Tag: Mental health
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8 tips for handling adult temper tantrums
Every so often we all lose our tempers. For whatever reason, we’ve had enough of being the bug smashed on the windshield of life and try as we might, we blow up. And every so often, we’re on the receiving end of someone else losing their stuff and exploding uncontrollably. If we’re not careful, when…
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Rape allegations against Bill Cosby have changed his legacy from the one we want to the one we need
A friend of mine posted on Facebook about a conversation she had with her daughter this morning that began with her daughter asking, “Is Bill Cosby a rapist?” This question from her tween, made my friend realize that she could no longer separate Bill Cosby the man, who is accused of sexually abusing at least…
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5 Best Apps for Your Guided Meditation and Mindfulness Practice
One of the best things I’ve ever done is to begin a meditation and mindfulness practice. I suppose I began it almost 10 years ago when I took a hypnosis class with Rev. Jean Kadkhodaian of The Lighthouse Emotional Wellness Center in Arlington Heights. I took to it like a fish takes to water and…
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Respect my coping skills and I’ll respect yours
Since sharing my mammogram and tomorrow’s lumpectomy story six days ago, I’ve been inundated with both public and private messages thanking me for demystifying the process of getting a mammogram. Women have shared their own lumpectomy and mastectomy stories, how they were scared, and how they dealt with their emotions in a variety of ways.…
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Call me Jessica
My name is Jessica. More specifically, my name is Jessica Lynn Gardner. I was given my first name in memory of my late grandfather, Jesse. We never met because he died on my mom’s 13th birthday. Lynn, my middle name, is the first name of my mom’s best friend from college. They were roommates for…
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Love letter to my tears
June is almost over. And thank goodness for that. Between the five weeks my mom was in the hospital and one week in a rehab facility, my 43rd birthday, and the sudden and unexpected death of my favorite uncle, it’s been a month I’m eager to see come to a close. That, of course, is…
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Mental Health Awareness Month Celebrated by ChicagoNow
May was Mental Health Awareness Month and the incredible bloggers of ChicagoNow shared their incredibly personal stories and expertise with more than 30 posts on the topic. Most of the bloggers who wrote are not mental health professionals, but there is at least one Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, Nicole Knepper, writer of Moms Who Drink…
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Mental Health Awareness Month: Keep talking to stamp out stigma
May is Mental Health Awareness Month and it ends in just a couple of hours. Although Mental Health Awareness Month is over, mental illness never ends. There are always people who are suffering or who have family or friends who are suffering. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) reports that 1 in 4 people…
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We never met, but my grandfather, Jesse Paulk, shaped my life
If I could meet anyone in the world, I’d choose to go back to before September 12, 1961 and meet my maternal grandfather, Jesse Paulk. September 12, 1961 was my mom’s 13th birthday and also the day my grandfather died. I was given my name, Jessica, in his memory. My mom’s brother also named his…
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End mental illness stigma, save lives
Three things happened on Friday that I can’t get out of my head. On the surface, they’re unrelated. But in my head, they’re intricately woven and the direct result of what happens when we continue to stigmatize mental illness, cut mental health services, and look the other way when people are desperately struggling. First, I…
Jessica L Gardner 