When I was diagnosed with bipolar 2 disorder, the hardest part wasn’t hearing the diagnosis itself, it was the pressure to believe I was somehow defective. I’d been taught that people with bipolar were monsters and deranged, and this myth fogged my self-perception for years. Society programs us to see mental illness as a defect, … Continue reading Poetry About Mental Illness Shattering Stigma Through Art
In this article, I share the stories of five such women who not only lived with mental illness but transformed their pain into inspiration for generations to come. Continue reading 5 Female Writers with Mental Illness Who Paved The Way For Others
Written by Hannah Blum, author of The Truth About Broken: The Unfixed Version of Self-Love It’s the topic we are afraid to talk about, but when it comes to the mental health conversation, it’s the number one thing we should be recognizing. We left one group of people out of the discussion, people with mental illness. The … Continue reading The Wellness Movement’s Shaming of People With Mental Illness
Written by Hannah Blum, author of Oh Mind, Where Have You Gone Today? There are standard guidelines set in place for how we are supposed to love. There is a process for how we are supposed to reveal our emotions to someone. If you don’t abide by these guidelines, you are looked at as loving … Continue reading The Truth About Those of Us Who Love Too Much & Fall Too Hard
Written by Hannah Blum, author of The Truth About Broken: The Unfixed Version of Self-Love Eight years ago I posted a picture on FaceBook of me laughing in a beautiful white dress at a Spring Festival. I received tons of likes and comments about how beautiful it was and how happy I looked. Someone even … Continue reading 5 Signs That Social Media Is Affecting Your Mental Health & What To Do About It
Vivien Leigh was a British actress whose charm, ambition, and sophistication captured the attention of all those who met her. She is considered to be one of the best actresses of all time. Leigh’s acting career skyrocketed when she won the role of Scarlett O’Hara in one of history’s most iconic films, Gone with the Wind. Her … Continue reading Gone with the Wind, Lost in Her Mind: Vivien Leigh and Her Life with Bipolar
I jumped from the couch spilling cereal all over my shirt reaching for my computer both excited and in disbelief when I saw my moms text message, “Must check out this restaurant-Van Gogh is Bipolar!” A small restaurant located in the Philippines named after Vincent van Gogh and designed to capture features of a bipolar mind.
These are the stories of people living with bipolar disorder that get left out of the mainstream media. These are the stories that could one day create a much larger platform for individuals living with mental illness to feel empowered by what makes them different. I have spent the last couple days gathering information about this restaurant, but to start for those of you who are curious about Van Gogh’s connection to bipolar disorder let me explain. Continue reading “‘Van Gogh Is Bipolar’ Cafe: How a Restaurant Explores and Empowers People with Bipolar”
Written by Hannah Blum, author of The Truth About Broken: The Unfixed Version of Self-Love After my last relationship ended, I was consumed by anxiety, like most of us are after a breakup. Luckily, a couple of weeks after it ended, I had to travel overseas and had limited access to social media as often. … Continue reading How to Mentally Survive a Breakup: Stay off Social Media
Written by Hannah Blum, author of The Truth About Broken: The Unfixed Version of Self-Love How to become a mental health advocate? You do not need a degree, a diagnosis or work as a licensed therapist to become a mental health advocate. The general idea behind advocacy is supporting mental health by spreading awareness, reducing stigma and … Continue reading 6 Ways to Become a Mental Health Advocate
Remember the infamous Julia Stiles’s speech at the end of the movie, 10 Things I Hate About You? When she reveals to Heath Ledger the pain he’s caused her, “I hate the way you talk to me and the way you cut your hair…” While reading this post, think about stigma as if I am revealing my feelings in the same way as Stiles. Ledger was a good guy, but stigma not so much.
Continue reading “10 Things I Hate About The Stigma of Mental Illness”
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