depression
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What Lies Beneath: Hypnotherapy Is Helping Me Get to the Bottom of My Depression
I’m afraid I’m going to fart in front of my therapist. Specifically, I’m afraid I’m going to fall asleep during therapy, and fart in my sleep (and don’t act like you never fart in your sleep, because you do). For all I know, I already have at some point during the past 10 months I’ve…
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When Mental Illness Is Your Family Heirloom
You know that scene in My Cousin Vinny where Vinny’s girlfriend, Mona Lisa Vito, played by Marissa Tomei, testifies in court as an “expert witness” on cars? When opposing counsel condescendingly asks how a sweet little lady like herself—a hairdresser, even—could be an authority on automobiles, she replies, “My father was a mechanic. His father…
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The Semicolon: How a Seemingly Obscure Tattoo Signifies Survival and Solidarity
In 2013, 27-year-old Amy Bleuel began a mental health advocacy organization dubbed “Project Semicolon” to bring awareness to suicide, depression, addiction and self-injury. Bleuel, who had lost her father to suicide 10 years earlier, died by suicide at the age of 31. The campaign, however, remains strong, inspiring others to take an active role in…
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In the Sunshine: The Root Tackles Mental Health in May
Today, May 1, marks May Day, the day that we pay homage to the workers of the world, and it also marks the start of Mental Health Awareness Month. Here at The Root, we take Mental Health seriously, and we aim to give our readership not only stories they can relate to, but which give…
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On Doctor’s Orders, Michelle Williams Steps Away From Broadway Musical
Michelle Williams is taking a leave of absence from her role as Erzulie in the Broadway musical Once on This Island, on the advice of her doctors. As Newsweek reports, the news was shared in a statement from the play’s showrunners, who announced on Wednesday that Williams’ leave of absence was “effective immediately.” Understudy Cassondra…
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#WCW: Serena Williams Just Got Real—and Relatable—About Postpartum Emotional Fallout
She may be the greatest athlete of all time (fight me), but Serena Williams recently admitted that despite daughter Alexis Olympia being the center of her universe, she’s not always confident that she’s the greatest mom. In a confessional post on Tuesday, Williams got real about the effects of postpartum hormones, telling her followers: Last week…
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Black Celebs Suffering From Drug Addiction Deserve The Same Support as Demi Lovato
What was your initial reaction when you first heard that Demi Lovato was checked into a hospital after a suspected heroin overdose? Public opinion seemed to be split between people who were genuinely concerned for the pop star, and another group of people asking, “Who the hell is Demi Lovato?” You would be hard-pressed to…
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Ms. Jackson if You’re Happy: Janet Jackson Shares Her Journey to Joy in Essence’s Happiness Issue
She may have taught us all the “pleasure principle,” but beloved icon Janet Jackson’s happiness didn’t come as easily as a song and dance. In an exclusive essay and cover story for Essence magazine’s first-ever Happiness issue, the living legend—who will also headline the 2018 Essence Festival on Sunday, July 8—writes readers a deeply empathetic…
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‘Suck It Up’ or Pray: Advice That Almost Killed Me
I was beaten quite a bit as a child. I wasn’t a “bad kid” or a troublemaker, I just happened to come from a violent place (America) and a culture (small town, black, 1980s; take your pick) where beating children was de rigueur. As an infant, I was beaten with a wooden yardstick until my…
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Just an Ordinary Pain: Living With Persistent Depressive Disorder
Editor’s note: Until recently, mental health and illness were taboo subjects in the black community. But thanks to the efforts of those brave enough to speak on it, that’s changing. In that vein, The Root team is taking this week during Mental Health Awareness Month to write about how mental health has touched our lives.…