Peer Perspectives

My Time at Refuat Hanefesh

In January 2017, I got a Facebook message from Ariel Mintz asking if I had any interest in joining an ...

Yes, Slurs are Harmful

As this is being written, one of the main issues at the forefront of the cultural consciousness is ableism and ...

My Experience Being an Ally

There’s something that doesn’t sit right with calling myself- or anyone for that matter- an “ally” to people who struggle ...

Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May: A Father’s Thoughts on Physician-Assisted Suicide

For several years after my daughter was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, she regularly told me she wanted to die ...

Mental Health Concerns During Your Israel Gap Year

For decades, mental health has been a taboo topic, only to be whispered about - if that. It has been ...

No Laughing Matter

A friend of mine recently posted a meme on social media about how her home sometimes feels like an insane ...

Mental Health Antibodies

Over the past several months, words and terms which were hardly ever used by the common person have all of ...

13-Year-Old Brayden Harrington Just Shattered The Stuttering Stigma

In the waning moments of the 2020 Democratic National Convention (DNC) and shortly before his highly anticipated acceptance speech, Joe ...

NBC’s This is Us: Randall’s Not Okay

When I first started watching This Is Us, I immediately fell in love with the relatable and compelling storyline: the ...

Editorial: Are Those with Mental Illness Prone to Violence?

It deeply hurts. Time and time after time again, politicians, newscasters and everyday people associate violence with mental illness. This ...

Editorial: Catalysts for Change – Who I’m Grateful To This Thanksgiving

Anthony Bourdain, Kate Spade, Chester Bennington, and Robin Williams. Sharon Markovitz, Batsheva Stadlan, Chazz Petrella and recently Channing Smith. All ...

How NBC’s This Is Us Stigmatizes Depression

NBC’s highly rated show This is Us has captured the hearts of viewers across the country as it chronicles the ...

Suicide and The Omer

May is Mental Health Month.  It is also a time of counting the omer, the 49 day, 7 week period ...

Pesach: On Fear and Hope

The following is a piece from the Refuat Hanefesh column “Struggling Together: Mental Health in The Torah”. In this column, ...

Editorial: Rethinking How You Volunteer

What is your time worth to you? I ask because it is my unfortunate position to be the one to ...

Editorial: The Forgotten Character and Irony of Dear Evan Hansen

It surpasses ironic. The Connor Project: A fictitious movement based on a fictitious story conceived by the minds behind the ...

Call it What it is: Mental Illness and not Mental Health

Consider the following: A neighbor is sick with cancer. She is a mother of three young kids and is in ...

Winter Depression: Chanukah Edition

The following is a piece from the Refuat Hanefesh column “Struggling Together: Mental Health in The Torah”. In this column, ...

Warriors, Not Weirdos: Changing The Way We View Mental Illness

In the past two years, everything has changed for me. I started working for a game-changing mental health student club ...

Learning What to Feel During Teshuva From Dovid Hamelech’s Experiences

The following is a piece from the Refuat Hanefesh column “Struggling Together: Mental Health in The Torah”. In this column, Tzivia Appleman ...

Struggling Together: Mental Health in The Torah – Column Intro

The following is the introduction to a Refuat Hanefesh column “Struggling Together: Mental Health in The Torah”. In this column, Tzivia ...

Editorial: Kate Spade, Anthony Bourdain and Suicide Rates Rising Rapidly. When Do We Try a New Approach?

On June 5th, we lost the iconic 55-year-old fashion designer Kate Spade to suicide. She left her husband and 13-year-old ...

Editorial: Will You Speak Up?

Blah blah blah. Same old message from the same old guy. Yeah, I get it: He wants to end the ...

Editorial: Draven Bennington Provides an Example to Follow

“I’m Draven Bennington, and I’m here on the National Suicide Prevention Week. I want to make a commitment that I ...

The Darker Side of the Akeida

Akeidat Yitzchak is commonly categorized as the epitome of the Jewish faith. As the story famously goes, Avraham was told ...

Editorial: Hit Rapper Logic Nails It at The VMAs

At the recent VMAs (Video Music Awards), rapper Logic took the stage armed with more than lyrics and a compelling ...

The Suicide Hotline Song: Can You Relate?

As the natural course runs its time, songs rise and fall from the music chart rankings. However, my interest of ...

Striving for Empathy

Empathy is a trait so many strive for but struggle to attain. It is simply not natural to feel what ...

We Are Farmers: Inspiration to Keep Fighting The Stigma

The Gemara (Taanis 23b) tells a story about an old man working the field. As he labored away, someone came ...

Mental Illness on TV

Sensitivity and political correctness have dominated this generation. One may think that this prevents the discussion of sensitive and important ...

4 Reasons Why 13 Reasons Why Can Rewrite the Stigma

I Live The Stigma The emails are coming in fast and furious, nearly quicker than I can respond. Thing is ...

Why am I like this? Time is real freedom

“Why  am I like this?” I ask myself this question as I sit at my desk at 3:38 AM struggling ...

Editorial: Secrecy Kills

As a society, we have an initiative in which we try to remove killers. One way we achieve this is ...

Eight Highly Accomplished Individuals Who Live With Mental Illness and Fight The Stigma

A huge part of the stigma surrounding mental illnesses involves the notion that a person living with a mental illness will be ...

We Are All Responsible: Break The Silence On Mental Illness

Therapy therapy therapy therapy therapy. I am an Orthodox Jew who goes to therapy. Maybe if I keep repeating the ...