Talking about holiday stress, this time last year (2011), I was a holiday wreck and my mental health was in shambles. I searched high and low for a reason, any reason, to celebrate the holiday season. But I was still recovering from a severe bout with post-traumatic stress and overlapping bipolar moods that left me anxious, agitated and unemployed. My relationships with nearly everyone important to me, including my wife and children, were suffering in some way. Nothing really made sense to me (least of all happiness) and my ability to reason had temporarily left me. It was an odd feeling, being so pessimistic and not being able to help it. For the sake of my kids, I always managed to be an instant party in a box! But I could no longer counter my inner darkness by being the light of family photos and dinner parties. There was no energy left for coordinating gift exchanges or any other festivities. I just didn’t have it in me anymore.

When I think of mental illness--my journey sprinting through life alongside it-- I think of the image below. The famous Two Masks. I painted a picture of it, framed it, and gave it to my mother a couple of years ago. The irony was not lost on her. It hangs in the hallway; laughing at me. The masks represent bipolar disorder to me. They represent emotion on a whole--the entire spectrum. Like many people living with chronic mental illness, it's hard to find the parts that define the middle; the sort of happy bits that made us smile but were fleeting.

In 1841, a Boston schoolteacher named Dorthea L. Dix became interested in many social reforms, especially the treatment of the mentally ill. One Sunday, she went to the House of Correction in East Cambridge to hold a Sunday school class for female inmates. She was revolted by the filth, neglect, and despair of the mentally ill people who were held in the jail. She persuaded local authorities to improve the conditions, and began touring Massachusetts to see what needed to be done. In 1843, she wrote a tract called Memorial to the Legislature of Massachusetts, which called for drastic reforms.

If you're in recovery from an eating disorder, you can join me now in a collective sigh of relief.  We survived the holidays.

Make New Years Resolutions stick this year with four tools to achieve success and avoid setbacks. Learn how confidence and self-esteem play a role in keeping your resolutions.

Why Should You Let Go of Anxiety? 1. Anxiety has taken up too much of your life. Anxiety takes loads of energy to sustain. It sucks that energy from you. So if Anxiety is around, you have much less energy for other important things in your life. There is nothing good about this waste. Life is precious, every moment is precious. (i.e., Loving and connecting with people trumps isolation to "protect yourself" from losing a loved one. Taking a risk beats forgoing great opportunities. Reaching out is more gratifying than letting words go unspoken.) Enough is enough! Live free from fear!

Before your PTSD diagnosis, when you’re struggling with PTSD symptoms, you know exactly what to do: You have to figure out what’s wrong. If you’re proactive about chasing down answers and fortunate enough to find a professional who recognizes the signs of PTSD and diagnoses you with posttraumatic stress disorder, your next challenge is deciding how to approach recovery. Since there is no single way to heal, it’s up to you to know your options.

ADHD and Christmas make a great combination. No, seriously. It is one of the few times a year when "Bob" can let loose and be himself without having to be censored or held back by me. Or his ADHD diagnosis. Most of the time, Bob and I worry about school, homework, etc. But, Christmas is the time of year when none of that matters and we're both reminded of how fortunate we are regardless of the effect ADHD has on him. I love the excitement in his eyes and the joy he experiences each day leading up to Christmas. He becomes a regular kid - excited, eager and super-ready for the holiday. Bob's spirit uplifts my own and brings me into the holiday mood.

Addiction has often been called a “family disease.”  I would expand this definition to include those who are friends as well due the fact that the affected person’s behavior usually has an impact on those around them, whether they are family or friends.  As a result, a pattern of co-dependent behavior can occur.  So what can significant others do to help the active addict?

Do you remember when we were kids? Before life smacked us upside the head and screamed for us to wake-up? Before we realized life wasn't easy--once our innocence was gone. I remember how excited I was, five or six years old, sitting under the Christmas tree and shaking my presents. I would take my gifts and separate them from my two siblings. They would do the same. We all had our piles; each wrapped with ribbons and sometimes a bow.