Mental Health

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  Schizophrenia: It’s the disease, not the person

  September 30, 2016 / We'Ced

  He was always super fun to be around, one of the kindest and open-minded people I knew, but then he changed. I remember the last day I saw him he was a completely different person. He was unrecognizable. No longer happy. Always mad. I could not understand why he didn’t want to be himself anymore.

  Lights out  mental health  mental illness  schizophrenia  spotlight  youth  
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  Combating the Stigma of Mental Health

  May 31, 2016 / We'Ced

  I’ve seen the effects of not getting help for mental illness first hand and it's no joke. It's very sad to see. One day a friend may be behaving normally and the next they can fall apart. What makes it worse is that sometimes you don’t even know what's going on or how to help.

  health  mental health  mental illness  spotlight  Stigma  
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  Fixing a Broken Foster Care System

  May 31, 2016 / We'Ced

  My foster home was not the best. It felt like they didn’t really care about me either. I had no clothes and had to wear their four-year-old daughters clothes.

  abuse  foster care  foster care system  foster kid  spotlight  trauma  
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  Helping Young People Learn to Grieve

  May 5, 2016 / We'Ced

  I also thought that the minimal anticipatory grief I had allowed myself to experience, when he was battling cancer, was sufficient. ‘I should be done. These tears are helping no one,’ I thought. But I simply wasn’t “done” and squelching my tears only allowed the depression to surface in more sinister ways. I couldn’t fall asleep, I would spend days eating only sweets, and, most damaging of all, I felt utterly alone.

  death  grief  mental health  psychology  spotlight  
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  Advocates Challenge Law Enforcement on How Prop. 47 Savings Should Be Spent

  April 8, 2016 / We'Ced

  “The worry is that Prop 47 funds will be used for mental health treatment that is run by law enforcement,” says Lizzie Buchen, the statewide advocacy coordinator for Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB). “Jails are not a place where people can heal. They can be very traumatic for people with mental health issues.”

  mental health  prop 47. law enforcement  spotlight  
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  Young People Reveal Holes in the Foster Care Safety Net

  March 1, 2016 / We'Ced

  Reforms like AB 12 work toward a better safety net and more stable situations for these youth, notes Brian Blalock, founder and director of Bay Area Legal Aid’s Youth Justice Project, “so they can make decision and make mistakes.” Youth make mistakes as a natural part of growing up, but for many youth in the system, Blalock says, a mistake is a luxury they can’t afford.

  AB 12  foster care  foster care youth  reform  spotlight