“Dude, what’s your problem?” by Josh Lewin I have learned that anxiety and depression go hand-in-hand, and there is no shame in having either — although it’s tough for many people to get their arms around that concept. When I struggled with both in my last couple years as the Texas Rangers’ baseball play-by-play announcer, the few people in whom I confided expressed genuine shock. “Depressed? About what? You’ve got a great job! Legions of adoring fans! A wonderful family! Dude, what’s your problem?” Growing up, I had always been, quite naturally, the life of any party. But over a period of several years, I began to stay…

    That Is A Sign Of Mental Illness Ingrid Vasquez RSS Feed I remember the first time I knew something was wrong. I was in my junior year of high school when I thought about what would happen if I purposely fell down the stairs. I'd always been an overachiever, but being the year before college that really mattered, I wanted to escape from the pressure that I was going through in school. I didn't have bad grades, but I was struggling with school in a way that I was never used to doing so. I wasn't cutting myself. I didn't feel depressed. But I was willing to hurt…

By Tim ChesterUK1 hour ago EDINBURGH — One of the buzziest shows at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe is about depression. Severe clinical depression in fact. Bryony Kimmings and her partner Tim Grayburn’s Fake It 'Til You Make It, which explores in depth Grayburn’s secret depression and nervous breakdown, hogged the headlines over the festival’s opening days and is sold out for its entire run. They’re not the only artists who have focussed on mental health; this year’s programme is packed with productions that take aim at the issue, from Brigitte Aphrodite’s My Beautiful Black Dog to stand-up Carl Donnelly’s Jive Ass Honky and cabaret star Le Gateau Chocolat’s Black,…

If you, or someone you know is struggling, please seek help.             Curtis Vanderloo asked SooToday to publish the following letter about his mother's death last year in the hope that by sharing her story, it might help someone else suffering from the stigma of mental illness.   ************************* On March 31, it will be the one year anniversary of my mother’s death.  She passed suddenly and unexpectedly, only she didn’t pass suddenly.  She died by suicide. She killed herself. She took her own life. She died by her own will.   Only it wasn’t unexpected, she was depressed.  She was suffering deep grief related…

  (Photo: Mark Marturello/Register Illustration) Estela Villanueva-Whitman, Special to the Register; 11:05 p.m. CDT May 18, 2014 The diagnosis of bipolar disorder in her 20s came as a relief to Hope Richardson. There was finally a name for what she felt and something that could be done, she said. Because mental illness is a lifelong condition, staying well takes effort, and she's mindful of that every day. Once afraid of others not liking her and unable to stand up for herself, Richardson said she often walked around with her head down and hair covering her face. She went through bouts of depression and struggled with anger, manic episodes and suicidal…

  At twenty years old, my 6 year battle with anorexia nervosa had finally caused my life to come crashing down.     My eating disorder had taken complete control of my mind and dominated my every thought. In just a few months I had lost over 2 stone, had drastically reduced the amount I was eating to just 200-300 calories a day and was wasting the little energy I had on excessive exercise. For so long, my ‘diet’ had given me a false sense of control and now it was apparent that, in reality, it was something that was controlling me. I was finally forced to reach out for…