← Back to all posts

#mental health

16 posts with this tag

Grief & Loss Wellness

Praying Hands

Ten years after losing my brother Jim, I share the essay I wrote about him — a story woven through Durer's Praying Hands, our mother's legacy, and the mysterious power of prayer in the face of unbearable loss.

Read more
Wellness

Be the Hope

My brother Jim would be fifty-four today. We lost him to suicide seven years ago. It's up to those of us who've lost a beloved to be the hope.

Read more
Motherhood Wellness

All About Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding and postpartum mental health are deeply connected. When everything else went wrong after the birth of my first child, nursing proved an oasis.

Read more
Wellness

Affliction + Hope

Affliction breeds the strongest hope. We may not realize it while stuck in the mire, but it is there we build the strength that will one day bolster others.

Read more
Grief & Loss Motherhood

Pregnancy and Infant Loss: Grieving Well

Losing a baby is a tragedy that demands to be addressed. Grief is a lifelong process, but we have an amazing capacity for healing — to get stronger, rebuild, and help others along the way.

Read more
Current Events Wellness

You Can Go Home Again

A trip to Philadelphia to promote my book brought me back to the high-intensity rhythm of the East Coast — and to the graves of founding fathers who first pulled mental illness from the fringes.

Read more
Wellness

Suicide: Let's Talk About It

We still treat suicide as a stain on someone's character rather than the public-health crisis it is. Four years after losing my brother, I've learned that talking is our strongest weapon against stigma.

Read more
Current Events Faith

When Postpartum Packs a Punch

Parenthood is paradox from the beginning — miraculous and grueling. When postpartum illness strikes, story and shared suffering become our most powerful antidotes.

Read more
Faith Grief & Loss

My Brother's Keeper

My brother was my protector, my surrogate mom, my best friend. In his dying words, he entrusted me with the story of his broken heart.

Read more
Grief & Loss Wellness

Why Suicide Isn't a Selfish Act

Calling suicide selfish is ignorant and hurtful. My brother was in extreme pain, and he believed his children would suffer less without him. That is not cowardice — it is a desperate, human response to unbearable agony.

Read more