Check him out! Lizzie Simon also helped to produce this project :) 

http://www.webmd.com/bipolar-disorder/bipolar-tv/default.htm 

On Saturday night, my wife and I walked down to the National Mall in Washington DC to watch the funeral procession of one of the greatest senators in the history of the U.S. We were amazed to see thousands of other people lining the streets to see Ted Kennedy’s last ride out of DC. It’s a city where he ran into a lot of controversy, but also did an inestimable amount of good for so many people. Senator Kennedy knew a lot about mental health from his own personal experience of dealing with the horrific tragedies and health issues in his family. He was a strong advocate for people with mental illnesses and disabilities. He championed the American with Disabilities Act, which made it harder for people with mental illnesses to be discriminated against and gave them rights they never had. Most recently he was a leading figure in passing the Mental Health Parity Bill attempting to get more people mental health insurance coverage.

As I stood on the Memorial Bridge thinking about so many things he did, I realized a lot of other people of all ages, gender, and races were there to thank him for the work for their causes. There were people celebrating his work to pass JFK’s Civil Rights Bill. A lot of female athletes celebrating his Title 9 athletics work. A guy dressed in his security uniform ready to go to work who chanted something about minimum wage. A bunch of people in wheelchairs paying homage for his work with disabilities. People holding signs for healthcare. And the list goes on.

When his hearse passed in front of me I cried. As I walked to the Washington Monument to get pictures of the 50 flags at half mast I said to my wife, “What’s most difficult is that I want to say it will be ok, but no one can replace him and it’s sad.” I shudder to think how long it would have taken millions of people to get the rights they deserve without Senator Kennedy’s work. However, I am extremely happy for everything he did and know this country is better off because of him. We’ll miss you Senator Kennedy.  

After reading about an upcoming Mental Health Awareness conference held solely for Spanish speakers, I started to think about how being half Hispanic and having a very close relationship with my mother (born and raised in Costa Rica) has effected the treatment of my mental health issues. I really think that my mother had an added stigma about mental health issues because she grew up and lived in a foriegn country until her early 30’s. That said, a few years ago, when I first sought help for my eating disorder I couldn’t really debate the topic with her. This decision was hard because I felt like I was hiding something from my mother, but it also made me see that as I grew older my mother could not understand some things I would experience and that had to be O.K. Eventually, I learned how to educate her little by little about mental health, finiding ways to relate it back to theraputic methods she uses to feel better such as prayer and meditation. Now, she fully supports by decision to study Psychology at the graduate level and talks openly with friends about mental health awareness. Family support is possible! - Anna

While it isn’t exactly surprising that gamers have higher incidence of depression and being overweight, it is interesting to ask the chicken/egg question: does gaming cause depression, or do depressed people gravitate towards gaming?

Check it out!