Our Latest Blogs

What Comes First: Addiction or a Mental Health Problem?

Mental health and addiction. What comes first?

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association: 53% of people with a mental health disorder also experience problems with alcohol or drugs. 29% of people with a mental health disorder have a co-occurring addiction disorder at some point in their lives. These statistics may lead you to believe that mental health problems cause […]

De-Stress in Nature: The Mental Health Benefits of Connecting With the Great Outdoors!

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 […]

Gianni Faedda, MD

Psychiatrist and Clinical Psychopharmacologist
New York, NY

Dr. Faedda is a psychiatrist and a clinical psychopharmacologist specializing in mood disorders. He helps patients and families grasp diagnostic issues, treatment options, identify treatment priorities, strengths, vulnerabilities, and maximize the patient’s support system.

In Pursuit of Healing: My PTSD Story

PTSD Stories

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is very real. A diagnosis that extends far beyond members of the armed forces who have lived through combat, it affects people all over the world. This frequently misunderstood diagnosis, which often goes hand-in-hand with depression, does not have to instill fear, but can actually be an opportunity to embolden survivors. […]

When Your Young Adult with “Failure to Launch” Won’t Get Help: Survival Tips for Parents Who Aren’t Done Parenting

Failure to Launch Syndrome

Failure to Launch Part 4 – In a blog post from 2016 I wrote about a serious problem in our culture, which I call “failure to launch” (FTL) I use this term in a non-judgmental way to describe the frustration and concern parents and other family members feel when a young person seems unable to move […]

Joseph Russo, MD

Joseph Russo

Psychiatrist
Westport, CT

Joseph Russo, M.D., is a psychiatrist in private practice serving adolescents, adults and families in Westport, CT, and the surrounding communities.

Rhoda Berger, NP

Rhoda-Berger-NP

Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner
Brooklyn, NY

Rhoda Berger, NP, is a psychiatric nurse practitioner in private practice serving children, adolescents, and adults in Brooklyn, NY, and the surrounding areas.

Failure to Launch Part 3: What It Is and What It Isn’t

Chances are if you landed on this webpage, you are concerned about a young adult who still lives at home and does not seem to be moving forward in life.  Maybe that person is you, or maybe it’s a son or daughter, or someone in your extended family.  That young person may have been diagnosed […]

Mental Health Recovery: 6 Themes of Hope for Mental Health Awareness Month

What is Mental Health Recovery to You-

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 […]

Failure to Launch Part 2: Setting Expectations for Young Adults at Home

Bearded young adult with game controller lying on couch.

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 […]

Living Well with Bipolar Disorder

living well with bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder, formerly known as manic-depression, is a serious mental health condition that is characterized by manic highs and depressive lows. The following is a list of notable people who have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and have achieved great success in their chosen fields. This list contains mostly those who are still living, but we […]

What Parents Need to Know about Psychotherapy

boy in therapy

Today’s post comes to us from Certified CBT Psychotherapist and Family-Endorsed Provider, Elise Munoz, LCSW-R. Her article answers the many questions parents might have about getting their child started in therapy. Thank you, Elise, for sharing your knowledge with us at www.rtor.org. — Veronique Hoebeke, Associate Editor   If your child or teenager is struggling with emotional, […]

Understanding & Identifying OCD in the Classroom

OCD in the classroom

Today’s blog post comes to us from one of our Family-Endorsed Providers, Carla Kenney, LMHC. She writes on the importance of both educators and family members noticing the possible signs of OCD in children. Thank you, Carla, for sharing your expertise with us at rtor.org. —Veronique Hoebeke, Associate Editor Children say and do unusual things on occasion, or […]

Double Trouble & Beyond: Co-occurring Disorders in Our Favorite Characters from Movies, Novels and TV

Don draper

  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 […]

Robin Williams Still Remembered and a Father’s Grief Takes a Trip to India

Maybe the worst thing about suicide is its finality. It is the one mistake that allows no second chances. When Robin Williams took his life in August of 2014 an entire nation grieved.  Our grief was of a partly selfish nature as we realized that there would be no new Robin Williams characters to move […]

“Out of the Ashes” by Sallie Crotty

mountain with sunset and "out of the ashes" A story of recovery and hope written over the images

  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 […]

The Healing Power of a Dog

go-fetch-wellness

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, […]

5 Key Aspects of Physical Wellness

yoga physical wellness

“A wise man ought to realize that health is his most valuable possession” – Hippocrates It’s no mystery that taking care of your physical well-being is extremely important to your health and happiness. Yet, the average American leads a busy stressed-out life which puts health and wellness on the back burner. There is a lot of complicated information […]

Mental Health App Review: Pacifica

pacifica logo

  Pacifica is a free smartphone app that is designed to use the principles of Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Mindfulness to help with daily stress, anxiety and depression. With anxiety and depression being the most common mental health disorders, I’m glad that app developers are addressing this issue. There are six major aspects to Pacifica and each one has […]