community stories
Taking Care of Myself
Caring for a loved one with a mental health diagnosis is more than a full-time job. It’s a 24/7 proposition. And, while not every hour of every day is spent providing direct care, there’s a lot of watching, observing, looking for subtle clues that my wife’s manic...
Taking Care of Myself
Caring for a loved one with a mental health diagnosis is more than a full-time job. It’s a 24/7 proposition. And, while not every hour of every day is spent providing direct care, there’s a lot of...
Navigating the Healthcare System
As a caregiver for a loved one with a mental health diagnosis, few roles are as important as helping figure out the morass of the healthcare system that tries to care for mental health patients. For the person in the throes of a mental health episode, there’s no way...
Helping Children
Every couple dealing with a mental health diagnosis has to wrestle with the question of children. Can the parent with the mental health diagnosis contribute to parenting? Can the other parent handle the pressures of parenting on their own at the drop of hat? Does the...
Happiness On Horseback, Simply Slowing Down
Whoa Nelly... slow down… Imagine yourself living on a horse ranch without any reception or internet. You’re surrounded by nothing but the sound of trees rustling, birds chirping, and maybe the distant moo of cattle or neigh of a horse. There are no TVs. There is no...
Stepping up when it counts
Every family has its routines. Someone washes the dishes. Someone takes out the trash. Someone cooks. You get the idea. But what happens when a family member has a mental health diagnosis and just can’t bring themselves to tackle even the simplest task? Well someone...
Caregivers must arm themselves with knowledge
One of the biggest challenges in dealing with a family member who has a mental healthdiagnosis is that no one has all the answers. No one. Unlike a broken leg, which can be fixed by following a well-known process of setting the leg andgiving the bone time to heal, a...
1: “I Can’t Put Myself In Her Place”
In 1988, my wife, Becky, was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. Since 1994, when we got married, I’ve been her primary caregiver. Like many with Bipolar Disorder, she leads an ordinary life. She works. She’s given birth to, and helped raise, two children. She’s buried...
What It’s Like To Be a Senior High Schooler during Quarantine
COVID-19 has changed the world and the way we live in it. During this time of loss, change, and uncertainty of the future, everyone is experiencing a multitude of different mental health challenges, struggles, and responses. The experience of high schoolers in...
Mariam’s Poetry
Meet Mariam. She is a volunteer at Breaking Taboo. She is an artist, a writer, and a mental health advocate. At Breaking Taboo, we encourage conversation and creative expression. Here, Mariam can share her true story of pain, survival, and wisdom, as well...