http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/reallives/index.cfm This is the Real Lives Blog from Mental Health America en-us Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:39:04 -0500 Fri, 24 Apr 2009 18:18:00 -0500 BlogCFC http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss webmaster@mentalhealthameica.net webmaster@mentalhealthameica.net webmaster@mentalhealthameica.net http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/reallives/index.cfm no http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/reallives/index.cfm/2009/4/24/Dont-do-it-alone--use-the-resources-you-have-around-you by Stephanie in Maine I suffer from a variety of things. The first is being brought up in a household totally unaware of 'Mental Illness' and being 'disciplined' as my father was disciplined. My grandmother on my dad's side was the first person I believed to have a problem. My father has always had a very 'hard' way of living and was always the very first to tell us, 'stop crying' if we were being punished. [More] Abuse PTSD Depression Hospitalization Family History Post partum depression Suicidal Ideation Fri, 24 Apr 2009 18:18:00 -0500 http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/reallives/index.cfm/2009/4/24/Dont-do-it-alone--use-the-resources-you-have-around-you http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/reallives/index.cfm/2009/4/10/When-someone-talks-they-are-giving-a-window-to-their-heart-and-their-mind by Karen in Missouri This month marks the one year anniversary of my nervous breakdown. While the journey is certainly not over, I thought this would be a good time to send a message about it. There are several reasons for the message - one is to make one more attempt to convince the jerks that don't believe in mental diseases that IT IS REAL. Another is for awareness. Perhaps I will find the words to describe things that other sufferers like me have been trying to find all along. Perhaps, even if just for a moment, I will help someone else feel like they are not alone. At any rate, a year ago at this time I had hit rock bottom. [More] Recovery Social Anxiety Post partum depression Panic Disorder Depression Anxiety Suicidal Ideation Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:48:00 -0500 http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/reallives/index.cfm/2009/4/10/When-someone-talks-they-are-giving-a-window-to-their-heart-and-their-mind http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/reallives/index.cfm/2009/1/10/I-never-realized-how-wonderful-healing-could-be by Jodi in Ohio My name is Jodi. I live in Ohio and I have been married to my husband, Matt for 13 years, and I have two wonderful children, Alex, age 9 and Meghan age 7. Here is my story: It was Thursday, September 23rd, 1999. I had very high expectations of the birth of my son. I dreamt of a perfect natural birth with no medication, and no complications. I went to childbirth education classes and I knew what was supposed to happen. I had no idea what was in store for me. Several hours after my water broke, there was still no progress. So the resident doctor gave me Pitocin to speed things up. An hour later I was in a lot of pain. [More] PTSD Post partum depression Sat, 10 Jan 2009 01:22:00 -0500 http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/reallives/index.cfm/2009/1/10/I-never-realized-how-wonderful-healing-could-be