The Circular Logic of Internet Misogynists
Yesterday–the same day, incidentally, that I discovered that I’ve inspired my first pathetic little hate club–a blogger I respect announced that she’s taking a hiatus from blogging after enduring...
View Article“Women just need to learn to say no.”
[Content note: sexual assault] Every time people talk about coercive sex–you know, the kind where someone manipulates someone into having sex with them as opposed to physically forcing them–the concern...
View ArticleWhy Northwestern Needs an Orientation Program on Mental Health
Note: This post is about stuff going on at my school, Northwestern University. But it’s relevant for anyone who cares about mental health and student activism. [Content note: depression and suicide] A...
View ArticleDear Northwestern Administration: Wake Up
I have a letter to the editor of the Daily Northwestern today. If I seem kind of angry, that’s because I am. Dear Editor, Today I learned that Alyssa Weaver, the Weinberg junior who passed away last...
View ArticleThe Problem With “Teen Angst” and Why You Should Take Teens’ Mental Health...
[Content note: depression and suicide] There’s a disturbing and pervasive idea out there that the psychological troubles of teenagers are inconsequential and unworthy of attention because they’re just...
View ArticleWho Is To Blame For A Suicide?
Yesterday I was driving around in my hometown and listening to the radio. The DJs did a segment on the suicide of Jacintha Saldanha, a nurse in a hospital where Kate Middleton was being treated, who...
View ArticleIf Not Now, When? On Politicizing Tragedy
I’m sure you’ve heard by now about the tragedy that happened in Connecticut this morning. If not, go read this and be ready to shed some tears. I definitely did. Every time a preventable tragedy...
View Article“Love Yourself”: A Beautiful But Flawed Idea
Ever since the 1990s, we–especially women–have been hearing about the importance of self-esteem. It’s associated with better mental health, relationship outcomes, academic achievement, career success,...
View ArticleOn “Sincerely Held Religious Beliefs” and Being a Counselor
Via JT, here’s a new bill that recently passed in the Tennessee State Senate Education Committee by a 7-2 vote: Republican state Sen. Joey Hensley encouraged fellow senators to pass SB 514 to “prevent...
View ArticleDoes Telling People to “Think Positive” Actually Help? An Informal Survey and...
Positive thinking is the bane of my existence. Not because I can’t do it, but because I’ve so often been exhorted to do it in the most unhelpful of ways. I’m someone who prefers to talk mostly about...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lessons I Learned From Depression
[Content note: depression] People struggling with mental illness (or any sort of illness, or anything crappy, really) are constantly exhorted by well-meaning people to find the “silver lining” in their...
View ArticleCriticizing Psychiatry Without Throwing the Baby Out with the Bathwater
So, I read this article in The Atlantic called “The Real Problems with Psychiatry” and…I’m torn. The article is an interview with this guy Gary Greenberg, a therapist who has previously written a book...
View Article[blogathon] Shit People Say To Future Therapists
Today’s my blogathon for the Secular Student Alliance! I’ll be posting every hour starting now until 6 PM central. Don’t forget to donate! To start, you get a rant! Sometimes I wish I’d kept my career...
View ArticleSelf-Diagnosis and Its Discontents
There’s a certain scorn reserved for people who diagnose themselves with mental illnesses–people who, based on their own research or prior knowledge, decide that there’s a decent chance they have a...
View ArticleSmall Things You Can Do To Improve Mental Health In Your Community
[Content note: suicide, mental illness] A few weeks ago Northwestern lost yet another student to suicide. There’s been pressure building all year for improved mental health services on campus, and I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What I’m Doing This Weekend! #ftbcon
FtBCon is almost upon us! Here’s a handy guide to everything I’m doing this weekend, aside from ALL OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA. All times are CDT (UTC – 5). The rest of the schedule, with links to where all...
View ArticleClik here to view.
#FtBCon Wrap-up and Thank Yous
Hopefully you caught at least part of our first-ever FtBCon this weekend; if not, here’s a convenient playlist of all of the things. I had a blast with it despite being chained to my computer for two...
View ArticleWhy You Shouldn’t Use Mental Illness As A Metaphor
And speaking of the dilution of language, I’m going to talk a little about how the language of mental illness gets co-opted regularly. Sometimes this is done completely innocently, as metaphor. “The...
View Article“What do you have to be depressed about?”
If you have experienced depression while living what appears to be a fairly nice life, you’ve probably had someone ask you, “What do you have to be depressed about?” Sometimes people who ask this...
View ArticleMiri’s Survival Guide to Moving Across the Country Alone in a State of Terror...
I have known I was going to write this post ever since I first stood in my stifling Chicago apartment looking at a bunch of empty boxes and thinking, “Wow, moving is going to be difficult! I’d better...
View Article
