According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 18.1% of the population each year. They’re the most common mental health disorders of children and adolescents, affecting young people at different times throughout development. Though anxiety is prevalent among the teenage population, there […]
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Gould Farm is a residential therapeutic community located on a 700-acre working farm in the Berkshire Hills.
Co-occurring disorders, also known as dual diagnosis, refer to the combination of substance abuse and the presence of a mental health disorder. Many individuals who enter treatment for substance abuse are also diagnosed with a co-occurring disorder. Over half of all individuals experiencing drug addiction are also believed to have a co-occurring disorder such as […]
We know it’s important to take care of ourselves physically – we have to eat right, get some exercise and get a sufficient amount of rest each night in order to function properly the next day. But what do we do when it comes to our mental health? There are many factors that contribute to […]
Today’s guest blog post is by a young writer from Pakistan, Saim Cheeda, who lives with anxiety and depression. Saim may be writing from halfway around the world, but his guest post shows that these disorders and other peoples’ reactions to them are universal across cultures. He brings a positive message to people everywhere living […]
Residential Mental Health Treatment Center
Asheville, NC
CooperRiis is a residential healing community and progressive transitional living program for adults struggling with mental health challenges. CooperRiis offers a unique approach to recovery with a balance of trusted clinical therapies, purposeful work, community service, education, and holistic health and wellness practices.
Residential Program
Canaan, CT
Eden Hill Recovery Retreat is a transitional sober living home designed exclusively for adult women in Canaan, CT. The Eden Hill Extended Care Women’s Program offers a comprehensive approach to treating substance use and co-occurring disorders.
Mental illness found me at 19 years old. I was in my second year of university with the world at my fingertips, yet I could not get out of bed. I was ridden with depression, anxiety and horrible mood swings that hung over me like a dark cloud. To escape my situation, I would self […]
A lot of older people say that kids nowadays are coddled and overprotected; shielded from figuring out how to fight their own battles so they can function in a cruel unforgiving world, a world where emotional regulation and conflict resolution skills are essential. I can’t speak for every millennial but in my case, they would […]
Since I started blogging about the epidemic of young adults living at home and not moving forward in their lives, people from across the United States, most of them parents, have contacted us on a daily basis about the problem they refer to as “Failure to Launch,” “Failure to Launch Syndrome” or simply “FTL.” I […]
This week on www.rtor.org we observe National Suicide Prevention Week (Sept. 9-15, 2018) with a guest blog post on suicide risk and prevention for LGBTQ youth. The theme of this year’s Suicide Prevention Week is “The Power of Connection.” This is a message that is especially relevant for LGTBQ youth. Discrimination and social isolation place […]
Change can be a wonderful and scary thing. For those starting their first year of college, this has never been more true. For some, change is an opportunity to propel themselves forward in a journey of self-discovery. For others, the stress and anxiety of being responsible for themselves and their success can be overwhelming. As […]
Alongside the extreme highs and lows that are part of having bipolar disorder, sleep issues also pop up. Unfortunately, these problems don’t make the disorder any easier to manage. In fact, they can complicate the illness and even trigger episodes in people who are, otherwise, following their doctor’s orders. Sleep and Mania One of the […]
As many as 1 in 5 Americans live with mental illnesses that include depression, anxiety and schizophrenia, among others. Many of these individuals often face problems in accessing health care that they desperately require, and even then, available medications or treatment may not be sufficient, resulting in unsatisfactory progress. Due to this and other reasons, […]
“Love yourself.” Everywhere I go these days, I feel I hear or see some form of this advice. The truth is, some days it’s hard to love anything in the world if you struggle with mental illness, let alone yourself. When I began what I’d call my “journey to recovery” or, better, my “journey back […]
When I was a teenager suffering from major depression, my parents tried their best to support me, yet ended up doing all the wrong things. This isn’t something they can be blamed for — understanding another person, even those closest to us, is difficult enough even when mental health issues don’t come into play. When […]
It’s been suggested that when your brain is feeling stressed or anxious it’s likely to negatively impact other parts of the body. Becoming fatigued, losing concentration and experiencing physical symptoms such as shaking and dizziness are common. Can exercise make your body feel better by banishing your negative thoughts and actually give you peace of […]
For millions of Americans, the search for remedies to stress can seem counterproductive. Stressors such as money, work, and our current political climate are difficult to escape, and when we do find a remedy, the real struggle is developing the discipline to stay with it. For anyone struggling with symptoms of mental illness, the above-mentioned […]
There are many great songs from the musical West Side Story, but my favorite has always been the brilliantly satirical “Gee, Officer Krupke.” In this number, the Jets’ leader Riff plays a troubled youth who is passed between experts eager to judge what is wrong with him. In the hand-off between psychiatrist and social worker […]
Life can be hard, and proof of this sobering reality are the 43 million Americans who suffer from some form of mental health condition, according to Mental Health America. Almost half of those 43 million have a co-occurring substance abuse problem, while some 9.6 million experience suicidal thoughts. Those figures might even increase in the […]
September is National Yoga Month, a month-long observance designated by the Department of Health and Human Services to educate the public about the health benefits of yoga and to inspire a healthy lifestyle. In recognition of this event, rtor.org asked one of its Family-Endorsed Providers to write a guest blog on this subject. Pamela Tinkham, […]
Dialectical Behavior Therapy Program
New Canaan, CT
Silver Hill Hospital is an independent, not-for-profit psychiatric hospital – and one of the few such designated facilities in the country.
Psychologist
Wethersfield, CT
Rachel Duzant, PsyD, is a psychologist in private practice serving adults in Wethersfield, CT, and the surrounding communities.
Hope Program for Adults–Inpatient Care
Houston, TX
The Menninger Clinic is a nonprofit psychiatric hospital renowned for its intensive treatment of severe and complex mental illness.
Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Certified Eating Disorder Specialist
White Plains, NY
Susan Schrott is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Certified Eating Disorder Specialist, and Certified Yoga Teacher.
Psychotherapy
Westport, CT
The Dialectical and Cognitive Behavior Therapy Center serves to provide its clients with therapies that are of the highest quality and informed by the most recent research in psychological treatments; to provide training in dialectical and cognitive behavior therapy to professionals; and to educate the community about the potential benefits of dialectical and cognitive behavior therapies.
Housing/Residential, Education & Employment Services, Outpatient Treatment
Frederick, MD
ClearView Communities is a private nonprofit organization that provides residential rehabilitation services for adults struggling with a range of serious psychiatric diagnoses.
Can you easily tell the difference between average behavior and mental illness? Probably not. There is a lot of misinformation floating around in our society about mental illness, making it hard to tell whether certain behaviors might be quirks or might be a sign of something more. To show you the typical human behaviors most […]
Recovery is a term much used in mental health, but not always understood. Some people think of recovery in relation to a cure or getting better. Others associate it with 12-step recovery from addiction. Mental health recovery can be all those things, but for those living with mental illness the term most often describes an […]
Last year I wrote an article about young adult anxiety which quickly became one of our most popular posts on rtor.org. The article, Failure To Launch: 9 Tips for Managing Anxiety in Dependent Adult Children, is based on a podcast by Yale anxiety expert, Dr. Eli Lebowitz. Since it first appeared in 2016, many people […]
Both men and women enjoy drinking for a variety of reasons—to celebrate an event, to socialize with others, or calm down after a long day. Regardless of its benefits, alcohol can still cause dependence in both men and women. Yet, the stereotype of the alcoholic is usually pictured as a middle-aged man who would prefer […]
Could there have been a worse year than 2016? It began with the World Health Organization’s announcement of a widespread outbreak of the Zika virus and seems to be ending on a note of political rancor in the United States, while terrorist attacks threaten Europe and the suffering in Syria reaches new levels of […]
Often when young people and their families visit Laurel House, the top question on their minds is how a “psychiatric rehabilitation” program like ours can help people with serious mental illness have a better life. The concept of mental health rehabilitation can be hard to understand at first. But people usually get it when […]
Part One in a four-part series on the benefits of cognitive therapy for people who experience psychosis. Forty years ago, there were two basic treatments for schizophrenia: medication and long-term hospitalization. Traditional psychotherapy was not usually offered because it did not help people with the most obvious and disturbing symptoms of psychosis: paranoia, delusions, and […]
In mental health, the term co-occurring disorders refers to the presence of two or more disorders in a person at the same time. In the past, co-occurring disorders were often confused with “dual diagnosis” (or “double trouble”), a term that was used to describe someone living with a mental illness and a substance use […]
rtor.org Celebrates ‘May is Mental Health Awareness Month’ Last year for Mental Health Awareness Month our Associate Editor Veronique and I posted an article on a different mental health topic each day in the month of May. This year we add some new voices and perspectives to the conversation, with 5 guest bloggers joining us on […]
The following recovery story comes from Sallie Crotty who writes about her own experiences with a mental health disorder. Sallie takes us on a journey from her first day to her last day at the Menninger Clinic and what she learned about herself and mental health recovery in the process. We are grateful to Sallie […]
Today’s wellness story comes from Jeff Fink, the founder of Go Fetch Wellness. Jeff’s story demonstrates the amazing impact animals can have on people’s lives and the importance of a holistic approach to mental health. We are grateful to Jeff for sharing his story with us at rtor.org. –Veronique Hoebeke, Associate Editor Suffering, medications, […]
On a gloomy Connecticut morning in December, I sat down with Ginny Levy to discuss her most recent project, Parts Unbound: Narratives of Mental Illness and Health which is published by LimeHawk Books. The book contains 18 essays detailing different experiences of mental illness. The majority of the writers speak about their own experiences of […]
If stories have the power to heal, then stories about mental illness have the potential to heal at the most fundamental level, touching on our sense of self and how we experience our lives. We often think of illness in terms of its impact on the body. But illness also affects the mind, and […]
The following post is written by Drew Osbahr who uses his love of music as a way to recover from anxiety and depression. We are thankful that Drew has let us share his recovery story on rtor.org -Veronique Hoebeke, Associate Editor Hi, my name is Drew and I have been recovering one step at a time from […]
Maybe you have noticed that the free and open style of the Internet has encouraged many bloggers and social media users to open up about their experience with bipolar disorder or borderline personality disorder. While many of these people may have a confirmed mental health disorder, some give the impression of being self-diagnosed or […]
Indiana
Public mental health and substance services in Indiana are administered and provided by the Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction (DMHA).