Mental illness, like Hamlet, who may or may not be the only sane person in the play, is mysterious and paradoxical. And psychosis works the way nightmares do, by metaphor and symbolism. Delusions often stand in for something else.

I cannot tell you (or anyone) how to eat, outside from suggesting the basics: that whole, nutrient rich real foods are best, chose organic if you can afford it (Not a lot of people can. Which is a huge problem in and of itself), fake foods aren't food, and therefore should not be eaten.

It was three weeks or more before I called. Each day I would wake up and think, "It's too late to call -- they're probably booked already -- I'll call tomorrow." During finals week I finally got an appointment for the first counseling session.

Cars and planes are amazing feats of ingenuity, but both require maintenance and sometimes break, then requiring repair. For me, that is depression -- the mind breaking in some way (or getting sick) and requiring repair. There is no shame in that.

Recent studies regarding happiness show that people who have jobs -- something one does for money -- are not very happy; similarly, I've found that those are the type of people who often eat lunch at their desks.

In academic and clinical circles, there has long been a concern with differentiating between grief -- seen as a normal transitional experience -- and more complicated reactions to loss.

The idea of a teen committing suicide and of a young life being abbreviated is almost too painful to think about. A new study suggests that the phenomenom of "suicide contagion" is sadly alive and well among teens.

We should remember that loneliness is the pain of being alone, yet solitude is the splendor of being alone, and that to have long-lasting happiness we should remember the difference in between.

By removing the "bereavement exclusion" from what had been considered the bible of the mental health world, the DSM's editors risk undermining bereavement as a universal, normal, if profoundly painful, experience.

The truth is that from the college campus to the workplace, we are all members of a national and increasingly global community. We must all learn the signs of depression and other mental disorders and reach out to someone in trouble.

Since May is "Exercise is Medicine" month, as designated by the American College of Sports Medicine, now would be the perfect time for us to reopen a dialogue on the subject and increase national awareness.

Learning to effectively cope with stress can not only help you feel better on a daily basis, but also protect your brain from the damaging effects of stress to preserve and maintain cognitive function throughout life. Here's how.