Mental illness: What Women Wish They Knew as Teens

A recent article on Bustle.com asked seven women the question: “If you had the power to go back in time and address the misconceptions about mental illness you had as a teenager, what would you say?”

It’s a great question, especially given that it’s National Recovery Month, a month-long celebration dedicated to stopping the stigma, raising awareness and celebrating the many of you who are in recovery from a mental health illness and/or substance use disorder. 

Here’s a look at some of the responses we thought might resonate most with you: 

• Gabi wishes she understood that she wasn’t alone and that others were suffering just like she was. If only she knew this, she would have sought the help “before her illness become life-threatening,” she said.

• Tina would tell her teen self that it wasn’t her fault and she didn’t deserve it. 

• Deb wishes that she had a better understanding of the self-harm behaviors – so she could educate others who thought she was just being “dramatic” or that she’d “grow out of it.”  

•  Sarah says if only someone told her “mental health issues wasn’t something to be ashamed of” and that she was “good.” 

• Nicole would have liked to know that mental illness looks different in everyone – and “even over the course of a day in myself," she said.

What do you wish someone told you about mental illness and/or substance use disorder? In honor of Recovery Month, we encourage you to take the time this month to think about this question and to educate someone in your life about the hard work and rewards of recovery. 

Take Back Your Mental Health

At Rising Roads, our staff is here to help you or a special lady in your life recover from a co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorder. Let us help you take back your physical and mental health. To learn more about our psychiatric consultations, call us today: 866-746-1558.

Do You Know the Warning Signs of Mental Illness?

It’s Mental Illness Awareness Week, which was created by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and takes place each year during the first week of October. The goal: to educate, raise awareness, and stop stigma surrounding mental illness. 

According to a National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 7.9 million people in the U.S. experience both a mental disorder and substance use disorder simultaneously. Either disorder — substance use or mental illness — can develop first. 

Due to a mix of hormones, cultural pressures, and a higher risk for physical and emotional abuse, women are particularly susceptible to depression, anxiety, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder, note experts. And yet you might not always be aware of the warning signs. 

While each illness has its own symptoms, the NAMI recommends watching for the following red flags:

• Excessive worrying or fear
• Feeling excessively sad or low
• Confused thinking or problems concentrating and learning
• Extreme mood changes, including uncontrollable “highs” or feelings of euphoria
• Prolonged or strong feelings of irritability or anger
• Avoiding friends and social activities
• Difficulties understanding or relating to other people
• Changes in sleeping habits or feeling tired and low energy
• Changes in eating habits, such as increased hunger or lack of appetite
• Changes in sex drive
• Difficulty perceiving reality (delusions or hallucinations, in which a person experiences and senses things that don't exist in objective reality)
• Inability to perceive changes in one’s own feelings, behavior or personality (”lack of insight” or anosognosia)
• Abuse of substances like alcohol or drugs
• Multiple physical ailments without obvious causes (such as headaches, stomach aches, vague and ongoing “aches and pains”)
• Thinking about suicide
• Inability to carry out daily activities or handle daily problems and stress
• An intense fear of weight gain or concern with appearance 

Take Back Your Mental Health

Perhaps the best way you can celebrate MIAW is to seek help if you or someone you love is struggling with a co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorder. At Rising Roads, our staff is here to help you take your physical and mental health back. To learn more about our psychiatric consultations, call us today: 866-746-1558.