“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. ” ― Norman Vincent Peale Oh, if only the above quote were true. Now granted, it may be true for many of us. There is something special about the holiday season that brings good cheer, merry wishes, good tidings, […]
When you’re struggling with a mental illness, it can seem impossible to find comfort. Things like music, film, sports, and other things we used to enjoy can become uninteresting or even anxiety-provoking. In my experience, I found the most comfort in movies that I could relate to in my emotional turmoil. Seeing portrayals of mental […]
Captain’s log, Stardate January 2011. Where unfortunately many have gone before. I’m twenty-six years old and thinking about dying… actually I’m not being entirely truthful. I’m dangling halfway out the fourth floor window of my bedroom in New York City. I don’t really want to die. I just want the emotional pain to stop… and […]
The words we use carry a lot of weight. People use words such as crazy, psycho, and insane – phrases that they do not think twice about. I see it every day. One woman I know is very open about her anxiety and the difficulties with her mental illness. She has been on anxiety medication […]
Though universally experienced, death is perhaps one of the most foreign of human experiences. Not because it is a stranger to us, but because of how strange it is. Forever is not a time period we can comprehend, but somehow we never imagine a future without those close to us. This is why death is […]
I’ve often said that it doesn’t matter how many books you’ve read, degrees you’ve earned, or how many letters come after your name – you will never understand mental illness unless you’ve experienced one yourself. This, I believe, is primarily what makes myself and the volunteers in Please Live qualified to talk about our experiences. […]
On a previous blog, I took the time to outline what the Werther effect was. In essence, the “Werther Effect” is the official-sounding name for “Copycat Suicides”. The Werther effect was coined around the late 1700’s when Johann Wolfgang von Goethe published a book titled The Sorrows of Young Werther. In this particular work (spoiler […]
As a graduate student, I read a lot. This year I’m reading a lot of books about different places and people: how they feel, how they act, how they live, how they make sense of the world. Recently, I’ve been reading a book about addiction and what I would call depression, but the author terms […]
In 2013, there were 580,350 deaths by cancer in the United States which makes cancer the 2nd leading cause of death. At some point or another in your life, you will know someone who is or has been touched by cancer. When this happens, you will probably share your condolences and say something along the […]
Hello, blog readers! Every now and then I like to take a break in the blog to just do some routine updates about what Please Live is doing and where we are heading. We want to make it a priority to remain transparent so that our community knows what we are doing and can hold […]