During the war, there was a lot going on. There was fighting going on in Europe, families being torn apart, there was hardly any food because it was rationed, and wives and mothers didn’t know if their husbands and sons were going to come home alive. It was a very challenging, horrible, brutal time in history. Along with everything that the soldiers went through and the experiences that they witnessed, they didn’t just bring home physical scars, but mental scars. They saw thi

Grief is different for everyone. People express themselves in different ways. Some people will remain quiet and other people want to talk about it. It’s their way of going through the motions of the grieving process. When you have autism, showing emotion is a challenge. Just because we don’t show or share what we’re feeling, it doesn’t mean we’re not grieving. We have our own way of expressing ourselves. We have our own coping strategy. There are going to be times where someo

If drugs and alcohol is all you know, it’s going to be hard to build a life outside of those things, but it can be done. You would have damaged the relationships that may not be able to be fixed. Knowing someone with addiction is hard. They want to do whatever they can to help you, but you don’t want anything to do with them or accept the help they are offering. When you’re caught up with addiction, it becomes your purpose in life. The desire to get high makes you wake up in

You don’t want to put yourself in a situation that will challenge your sobriety. It’s easy to be reckless when you can use substances as a reason or an excuse, but once you find that road to recovery, you want to keep moving forward. The first 90 days in sobriety are the most important, but it’s also the most dangerous. You already know how much effort it takes to become sober if you’re already recovering from an alcohol use disorder. You’ll want to take every precaution to

There are many reasons why someone may want to relapse. They think that they can’t get back on track, so they rely on past indulgences to help them cope with their current situation. Someone could be in recovery for decades only to have something happen that causes them to take a step back and start to use again. No matter how far you are in your recovery, there’s always a chance of a relapse. Some of the triggers that could cause a relapse are boredom, stress, money problems

When it comes to a family member struggling with addiction, there are things to consider when it comes to supporting them. You want them to be able to come to you, but you also don’t want to scare them off by being judgemental. They need to know that you are willing to help them, be there for them. I know it’s hard to love someone who is struggling. There are going to be times where you wonder if there are things you could have done differently or take the blame that they wen

When I was a kid, my brother and I were besties. I couldn’t or wouldn’t do anything or go anywhere without him. I couldn’t be away from him. In the early days of elementary school, if I didn’t see him on the playground at recess and lunch, I would get anxious and I would start to panic. I would start to tear up and race around the school yard until I saw him. I needed to see him to prove that he didn’t leave me alone. The first instance of separation anxiety was when I was ki

When it comes to socializing, it’s a challenge with someone with autism. We try to make friends, we want to make friends, but we don’t know how to approach people. We don’t know when it’s a good time to go up to someone and talk to them. When we do get the chance, we don’t know what to say or how to say it. We don’t know if the person we’re talking to is listening just to be nice or if they feel like they have to listen because they know its rude to walk away. We feel like no

When it comes to addiction, you have to think about if addiction runs in your family. A lot of the time, you know someone that has struggled with some sort of addiction. Some people will stay away from drugs and alcohol because it’s something they know. They knew someone close to them that relied on drugs and alcohol so they did whatever they could to not go down that same path. In other cases, addiction is all someone knows. Existing research showed that annually, 11.8 mill

The beginning of a new year is always exciting, but it can also be a time where people look back on the past year and wonder where the time went and wonder if there’s a way to slow it down. As we get older and look over the past, we tell ourselves if we can make the new year our best year yet. No two years are the same. We go in with an open mind, but as the days and months go on, life throws us a curveball, something we don’t expect. People take the new year as a challenge t

The holidays are stressful for everyone. There are a lot of things that need to be done like prepping for family that are coming from out of town and a lot of things to see like the Christmas lights that people have put up, but if you throw mental health into the mix, it’s not going to be fun for everyone involved. There’s always a vision where you have to be the perfect host, you have to provide everyone with the perfect meal, give the perfect gifts, but as time goes on, the

I saw the breakup scene on twitter so I knew going into the episode wasn't going to be easy. I try not to be on social media when its 911 day since I know there are going to be spoilers and I held on for as long as I could. Watching the scene broke my heart and the episode was something I've replayed in my head. I wanted to analyze where it all went wrong. This is my theory on what really happened between Buck and Tommy. I understand where Tommy was coming from in regards to

Schizophrenia remains one of the most misunderstood and stigmatized illnesses today. Having a mental health condition isn’t easy. You will do whether you can to relieve the symptoms. You will do what it takes to not hear the voices in your head. Going through something like schizophrenia can be traumatic. You want to find something that will make the voices stop. Living with schizophrenia can feel lonely. People who have the condition may feel like they have a severed connec

I understand that people want Eddie and Buck to be together because of how close they are and the fact that Buck is the legal guardian of Christopher if anything were to happen to Eddie. It does seem like a good idea since they’re best friends, but how often does that work? Getting together with your best friend is a disaster waiting to happen. I believe that Eddie needs to work on his mental health before getting into any type of relationship. He has PTSD from being in the s

Schizophrenia is a mental health condition that affects how a person thinks, feels and behaves. It’s a combination of hallucinations, delusions and disorganized thinking and behavior. When you get diagnosed, the symptoms have to be persisting for at least 6 months. When someone is having a hallucination, they are seeing and/or hearing something that isn’t present to anyone else. They feel like it’s right in the room with them. Delusions: Fixed false beliefs held, despite cl

Even though they share a name, they are completely different. With bipolar 1, you are diagnosed when you experience a manic episode. When that happens, you will experience an extreme increase in energy and mood swings, including feeling extremely happy or uncomfortably irritable. With bipolar 2, someone will experience hypomanic episodes. They will still have out of character behavior, but it’s not as extreme as bipolar 1. Keep in mind that bipolar 2 is not a milder form of

Matthew, it’s been one year since you passed away and there hasn’t been a day when I haven’t thought about you. Life wasn’t easy for you. There were things that you were struggling with that I don’t wish on my worst enemy. You dealt with not only addiction, but severe health issues that almost cost you your life. You tried for so long to conquer your demons and to be able to live a life without addiction. You fought for so many years. Addiction is a struggle that not many of

Kids are smart to understand that if they are struggling with mental health and anxiety, but they just don’t know how to express it. They don’t have the words to tell you that they are having a hard time. If you have a child in your life, telling them that it’s okay for them to be feeling the way they do. It’s okay to go to an adult and tell them that they are having a hard time. Everyone has dealt with some sort of anxiety. Kids should know that there are ways to take contro

Growing up in a house with people who don’t give you what you need in life can leave an impact on you. It can last a lifetime and in most cases, an adult will do anything to erase that part of their life. They will hide behind drugs and alcohol to cover up the lasting effects of their childhood, but there are also people who will learn from their past and break the cycle. They promise themselves that if they were to have kids, they won’t treat them the same way. Having relati

ADHD means Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and it can look a lot like Autism. When someone has one or the other, they can have difficulty focusing, they can also be impulsive and have a hard time communicating. Both ADHD and Autism are two different conditions. Autism is related to developmental disorders. Language skills, behavior, socializing and the ability to learn are affected. People with autism have a hard time connecting with people and making friends, wherea

There’s a lot that goes into playing sports, even if it’s just a hobby or if you’re a professional. Some people take the game seriously to the point where it becomes their whole life. One of the downsides of professional sports is the injuries that come along with playing. Depending on the sport, there’s a lot of physical contact. Football has a lot of head injuries due to tackling. Hockey as body checking. Baseball as arm injuries due to the constant throwing and hitting. Ov

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD in the military is very common. Originally, it was called Shell Shock. It was called that because soldiers were seen as a reaction to the explosion of artillery. Originally, shell shock was thought to be the result of hidden damage to the brain that was caused by the impact of the big guns. Treatment back then was giving the soldiers just a few days of rest. When you are in combat, you see and do things that a civilian never gets to witn

School should be a safe space for kids. They should be able to go to school and know that they are supported and cared for, but for some kids, being at school is worse than being at home. Kids who struggle at home will bring that to school. Going to school is sometimes a child’s escape. Teachers should be aware of how a child is acting. They see the same kids every day and if there’s a shift in their personality then the teacher should be able to step in and be the person tha

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or OCD can come in many forms, and it can go on for years without you knowing that you have it. Sometimes it can interfere with your daily lives and your relationships, but the good news is that OCD can be treated. Family and friends will notice a change and will step in and help you the support you need. You may not be aware that you have OCD until someone mentions it. What is OCD? It’s a disorder that involves unwanted instructive thoughts th