Mental Health Archives - Page 9 of 14 - Healthy Minds Philly®

Impact of Gardening on Mental Health

Get your hands dirty to feel better! Gardening engages you physically, mentally, and socially. Health benefits are numerous and you don’t need to live in the suburbs or the country to experience gardening and its benefits. Gardening can positively impact a number of health outcomes, including: Reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety Decrease in reported stress and mood disturbances Decrease in BMI Higher reported sense of community Increased physical activity Improved cognitive function Gardening has both immediate and long-term effects on health. For individuals with mental health conditions, horticultural therapy [...]

Janine Monico2024-04-18T11:12:44-04:00April 24th, 2019|Anxiety, Community, Depression, Mental Health, Stress|

Recognizing Minority Mental Health Awareness Month

July is Minority Mental Health Awareness month. You might wonder: why the distinction, if mental health doesn’t discriminate across race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation? Consider this: while the number of people experiencing mental illness may be the same across demographic groupings, people's access to care and quality of treatment for mental illness varies greatly. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, “the quality of and access to mental health care are suboptimal for minority groups.” NIMH also describes several recent studies showing that “members of racial and ethnic [...]

Janine Monico2018-07-10T14:49:34-04:00July 10th, 2018|Mental Health|

Un cambio de liderazgo: Mi estrategia de afrontamiento

Una gran parte de nuestro país se ha sentido en conflicto con el resultado de las últimas elecciones. Y es comprensible: la negatividad, la culpa, las mentiras, las intrigas y la desinformación (léase: noticias falsas) han plagado estas elecciones desde ambos lados del espectro político. ¿El resultado? Tensión postelectoral. Lo que me duele de estas últimas elecciones no es la política, sino el impacto que han tenido en personas importantes para mí. Mi vecino jubilado está preocupado por la cobertura de la atención médica, mis amigos LGBTQ tienen miedo de convertirse en víctimas de [...]

Janine Monico2021-01-02T20:09:24-05:00January 31st, 2018|Mental Health|

How My Brother’s Mental Illness Affected Me

By Jeff Shair, Mental Health Advocate My brother Paul was diagnosed with schizophrenia, like myself. Yet because Paul was 10 years older than me, the illness was viewed quite differently when his symptoms first appeared. That was back in the early 1960’s. In those days, some psychiatrists believed that the disease was caused by the individual having a weak will. For instance, when my parents took me to Paul’s psychiatrist at 9-years-old, a time during which I was struggling emotionally, they asked the doctor in front of me “Will Jeff [...]

Janine Monico2021-07-31T13:04:09-04:00November 15th, 2017|Lived Experience, Mental Health, Training|