As Americans with mental illness struggle to address the financial strain caused by an inability to work, more and more are turning to the important Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program for financial assistance.

According to the Social Security Administration, more than 1.3 million people who are receiving Social Security disability benefits have been diagnosed with a mood disorder. Mental illness has become the second most common diagnostic category for beneficiaries, behind musculoskeletal system disorders and connective tissue disease.

SSDI provides benefits for those who have paid FICA taxes and no longer can work because of a long-term disability (defined as one that lasts at least 12 months or is terminal). Unfortunately, mental health issues can add layers of complexity to an already confusing process. As a Psych Central blogger wrote recently, mental health problems — or even the medications intended to treat them — can make it almost impossible to stay on top of the notoriously cumbersome claims process.

Shame on The Cash Store for firing Sean Reilly because he had bipolar disorder.

After being a model employee for the parent company of The Cash Store, Cottonwood Financial, he asked for some time off in order to deal with his bipolar disorder after having worked for the company for about 6 months. They denied his request, and then fired him shortly thereafter. Reilly was up-front about his disorder before he was even hired, although there’s no requirement to tell a potential employer about any medical condition you may have — including bipolar disorder.

Judge Edward Shea of the US District Court for Eastern Washington agreed with Reilly that he was fired for his bipolar disorder — not for the half-dozen different rationales Cottonwood Financial had given. The judge said such rationales were merely a pretext for their discrimination.

“Stigma thrives in silence but tends to fade when people are open and we can put a face to a condition or situation,” according to Ari Tuckman, PsyD, a clinical psychologist and author of Understand Your Brain, Get More Done: The ADHD Executive Functions Workbook. The good news is that people are speaking up, and the stigma surrounding attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is shrinking.

It’s also decreasing thanks to well-designed studies, said Stephanie Sarkis, Ph.D, a psychotherapist and author of several books on ADHD, including Adult ADD: A Guide for the Newly Diagnosed. “Research is showing more and more that ADHD is a true biological [and] genetic disorder,” she said.

The bad news is that stigma and stereotypes still persist. Psychotherapist Terry Matlen, ACSW, along with other ADHD experts and advocates wrote a piece on ADHD myths almost 10 years ago. Sadly, she said, the misconceptions today are still the same.

I’ve struggled to find something meaningful to say about the incident when the captain of a jetBlue flight suffered from what appeared to be a “nervous breakdown,” resulting in his eventual restraint and later, criminal charges. I think criminal charges are wholly unwarranted and an example of the double-standard and prejudice we hold against people with possible mental health issues. It shows a shocking lack of judgment on the part of the U.S. prosecutors who charged Captain Clayton Osbon. (After all, would they have charged him if he had suffered a stroke instead, which led to similar behavior? I think not.)

But outside of this prejudice shown by people who don’t treat a brain attack like a heart attack, there’s very little more to say about this unfortunate incident. No lives were lost.

And, in fact, no lives have ever been lost due to a U.S. pilot’s mental health issues, according to the Washington Post article.

On Wednesday, March 7, 2012, one of my mother’s worst nightmares came true.

At Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic (WPIC) in Pittsburgh, Penn. — one of the state’s best psychiatric hospitals — a shooting spree left two dead and seven injured.

WPIC helps educate future psychiatrists, psychologists, and masters-level mental health therapists. Medical doctors of other specialties, including surgeons, anesthesiologists and radiologists, and other health care professionals also receive training there. It is an institution where education, science, and practice merge together.

I remember the day I spoke to my mother about potential danger at mental health hospitals and the possibility of violent occurrences becoming my reality as a therapist providing treatment to various populations. Her eyes said it all; I could see the terror across her face. Many — primarily professors, professional speakers, and coworkers — reassured me that such incidents were rare because most institutions were highly secure and provided their employees with emergency protocols and trainings. WPIC trains their employees on issues relating to mental health policies, emergencies, and “unusual occurrences” — that is, patient violence.

According to news reports earlier today, the Kony 2012 director Jason Russell, 33, was “hospitalized last week in San Diego after witnesses saw him running through streets in his underwear, screaming incoherently and banging his fists on the pavement.” His wife now says he’s been diagnosed with brief reactive psychosis, which is technically called “brief psychotic disorder.”

Brief psychotic disorder could be most simply thought of as a form of short-term schizophrenia, since many of the symptoms of the disorders are exactly the same. The primary difference is that in a brief psychotic disorder, the psychosis is less than 30 days.

Let’s delve more into brief reactive psychosis and talk about how one “gets it” (don’t worry, it’s not catching).

I recently had the pleasure of appearing on a SXSW panel organized by Dr. John Grohol called “Online Therapy… Naked?”

Joining me were Audrey Young and Julie Hanks, along with Dr. Grohol. The topics discussed ranged from the kinds of clients we’re all seeing online to the software we use to the differences between in-person and online therapy to the details of my practice, Naked Therapy.

Besides describing their own online work, there was a vibe from my co-panelists that Naked Therapy, while cute, had come from another planet. And in a way they are right — it has come from the Internet planet with a history very different from their psychotherapeutic backgrounds.

The current definition of NT (now just over a year old) is a form of talk therapy in which the client and/or the therapist gets naked. This is a new kind of therapy bred from new ground and I am in the early stages of assessing its possibilities.

If you’re feeling suicidal, don’t rely on Siri.

Today, I decided to play around with my fiance’s new iPhone. Siri, the iPhone’s “digital assistant” is capable of handling all sorts of tasks: sending text messages, scheduling reminders, determining directions, searching Google for answers to questions, and using Wolfram Alpha to compute math problems.

She’s clever, though. Ask her if she’s male or female and she’ll answer frankly: none. Ask her about the meaning of life and she cracks a snarky joke about writing a “very long play in which nothing happens.” Ask her about which religion is correct and she’ll mention something about being a “Siliconist.”

But try to ask her about suicide, and you might as well consult a freshly-mined chunk of elemental silicon instead.

I sat down with Siri for twenty minutes and pretended to be suicidal. Here’s what she had to say:

Transcript follows.

Memorializing a hospital is no simple feat, and yet the most simple and elegant concepts are the most powerful. A perfect example is “Bloom.” Commissioned in 2003 for the closure of the Massachusetts Mental Health Center, artist Anna Schuleit filled the hospital with 28,000 potted flowers, creating carpets of African violets and daisies in hallways, waiting rooms, and annexes.

In a facility whose patients saw few visitors arrive with flowers, the statement is especially touching. Colossal features a great article with amazing photos from the exhibit.

Many of us couldn’t imagine our lives without books. We remember the books we read as kids and the books that were read to us. We remember our favorite quotes, our favorite characters.

We remember the books that became our friends, the ones that supported us through adolescent angst, first loves, breakups, friendship or family fiascoes, lonely days and other tough and joyful times.

We remember the books that gave us the inspiration to scribble quotes in our journals, to write stories and to follow our dreams.

Books have the power to open up perspectives, to take us places we otherwise wouldn’t be able to go.

Soaking in their words and fastening our own helps us express ourselves, communicate quality information to others and connect to the world. Words give us the strength and know-how to make smart decisions and chart our own lives.

Thankfully, for most of us, reading is as natural as seeing or speaking or brushing our teeth.

Unfortunately, for millions of people around the world reading isn’t any of these things. At least 793 million people worldwide can’t read and end up missing out on the sheer joy and valuable lessons and opportunities that reading brings.

That’s why I’m honored to share an important upcoming date with you along with an amazing organization.

Mugagga Kintu is the writer/director of a new independent film called “Catch the Bus” or “CTB”. As you may know, the phrase “CTB” means to commit suicide.

The Kickstarter website has a video about the film, a question & answer segment that explains the details of the film & information on how you can donate & where the donated money goes (post-production of the film). As director Kintu notes in the interview on the website, “I think it would be very beneficial for people to see this message and to see this film because the message is not suicide, but it’s really about resurrecting yourself from that dark place and finishing your dreams.”

“Like they say, sometimes you’ve got to wake up in order to make your dreams come true.”

We couldn’t agree more.

Click here to learn more about Catch the Bus.

I’m asking for your help in getting Mugagga the funding and support he needs to finish this film. Psych Central and I have pledged our support for the film, and hope that if you have even just $1 or $2 to spare, you also do the same. Time is short, however, as he only has less than 2 weeks to raise the remaining $1,400 he needs.

“Have the psychiatrists gone mad? — those who weren’t crazy to begin with! They want to turn grief into a disease!”

This might well be the attitude of many in the general public, having read the misleading news coverage of a debate over the DSM-5 — the still-preliminary diagnostic classification of mental disorders, often referred to as “psychiatry’s Bible.” Now, I am no fan of the DSM model of diagnosis — in fact, if the DSM is the “bible,” I’m something of a heretic. In my view, the DSM’s superficial symptom checklists are great for research purposes, but not very useful for most clinicians or patients.

Nevertheless, I don’t like seeing the work of my DSM-5 colleagues misrepresented. So when I see bogus headlines like, “Grief Could Join List of Disorders” in the usually circumspect New York Times, I cringe.

Before discussing the arcane debate over the “bereavement exclusion,” it’s important to understand what most psychiatrists really believe about grief, bereavement, and depression.