Preventing Suicide

Preventing Suicide

How to talk about suicide prevention with a partner, relative, or friend. Content warning: This article focuses on suicide prevention.…

I Took My Daughter to an Amusement Park. Then a Shooting Happened

I Took My Daughter to an Amusement Park. Then a Shooting Happened

This story originally ran on Healthline in September. Cathy Cassata is a writer for Chicago Health and Healthline. Going to Six Flags…

Tough Teen Talks

Tough Teen Talks

Connection and communication help prevent adolescent suicides  On a rainy day last winter, the principal of a suburban Chicago high…

The New 988

The New 988

A national mental health crisis line offers an alternative to 911, alleviating the need for law enforcement response to mental…

Moving the Needle on Mental Health

Moving the Needle on Mental Health

4 organizations offer unexpected, active approaches to mental health therapy in Chicago Sometimes a single experience can change everything, shifting…

Ready for Another Pandemic Malady? It’s Called ‘Decision Fatigue’

Ready for Another Pandemic Malady? It’s Called ‘Decision Fatigue’

Most all of us have felt the exhaustion of pandemic-era decision-making. Should I travel to see an elderly relative? Can…

Mental Health Concerns? There’s an App for That

Mental Health Concerns? There’s an App for That

Here’s what you need to know about therapy apps If you’ve tried to book a therapy session lately, you may…

Confronting Perfectionism: It’s Okay to Be Perfectly Imperfect

Confronting Perfectionism: It’s Okay to Be Perfectly Imperfect

Clarissa Donnelly-DeRoven, 27, has accomplished many things. She’s a rural health and Medicaid news reporter, spin class enthusiast, amateur cross-stitcher,…

Reckoning with Racial Trauma

Reckoning with Racial Trauma

Bias, discrimination, and abuse are culminating in a heightened sense of stress Every Sunday afternoon for more than a year,…

A Robust Blend: Coffee and Hope

A Robust Blend: Coffee and Hope

When patrons at the Sip of Hope Community Coffee Bar order a cup of coffee, they get a signature blend:…

Men and Mental Health

Men and Mental Health

More men are seeking help, but roadblocks to treatment remain Through college, graduate school, and into an active and successful…

Isolation’s Impacts

Isolation’s Impacts

Helping kids cope with the pandemic’s emotional and behavioral legacy Before the pandemic, Patrick DeFors brought his children, then ages…

The New Normal?

The New Normal?

5 mental health lessons from the pandemic  1. Make changes, but go slow “As we move into a new normal,…

Black Minds Matter

Black Minds Matter

What will it take to address the city’s racial disparities in mental health care?  Horace Washington Howard rides the bus…

Graphic Medicine

Graphic Medicine

Cartoons use their visual power to promote healing and acceptance M.K. Czerwiec, RN, was a brand-new nurse, still in nursing…

Covid Psychosis

Covid Psychosis

Condition can cause serious, but temporary, psychotic episodes Ben Price, 48, from Morris, Illinois, was a loving husband, father, and a…

Facing Terminal Cancer

Facing Terminal Cancer

Support helps families come to terms with looming loss Last April, Rogers Park resident Aisha Luster got the biggest shock…

Countering the Stress and Loneliness of Covid-19

Countering the Stress and Loneliness of Covid-19

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to affect the Chicago area, our winter weariness is gradually lifting, but the stress and…

Why Covid-19 Affects Kids’ Mental Health — and How You Can Help

Why Covid-19 Affects Kids’ Mental Health — and How You Can Help

While adults have been the hardest hit by Covid-19 infections, children of all ages remain vulnerable to the pandemic’s many…

Using Meditation to Achieve Mindfulness

Using Meditation to Achieve Mindfulness

The holiday season can be a paradox. We celebrate miracles that could only have existed because people were guided by…

Coping with the Coronavirus Pandemic for People with Anxiety Disorders

Coping with the Coronavirus Pandemic for People with Anxiety Disorders

These days, we all have to accept the anxiety inherent in living in the time of the coronavirus pandemic and…

Using Nicotine to Puff Away Sadness

Using Nicotine to Puff Away Sadness

Ask a smoker what they get out of cigarettes and they are likely to talk about pleasure, contentment, and an…

Revoking My Corona Pass

Revoking My Corona Pass

Accepting the challenge of the new ‘normal’ What’s the state of your mental health these days? Are you anxious? Depressed?…

Covid-19’s Toll on Mental Health

Covid-19’s Toll on Mental Health

The coronavirus pandemic, with all of its stressors, has triggered anxiety, depression, and other disorders When Covid-19 caused businesses to…

Mental Health Hero: Kim Nowak

Mental Health Hero: Kim Nowak

Rogers Behavioral Health After experiencing postpartum anxiety following the birth of her second child, Kim Nowak pursued a career in…

7 Anti-Inflammatory Foods for Anxiety

7 Anti-Inflammatory Foods for Anxiety

One-third of Americans will experience prolonged anxiety at some point in their lives, according to the National Institute of Mental…

It’s Not You, It’s All of Us

It’s Not You, It’s All of Us

Should we cancel it? I think we should cancel it.” I agreed with my wife. It was March 11. Our…

Op-Ed: Broken Safety Net Leaves Patients Stranded in Emergency Department

Op-Ed: Broken Safety Net Leaves Patients Stranded in Emergency Department

Chicago Health is committed to publishing a diversity of opinions. The opinions expressed in this op-ed article are the author’s…

How Those with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Cope With Angst of COVID

How Those with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Cope With Angst of COVID

Before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in the United States, Chris Trondsen felt his life was finally under control. As…

Reacting to Unwritten Rules Black People Learn to Navigate Racism

Reacting to Unwritten Rules Black People Learn to Navigate Racism

Above photo: In his work with black teenagers, pastor and mental health caseworker Darnell Hill teaches an unofficial guide to what…

5 Tips for Self-Care During the Pandemic and Protests

5 Tips for Self-Care During the Pandemic and Protests

First came the coronavirus and its strict stay-at-home orders, impacting the mental health of almost half of Americans, according to…

Living with Eco-Anxiety in Age of the Coronavirus

Living with Eco-Anxiety in Age of the Coronavirus

While most news right now focuses on the worldwide emergency response to COVID-19, climate change remains an escalating threat. The…

Challenges of Keeping Young Adults Safe During Pandemic

Challenges of Keeping Young Adults Safe During Pandemic

Last month, after California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered most of the state’s residents to stay home, I found myself under…

Moving Your Mind to Combat Anxiety

Moving Your Mind to Combat Anxiety

Physical exercise is a great stress-reliever, and teens these days are under a lot of stress. So when two Evanston…

Healthy Sports Parenting Starts with These Tips

Healthy Sports Parenting Starts with These Tips

Coach and author Sharkie Zartman remembers coaching at a youth volleyball tournament and observing a match between two very good…

Dance Therapy Uses Movement to Address Mental Health

Dance Therapy Uses Movement to Address Mental Health

We may dance through life, but how many of us dance through therapy? Much of our communication is nonverbal, yet…

Pain and Mental Health

Pain and Mental Health

When chronic pain strikes, depression and anxiety can follow Chronic pain is more than a physical problem. Those who suffer…

Countering the Stigma of Mental Health in Chicago’s Immigrant Communities

Countering the Stigma of Mental Health in Chicago’s Immigrant Communities

Even under the best of circumstances, it’s challenging for immigrants to adjust to a new life in a new country.…

Changing the Conversation About Mental Health

Changing the Conversation About Mental Health

Our minds are one of the most powerful things about us. Everything from our physical health to our sense of…

Facing Fears with Virtual Reality Therapy

Facing Fears with Virtual Reality Therapy

You’re on an airplane in the middle of a storm, lightning flashing outside the window, your seat rocking. “I’m scared,”…

Healing the Hurt

Healing the Hurt

Chicago programs help young victims of trauma find their way forward “What happened to you?” Asking troubled children that question…

Breaking Down Barriers

Breaking Down Barriers

Fighting against the stigma of mental illness and advocating for parity Moments after delivering her first child, a baby girl,…

Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar Disorder

Making sense of the ups and downs Lizzie,* a Chicago-resident, was overwhelmed with several stressful situations in her late 20s.…

Teen Depression Rising, Especially Among Girls

Teen Depression Rising, Especially Among Girls

The teen years have always been a trying time, but now they are more stressful than ever. And the incidence…

Camp Courage Comforts Children Who Have Lost Loved Ones

Camp Courage Comforts Children Who Have Lost Loved Ones

Joanna Bodigor was only six years old in the spring of 2000 when her father died of a pulmonary embolism.…

Stressed Out

Stressed Out

The importance of keeping cool can’t be stressed enough By Kate Silver Stress has been a lifelong problem for Claire.* For years, the…

Deconstructing Grief

Deconstructing Grief

Ways to help yourself and othersBy Katie Morell Grief is a topic difficult to discuss, but it’s universally felt. Intense grief…

Game On

Game On

The jury’s still out as to whether online brain training works the mind or just the wallet By Donna Shryer…

Knot Now!

Knot Now!

It’s time to seek professional help if anxiety turns your nerves into a tangled mess By Donna Shryer When studies…

Doctor’s Orders

Doctor’s Orders

Shattering the Stigma of Depression By Dr. Gena Vennikandam Since the mid-20th century, when cognitive psychotherapy was being introduced, depression…