Mental Health

Shanee Markovitz was born in Israel and grew up Southern Florida. She is currently in the honors program at Stern College for Women. Shanee is a big proponent of destigmatizing mental health and being open about it. Her own experiences, including her mother's suicide, have led her to get involved, speak out, and make a difference. She has written popular articles on numerous sites including the Forward and is in the process of writing a book about various mental health topics. She speaks in public forums about the effect mental illness has had on her life and the wisdom she has attained from her struggles, as well as the impact mental health has on individuals and communities. She is devoted to seeing the stigma of mental illness disappear during her lifetime. She would love for you to join with her on the quest to destigmatize mental illness and support those in need.
Shanee Markovitz

Consider the following:   A neighbor is sick with cancer.   She is a mother of three young kids and is in and out of the hospital. As her neighbor, you partake in efforts to babysit her kids, start a meal train, offer her support in any way, and be there for her family.   Read More …

Akiva is a senior at Yeshiva University studying marketing and writing. He is involved in several extracurricular activities. Among them are managing the Yeshiva College social media accounts, writing for the student newspaper’s business section, and handling the marketing efforts of SOY (Student Organization of Yeshiva), one of Yeshiva University’s branches of student council. His proudest extracurricular achievement is serving as the Wilf Campus President of Active Minds.
Akiva Clair
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In the past two years, everything has changed for me. I started working for a game-changing mental health student club called Active Minds as the Yeshiva University chapter President. By publicly establishing myself as an unwavering mental health advocate, I’ve had friends, some close and some distant, open up to me about their struggles. As Read More …

Naomi Shulman holds a master’s degree in mental health counseling and is a co-founder of Chazkeinu, an organization offering mental health peer support to Jewish women. Naomi aims to use her education and personal experience with mental health to encourage healing and wellness in the Jewish community.
Naomi Shulman
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Post-Miscarriage I wrote this after I had a miscarriage that triggered some strange mental health symptoms. I was having extreme fears and nightmares about the baby that I lost and couldn’t make peace with my incessant panic about what happened during the pregnancy and what it meant about the baby’s Neshama (Jewish soul).   I reached Read More …

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The following piece was selected as one of the winners of this year’s Refuat Hanefesh Creative Expression Contest. Age group: College And Up. It has been lightly edited.  When I came back from my first stay at an inpatient hospital, I was scared to leave my house. I was scared of the questions people would Read More …

Aviva is a Grade 6 student who attends Netivot HaTorah Day School, in Toronto,
Canada. Aviva has several different interests, including writing and reading. Aviva especially
likes art.
Aviva Eizicovics
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The following piece was selected as one of the winners of this year’s Refuat Hanefesh Creative Expression Contest. Age group: Elementary School.      About The Artwork: Aviva Eizicovics, a Grade 6 student at Netivot HaTorah Day School, used her creative skills to create a masterpiece for Refuat Hanefesh. The artwork is called “A Puzzle Read More …

Ever since her daughter-in-law was suicidal three years ago, Mariah Williams resolved to fight stressors in her own life and encourage those she loves to do the same. Mariah now researches and writes daily to promote self-care.
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Taking a vacation can put your mind at ease and make you forget about all of the world’s worries. It’s a chance to let go of the hustle and bustle of the daily grind and indulge in life’s moments. To make sure you enjoy your next trip to the fullest, here are some tips to Read More …

tolerate your absurd
do anything to keep you from yelling
and scream silently for you again

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Sometimes, a book can provide the clarity needed to understand one’s life. I discovered the story of my life in a thin children’s book, Are You My Mother? by P. D. Eastman As a child, Are You My Mother? was my favorite storybook. It was the one I would read aloud to my brother each Sunday Read More …

There was no quick fix to treat schizophrenia, and I wasn’t a carefree, silly teenager.