Evening note! The blog party hosts at APA are taking a mental health break for the night. We’ll begin updating this post again tomorrow morning with your contributions. Keep ‘em coming! If you’re blog isn’t yet listed below, share the link in the comments below. We’ll be busy updating again tomorrow and sharing all the links. (A blogging day is at least 36 hours for us.)

Welcome to everyone who is taking part in our mental health blog party, our third annual event to help recognize May as Mental Health Month. We’ll update this page and blog throughout the day, recognizing you and other writers and contributors who are blogging and sharing for mental health awareness.

Thanks for joining us! Thank you to everyone who is recognizing May as Mental Health Month. We’re excited to get out the word that mental health matters to everyone.

We’ll be adding more links as the day goes on, so let us know if you’re blogging for mental health.

Quick reminders:

• For consideration on this list, your blog must have our badge or link back a post on this blog (Your Mind, Your Body). Posts should have been published today, or at least written in at least the past week.
• Tag any public posts on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and other sites with #mhblogday.
• Share, retweet and comment on blogs you’ve discovered today or that have moved you.

Most recently updated at 6 p.m. EDT (Next update 10 a.m. Thursday)

• Dr. Erlanger Turner’s Blog – Seeking Therapy for Your Child: Every Parent has a Different Journey
• Priscilla Warner’s Blog – Happiness
• Just Call Me Frank: One Womans Endeavour at Being Frank – A Message To Your Diagnosis
• So Now You Know – Sometimes you have to die to live
• Redesigning Mental Illness – Getting closer to people with mental illness in your church or community
• Psych Thoughts – Lagniappe
• Julie Sutter – Why I love my new job marketing mental health at Sage
• beautyfrompainblog – Feeling suicidal is not something to be ashamed of
• Madmannomore’s Blog – Desert Island (Slipped) Discs
• Mindfulness Muse – Rise Above Stigma: Increase Awareness of Mental Health Issues
• Robyn’s Online World – May is Mental Health Month – Why It Is Important To Me
• Dr. Nabil Hassan El-Ghoroury’s Blog – Juxtaposition of the Autistic and the Artistic
• MM172001’s Blog – May 16th Blog for Mental Health
• Where Do We Go Now – The Importance of Prioritizing Your Mental Health
• Sage Neuroscience Center – Why is Mental Health Important?
• Mental Health Humor (a PsychCentral blog) – I’m Blogging For Mental Health: May 16th, 2012
• Little Cheesehead on the Prairie – Mental Health Awareness Month: Ending the Stigma
• Running on the Rhode – Blogging for Mental Health. Yes, it relates to running
• CCTBeveryCentCounts – May is Mental Health Month!
• Mental Illness in the Family ( a HealthyPlace blog )- Diagnosis: Mental Illness. The Moment of Truth

• Coping With Depression (HealthyPlace Blog) – What’s Not True About Depression
• Dr. Ann Becker Schutte – Blogging For Mental Health : My Time in the Dark
• The Jessica Dall Blog – Mental Health Month
• Hearting Handmade – Secret Week 3: I Was Kidnapped
• Child Space – Stigma- What It Is and Why It Gets In The Way of Children Receiving Mental Health Treatment
• Losing the Shadow Behind Me – 2012 I’m Blogging About Mental Health Day
• Judith Barnard’s Blog – Still Frightened of Mental Illness?
• The Bipolar Burble – The Desperation of Mental Illness and Depression
• Watchtower 2.0 – Dealing with Mental Illness
• Safe Start Center – Children and Stress
• If You’re Going Through Hell Keep Going – Love, Labels and Lies
• Mombita – La importancia desconocida de la salud mental (in Spanish)
• The Real Me: No Holding Back – Where is my Resurrection?
• Healthy Place – Writing Off People with a Mental Illness Hurts You, Not Us
• Rain City Badger -What To Do if Someone You Know Comes Out With a Mental Illness
• Panic about Anxiety (PsychCentral Blog) – Video: Why do I blog about my own mental health
• BeePea.com – Bipolar Motherhood: What it Means to be “Mom Enough
• Life Your Way – Underground Fight Club
• SoundScape Music Therapy – Song Spotlight: “Smile” – In Honor Of Mental Health Awareness Month
• High Heels and Hot Flashes – Menopause, Mental Health and Me
• Melissa’s House – Melissa’s House: Providing a Home and Peace of Mind
• The Little Theatre of Alexandria – Mental Health & Theatre: Artistic Temperaments
• Metanoia – Blogging for Mental Health
• Do the Right Thing (a Psychology Today blog) – Mental Health Treatment: Don’t just take a Pill
• Feisty Blue Gecko- A Tail of the Unexpected – Blogging for Mental Health
• ReachOut – 6 reasons why volunteering is good for you
• My Florida Families – Anger had built up. I got help.
• HealthyPlace – My Experience With Mental Illness and Addiction
• The Wolf 101.5 FM- Wounded Warriors
• Happy in Nepa – May is Mental Health Month
• Private Practice Toolbox (a PsychCentral Blog) – 20 Ways Shrinks Stay Sane
• My Fabulous Forties – Random adventures in life – I’m blogging for mental health
• divyne n healthy – I’m Blogging for Mental Health…And Why You Should Care
• BPHope.com – I’m Blogging for Mental Health – Mental Health Month Blog Party – May 16, 2012
• Prozac Monologues – Prozac Monologues
• Insight – Blogging about Mental Health for Family and Friends
• 20 Commandments for Mental Health Workers – The Importance of Family Support
• Life on the Hill - I have mental illness and I take medication so that I’m OK
• Surviving with Bipolar Disorder – To Share or Not to Share…That Is the Question
• Madmannomore’s Blog – Desert Island (Slipped) Discs
• Pursuit of Peace – The Dangers of Stigma
• Running for Autism – The Truth About Postpartum Depression
• Journeying Beyond Breast Cancer – Blogging for Mental Health
• Candidaabrahamson – Just the Facts, Ma’am; The Numbers Don’t Lie: Not Servicing the Mentally Ill
• Research Digest- Blogging for Mental Health
• The Voice of Our Song- Nobody Knows
• Verbal Abuse in Relationships (a HealthyPlace blog) – Domestic Abuse and Depression
• Anxiety-Schmanxiety (a HealthyPlace blog) – Are You Deciding Whether to Use Medication for Anxiety?
• Coping with Depression (a HealthyPlace blog) – What’s Not True About Depression
• Funny in the Head (a HealthyPlace blog) – An Alcoholic Bipolar Bear Reveals The Irony Of Reversible Stigma
• More Than Borderline (a HealthyPlace blog) – Original Song: Not Beaten Yet
• Champions Career Center- Samantha’s Story: One of our Clients Gets Her Dream Job
• Stacy’s Flutterings – Talking About Mental Illness
• Semi Urban Homesteading – A Journey Through Mental Illness Toward Wholeness
• From Where I Stand – The Invisible Wounds of Trauma
• A Social Worker Believes – Your Therapist is in Therapy
• NochNoch – for me the bells toll – taking a break, getting married
• The Mood Ring – Mental Health Month Blog Party
• OCD Talk – Mental Health Blog Party
• Healthy Place – Mental Health Awareness: How Early Experiences Shape Self-Esteem
• SimpLee Serene – #mhblogday There is no stopping or starting – only doing!
• Mental Illness in the Family (a Healthy Place blog) - Parenting and Schizophrenia: A Degree in “MRG”
• Freelance Writer and Social Worker – Living and Writing with Bipolar Disorder – Staying on the Road
• Ameliamims –  Let’s End Stigma
• Healthy Place – Addiction Stigma and Celebrating Mental Health
• Soundscape Music Therapy – Song Spotlight: “Smile” – In Honor Of Mental Health Awareness Month
• Raisin Questions – What do fish cakes have to do with mental health?
• Debunking Addiction Blog (a HealthyPlace blog) - My Experience with Mental Health Stigma
• The PsychContinuingEd.com Blog – We can’t be bystanders on mental health care disparities
• Hands On Blog – May is Mental Health Month

In the comments for this post, tell us what you do to manage stress, anxiety, or depression, and how you stay mentally fit.

Dr. Ann Becker Schutte – Blogging For Mental Health : My Time in the Dark

Today’s blog is my contribution to the blog party–a story of part of my life when I was most in need of mental health support.  I know that this is an unusual step for a psychologist to take.  However, I believe that each of us will face moments of absolute darkness and pain–and that we all deserve to have the support that we need to get through those times.  If sharing my story helps another person reach out for support, that is a wonderful outcome.

A Social Worker Believes – Your Therapist is in Therapy

“It’s okay to be in therapy.  Therapy changes my life…” That’s what I want to  tell people who come in to see me as their social worker and are “feeling weird” about the idea of therapy.  “I go to therapy too.” But I don’t say this. No,  because I think you may lose confidence in me if you knew… Stigma, it’s there.  A part of me is feeling weird about the idea of “being a therapist” for someone  else when I myself know I need therapy.

Private Practice Toolbox (a PsychCentral Blog) – 20 Ways Shrinks Stay Sane

While it’s an honor to be in a profession that focuses on supporting the mental health of others, being a therapist often requires regularly going to “dark” places with clients, and that can take a toll on our ownmental health. I wanted to reach out beyond my own experience to therapists around the world to see how they nurture their own mental health in a profession that can be emotionally and mentally exhausting.

Your Mind, Your Body (Dr. Elaine Ducharme) – Psychologist, Heal Thyself    

I am a psychologist. I love my job. But, sometimes it is hard. There are times when holding the very intense emotions of many people can become overwhelming and fatiguing. I have learned over the years, that I really need to take my own advice, listen to what I tell others, to maintain my core stability and not burn out.

I am a psychologist. I love my job. But, sometimes it is hard. There are times when holding the very intense emotions of many people can become overwhelming and fatiguing.

I have learned over the years, that I really need to take my own advice, listen to what I tell others, to maintain my core stability and not burn out. Now, I will admit that there have been days where my stress reliever involved eating chocolate chips. I mean, when they are all in a container and I have to walk into the pantry to get them and I keep moving while I eat them, there are no calories…

I know that is not true. But, sometimes…

So, when I decide that chocolate chips are what I really want, I try to put them in a pretty bowl, mix them with craisins (another health food) and then sit quietly and actually enjoy them.

For me, another stress reducer might be a trip to the shoe store.

But, when I do these things, I know they are temporary fixes, and I can’t depend on them to maintain a sense of happiness. To do this, I really have to take care of myself. I love the information that APA has in its brochure Road to Resilience. I use this booklet all the time with patients. It is good stuff.

So, I keep in touch with and see my girlfriends. I try to laugh as much as I can. I spoil my grandkids. I try not to catastrophize. I meet regularly with a peer consultation group. We really get each other and the work-related stress. I set goals that are challenging, but realistic. I have great exercise tapes I can do at home. I try to practice relaxation techniques, especially right before I fall asleep.

And I am working on saying “no” to new projects. I admit that one is tough.

I am a lot like my father. I remember an article about him in our local newspaper; it was titled, “Want a job done? Ask a busy man.” I have learned, that like my Dad, I know I have to get away to really relax. So I do. I know this takes time. But I have learned that if I don’t take care of myself, I don’t feel well, and I really can’t be authentic with my patients.

In the comments for this post, tell us how you stay mentally healthy or live well with a mental health issue. 

Life Your Way – Underground Fight Club

“My greatest most awesome therapy is writing! (You’d be surprised how much does NOT make  it onto this thing!) Words make sense to me, plus I made a deal with myself  that I’ve never broken…I write only truth! (Even when the truth isn’t pretty…). I do my  best every day to funnel all the more-often-than-not chaotic energy into helping  others and trying to find the best ways to love and laugh at life!”

The Little Theatre of Alexandria – Mental Health & Theatre: Artistic Temperaments

“Having an outlet to express and share our creative side has become a strategy for many  of us in  “making lasting lifestyle and  behavior changes that promote overall health and wellness.”  I would encourage anyone who has the need for  a creative outlet to join us at The Little Theatre of  Alexandria (LTA). It has become a place where my insanity translates to my sanity.”

Panic about Anxiety (PsychCentral Blog) – Video: Why do I blog about my own mental health

“I wanted to create a very personal video explaining my rationale for writing not just about mental health, but about my own mental health. I wanted to explain why I do what I do and why I feel so comfortable sharing all of my panic and anxiety-related sorrows, triumphs, dilemmas, and baby steps with the world.”

Do the Right Thing (a Psychology Today blog) – Mental Health Treatment: Don’t just take a Pill

“The best available state-of-the-art research just doesn’t support the strictly biological view of mental illness at all. Rather, a more complex biopsychosocial approach is more consistent with research findings as well as what we know from best clinical practice. In other words, things are often much more complicated than they appear.”

In addition to the round up on links from bloggers supporting the mental health blog party, we wanted to highlight some blogs throughout the day, addressing a few different topics. First, we’re highlighting mental health stigma. The blogs below are some examples of posts shared about stigma. We”ve include excerpts from the blog as a short preview.

In the comments for this post, tell us how mental health stigma has affected your life or that of a friend.

Pursuit of Peace – The Dangers of Stigma

“As many of you know, I suffer from clinical depression, panic disorder, and agoraphobia. I take five pills a day to combat these. I am not ashamed of my  illness or of the fact that I see a psychologist and a therapist. I will tell  anyone who wants to know. It wasn’t always like that, though. I did not get  treatment until well into my college years. My family thought there was nothing  wrong with me, so I would just be a cry baby if I went to a doctor for it. I was  always worried that people would assume I was crazy, when I knew I wasn’t. It  was difficult for me, the same that it is for millions of Americans.”

Stacy’s Flutterings – Talking About Mental Illness

“Since Stacy’s Flutterings blog exists in large part to help erase the stigma of mental illness I was thrilled to learn about the blog party.  However, and interestingly enough, as I type the words that you are reading I find myself wondering where to begin as I share our story.  Do I start with where we are at today or do I go back to the beginning?”

Debunking Addiction (Healthy Place Blog) - Addiction Stigma and Celebrating Mental Health

“Early on, I was very aware of addiction stigma and the stigma surrounding mental illness. That’s why, even though May is designated Mental Health Awareness Month, I focus on my mental health and reducing addiction stigma every day of the year.  This has not always been the case.  When I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and struggling with addiction issues over 30 years ago, I didn’t have much to honor.  In fact, I pretty much hated life as I knew it.”

Surviving Mental Health Stigma (Healthy Place Blog) - My Experience with Mental Health Stigma

“When I eventually got out, I truly began to understand what mental health stigma meant. Being from a relatively small town, and being the extremely eccentric resident ‘crazy guy’ for a month until I was hospitalized, it was hard to escape stigma.  I had made quite the name for myself staying up for weeks at a time and causing havoc in every nook and cranny of the city.  I was taken away forcefully from the newspaper office, the University, the radio station, some bars and a few of the local high schools.  If you didn’t witness my reign of insanity first hand, you undoubtedly knew someone who had and definitely had heard of ‘Crazy Chris.’”