April is typically a time in the year that can symbolize new beginnings or hope for the future. This month also happens to represent Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), which poses an opportunity for survivors to share their testimonies with greater recognition....
It’s been estimated that are 27.6 million individuals trafficked worldwide at any given time regardless of age, background, or nationality (United States Department of State, 2023, p. 1). Such a statistic shifts focus to how traffickers will exploit one for their own...
I was in elementary school when I first watched an episode of Friends. I was immediately drawn to the character of Chandler. We were both awkward. We were both funny. We both had problems. He was one of my first TV crushes after Shaggy from Scooby-Doo. I became...
Schizophrenia is a life-long mental health condition that affects the way someone perceives reality, and can include various symptoms including experiencing delusions and or experiencing hallucinations. Depression is a mental health condition that negatively affects...
Before diving in, I’d like to explain my word choice. Instead of “Mental Illness,” I will refer to it as “Mental Health Challenges.” I don’t like to use terms like “illness,” “issues”, or “problems.” The reason being is, unlike physical ailments, mental health plays a...
Mood swings during stressful times are natural, but those living with a mood disorder like bipolar (BP) or personality disorder like borderline (BPD) have extreme, erratic, and sometimes irrational changes in their mental state. A lot of symptoms overlap, but these...
It's all too easy to feel alone and helpless when living with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). This condition, which affects 1 in 10 women of childbearing age, disrupts your hormone and metabolism systems, and the symptoms include increasing your amount of body hair,...
*Trigger warning: Self-harm and suicide attempts As a child, I remember being happy, I remember feeling safe, but after my parent's divorce, I remember feeling so much anguish and pain. For me, self-injury was activated by my parent’s divorce. I was 11 years old when...
Depression is a common and often debilitating mood disorder that affects millions. It is a significant global public health problem, and in the United States, 8.4% of adults and 17% of adolescents had at least one major depressive episode in 2020, with many of these...
At the age of 26, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Italy, and Ken Kesy published One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. At 27, I, Kellie Wood, cannot figure out the child safety lock on my bottle of CVS brand mouthwash. ...