Tag: mental health
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Mental Health Awareness: the Darkness in Depression
This month is Mental Health Awareness Month. I’ll be taking some time to share some topics that hopefully some will find helpful. As a mental health counselor I think it is imperative that we work to reduce the stigma that mental health carries. There are a multitude of amazing resources online. A few of my…
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Ankle surgery: part 2 the first 2 weeks post op
Part 1 of the broken ankle saga is here. I decided to blog about my recovery and experience given there is not many posts from runners. I hope it inspires someone who is going through something similar. Waking up from the surgery was probably the thing that will stick in my mind the most. I…
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Eating Disorder: the Hard Truth
It’s National eating disorder week. As someone who has struggled with eating disorders most of my adult life I wanted to pause and reflect on my own journey this week. I looked at pictures of myself and I realized how I could find so many that I wanted my body to be right now. How…
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Hope After the Storm of Loss and Postpartum Depression
My rainbow after the storm ❤️🌈 my sixth baby was a rainbow after a loss and I never imagined them how much more joy she would bring into our lives. Her birth and trauma from that hospital stay etched in me a change. But traumas can change us, they can cause us to do one…
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Suicide Awareness and Prevention
This month is Suicide Prevention Month and today September 10th is World Suicide Prevention Day. Suicide prevention is very personal for me. I have struggled in the past with suicidal ideations and depression. My husbands best friend committed suicide 2 years ago, and I will never forget watching his pain as he processed that. My…
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Mental Health Awareness Breaking the Stigma: Eating Disorders
I know mental health awareness month is over but this is the final post of the series and I did not want to not include it because it is a category of disorders that resonate personally for me. Eating Disorders are commonly misunderstood, sometimes people think it is as simple as changing your eating habits,…
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Mental Health Awareness Month Series! Breaking the Stigma: Depression
This video by the National Alliance on Mental Illness is only one minute long but it captures a brief overview of what depression manifests as in someone’s life. Depression, formerly known as Depressive Disorder in the DSM-5 is more than a simple sad feeling or having a sad day. I think it is used as…
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Mental Health Awareness Month Series! Breaking the Stigma: Anxiety
Since it is Mental Heath Awareness Month all month long I wanted to write a mini series about some common mental illnesses to help continue to share and discuss ways we can break the stigma of mental illness. I really like the resources on a few websites which I find helpful to share with others…
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My Story
Recently I have been nudged by multiple people to start writing on a blog again and participating in social media. The last time I blogged and did this was in 2014, so much time has passed and yet it still feels like only a little while ago. I have hesitated and finally feel ready to…
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When In Darkness
It comes in waves, at times unpredictable, at times as constant as the tide. Darkness, or what others may refer to as depression. Nothing about this post is intended to be from a clinical perspective, but purely a feeling one. Particularly myself, who gets random bouts of depressions still. When I got accepted Jesus back…
Colleen Smith, LMHC, NCC 