Lived Experience Archives - Healthy Minds Philly®

When the Caregiver Needs Care

The people who spend their lives caring for others are often the last to notice when they need care themselves. They can recognize burnout a mile away — in others. But when it shows up in their own reflection, they see something else entirely: failure, weakness, laziness. I was reminded of this during a recent conversation on the Healthy Minds Philly chatline. The woman who reached out was in her early sixties. She was grieving a child she’d lost four years earlier, supporting her incarcerated son’s family, and caring full-time [...]

Janine Monico2026-01-28T09:20:35-05:00January 28th, 2026|Certified Peer Specialists, Lived Experience, Stress, Suicide Prevention, Support|

Volunteering for Suicide Prevention in High School Made Me a Healthier Adult

I struggled with mental health in my teen years. I grew up in a place where I thought that I could not talk about my struggles without feeling ashamed or being pitied. Growing up, suicide prevention was close to my heart because of my own suicidality. My high school was not a place where mental health was discussed, and suicide prevention efforts did not involve students. With the support of adults who understood the importance of preventing suicide in school, a group of my classmates and I decided to do [...]

Janine Monico2025-09-05T11:21:14-04:00September 1st, 2025|Lived Experience, Suicide Prevention|

Recovery After Strokes: Ignacio’s Story

Ignacio is a 50-year-old Argentine tango dancer and instructor. He moved to Philadelphia less than two years ago from Argentina to live with his partner, Meredith. Their life together took an unexpected turn in March 2024, when he suffered a life-threatening cerebrovascular accident (CVA). The Day Everything Changed On March 9, 2024, Ignacio was at home with Meredith when he began to feel ill. He lost mobility and his gaze became blurred. After emergency services arrived, Ignacio was transferred to Temple University Hospital, where his life was saved with an [...]

Janine Monico2025-05-20T09:46:25-04:00May 20th, 2025|Awareness, Lived Experience, Stress|

Tango Into Community

Meredith is a renown tango performer and teacher with deep roots in Philadelphia. Her talent has taken her dancing all over the world, but now she is at home running the Philadelphia Argentinean Tango School in Fishtown. For 26 years, tango has been her anchor, providing a sense of belonging that had long eluded her. "Tango has been the first long-term consistent community that I have been part of," Meredith shares, highlighting the profound effect this dance form has had on her well-being. Her childhood was marked by loss and [...]

Janine Monico2025-07-21T09:26:14-04:00May 13th, 2025|Depression, Lived Experience, Music and Mental Health, Self-Help|