In our last blog post, I opened up about my experience with self-stigma and the concept of “normal” – for years, I felt like I could not be “normal” or participate in society in the same ways that others did.
Coping with Cognitive Distortions
“I am not my thoughts – my thoughts do not define me, nor do they always represent reality.” The most valuable realization I have had in my recovery has been learning about cognitive distortions. These are biased perspectives that we
Living Between Diagnoses – By Wilder C. Hickney
My name is Wilder Hickney (pronouns she/her or they/them). I am a recent addition to the Colorado Mental Wellness Network community! I work as a contracted consultant with the Network. I’m here to help spread CMWN’s mission of positivity and
Why Mental Health Awareness Month?
Each May our community recognizes mental health awareness month, a tradition that has existed since 1949 in an effort to shed light on the “normalcy” of mental illness. (1) Is it working? Hard to say. Granted we’ve moved away
Stereotyping Individuals With Mental Health Conditions
What Does Someone With A Mental Health Condition Look Like? By: Amy Brant, CMWN Intern Often times, people in our society attach a judgment to an individual based on the way they look, what they wear, the people they hang
#quitdiagnosingtrump
So this petition is going around demanding that Donald Trump undergo a psychiatric evaluation in order to determine his “mental fitness for the job” of President. I understand that people don’t like Trump. I’m not going to debate his politics
Gun violence hysteria + lime green wristbands = ???
I write about gun violence and mental illness too much, I know, but other people write about it too much too. So there. Recently we experienced the largest mass shooting in United States history at an Orlando nightclub. The gunman
U.N.I.T.E to End Stigma Week Five: Embrace Treatment
By Amanda Kearney-Smith This is week five of our blog campaign on stigma. So far we’ve reviewed the U, N, I, & T of U.N.I.T.E. this week we elaborate on the final letter “E” which stands for “embrace”. U.N.I.T.E =
U.N.I.T.E to End Stigma Week Four: Talk About It
This is week four of our stigma posts – we are discussing the acronym U.N.I.T.E¹ a campaign to end stigma that started in Canada. UNITE = Understand, Nurture, Include Others, Talk, Embrace We’ve gone through the U, N, & I this
Reducing Stigma Continued…
By Amanda Kearney-Smith I’ve heard many times that “stigma does not have an impact on people seeking treatment. Its no longer an issue.” – I think that people confuse improving attitudes about mental health with total acceptance. For those of