Illustration by Julia Kuo
Talking about mental health issues with sensitivity, kindness, and even humor is one of the most powerful weapons in our arsenal when it comes to defeating the specter of these life-threatening illnesses.Here are our favorite mental health stories from 2016."Maintaining the fantasy of a gender binary is vital to the functioning of the prison industrial complex."While inciting a Britney-circa-2007 breakdown—complete with umbrella—may make for entertaining footage, it's easy to forget the human cost of reality TV. Meet the woman helping reality TV stars stay sane.Brock Tuckerr was a teenage delinquent who took his own life in prison, but his grandmother is fighting for justice in his name. Tucker's case is a reminder that there are many other mentally ill teenagers currently being locked up and denied basic care, and the fight for Tucker is a fight for all of them.The criminal justice system responds woefully to those with mental health issues, and even more woefully to women with mental health issues. Find out why.For every person who struggles with a mental illness, there's a family member or friend for whom the disease also takes a toll. Read one writer's powerful account of living with her sister's mental illness."I am depressed, I hate my body. I need to see a doctor. And if that doesn't work, nothing will. I'm not pretty enough to live."When is tripping not fun? When you've just pushed a baby out of your vagina and you're tired and want to sleep but all you can see when you look at your newborn is a teeny, tiny horse. Or an old lady. As if childbirth isn't terrifying enough.A heartbreaking and important profile of a criminal justice champion.Who'd be a teenager? Truly, you couldn't pay me to go back. Learn more about the dangerous rise in teen girls using poison as a way to self-harm, with courageous and articulate testimony from the teenagers themselves.Intrusive thoughts sound relatively innocuous—but women who suffer from them are plagued by horrifying thoughts of committing murder and incest.
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