mental health awareness month
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Sammy Watkins on How Depression, Alcoholism Nearly Destroyed His NFL Career: 'My Whole Life Was In Shambles'
It’s easy to throw around the word “bust,” but far too often there’s a story behind a player’s inability to perform on the field that’s either fallen on deaf ears or remains untold. In six NFL seasons, Kansas City Chiefs receiver Sammy Watkins endured trade after trade and an endless deluge of injuries before finally…
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Three Games That Have Kept Me Sane While Staying at Home
Between the pandemic, the isolation and the sheer amount of losses, these last few months have been fucking hard. The world just doesn’t seem to stop inflicting pain. One of my primary forms of self-care has always been video games. When reality gets too hard, I take a break from it and escape into a…
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The 19 Things I Cooked in Self-Isolation and What They Say About My Mental State
“I’ll do something that makes me happy.” That’s how I justified that red velvet cake I made that I didn’t even bother to put icing on, as I was so happy to eat it just plain. Greedily, like a little kid. But it was a large and I had to eventually slice it up and…
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The Root Jams Weekly Playlist (5/8/2020): 'Bring Me Peace'
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and in honor of that fact, the playlists this month will all be dedicated to it. Our first one, titled “Bring Me Peace,” is a list of songs from staffers of TheRoot.com that are used to bring a peaceful mental state. “Bring Me Peace” (5/8/2020) Panama Jackson Maxwell “Ascension…
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Taraji P. Henson, Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation Offering Mental Health Initiatives Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and now more than ever, it’s incredibly important to have mental health check-ins with yourself and loved ones in order to stay sane during these challenging times. Taraji P. Henson is working to ensure that in the age of COVID-19, the mental health of those on the frontlines remains…
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How to Win Friends and Influence People in a Psychiatric Ward
They tried to make it nice. They festooned the rec room in plastic Christmas decorations and bought us all donuts. There was even a special meal—dressing and gravy with a slice of turkey. But store-bought donuts and cafeteria holiday dinner didn’t change the fact that we all—patients and nurses included—were spending Christmas in an L.A.…
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May Is Mental Health Awareness Month. You Hanging in There?
How you doin’, fam? Obviously, as of late, we’ve been talking a lot about health here at The Root. As the world—and the United States, in particular—faces an unprecedented health crisis in the outbreak of COVID-19, our concerns have largely been focused upon the physical aspects of the coronavirus; how to avoid it, combat it,…
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On World Mental Health Day, Designer Kenneth Cole Offers Hope With the Launch of the Mental Health Coalition
October is a month of commemorations; it marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month, includes the last two weeks of Hispanic Heritage Month, and tomorrow is International Day of the Girl. But mental health is an issue that affects every demographic—in fact, the World Health Organization estimates 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health condition…
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New Research Says That Identifying as a ‘Strong Black Woman’ Can Lead to Depression
In the last few years at least, there has been some pushback against the prevailing notion of the “strong black woman” as a good thing, as black women themselves have recognized that vulnerability and yes, selfishness, is an important part of a healthy mental make up. Like so many things that have gotten us through…