Fans surprised Supernatural star Jared Padalecki at Comic-Con on Sunday, July 12, by lighting candles in the audience—7,000 of them–as a thank you for opening up about his struggles with depression and as a tribute to his Always Keep Fighting campaign that supports people struggling with depression, self-injury, addiction, or suicidal thoughts. In the third...

There was a girl in front of me in yoga yesterday with a long text written on her side. I was squinting to see what it said—I almost pulled out my readers—but then I realized we had mirrors in front of us so she could see me struggling to try to read her skin. I...

Like most mental health writers, I have compared depression to other illnesses like diabetes in the past, and stressed the biochemical aspect of mood disorders in my efforts at reducing stigma. Somehow talking about the gene G72/G30 located on chromosome 13q (that may predispose individuals to depression and bipolar disorder) makes it more legitimate, as...

I was excited to be included in this important Wall Street Journal story about bipolar disorder from skilled reporter Melinda Beck. Thanks, too, to all the members of Project Beyond Blue who contributed to the story and to my doctor, Milena Hruby Smith. Distinguishing between regular depression and bipolar disorder is one of the toughest...

A friend of mine approached me the other day in tears. The nine year old of a close friend of hers tried to kill himself. “He’s nine!!??!!” she said. “How do you explain that?” It’s true that we are all born with genes that predispose us to all sorts of things—in my case bipolar disorder...