong, and when things don’t work, trying to…
Pin I’ve done therapy before, but this time it’s different. It’s been physical therapy for my knee injury. On the one hand, though, the parallels are interesting, but on the other, the perceptions are totally different. It shouldn’t be that way. First, the similarities: Physical therapy takes time. You don’t go in and get “fixed”. In…
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