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Top 25 Mental Health Articles on Substack

Best Mental Health Articles


Mental(izing) Health: Introducing the Ideas and Beliefs of Our Nominee for Surgeon General, Casey Means

Newsletter, #66
Mental(izing) Health is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Elliot Jurist ∙ 6 LIKES
Joan Levine's avatar
Joan Levine
A combo of “ think positive thoughts” and Christian Science
Saturday Night Live can/ will (?) have a field day with this.
Steven Reidbord's avatar
Steven Reidbord
Thanks for citing my article. I'm struck by how often psychotherapy is both praised and criticized by those who don't really know what it is.

Manhood & Mental Health

June is over, and that means I got something to say.
Yesterday was the last day of Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month.
Tyler Jones ∙ 15 LIKES
Kiden T.'s avatar
Kiden T.
That last paragraph call to action is so needed! Definitely important essay that more people should read tbh


The Most Productive Thing You Can Do Today? Stop.

Work less, think better.
Your brain wasn’t built for back-to-back Zoom calls and ten hour workdays. In a culture obsessed with doing more, it’s easy to forget that rest is productive too. We’ve inherited an “always on” ethos that honors productivity while treating rest as an afterthought, but science tells a different story.
Dr. Aditi Nerurkar, MD ∙ 5 LIKES

Mental Health: Pill Pushing?

How did we go from a few people in mental hospitals to 16.5% of the population on mental health medications?
According to the World Health Organization, “Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community.”
South Dakota Voice ∙ 13 LIKES
Michael Welsh's avatar
Michael Welsh
If you don't think you're sick, sit down and watch television for a couple of hours.
You'll be on the phone to your doctor, asking why you haven't been prescribed the miracle drug you just learned about for the illness you didn't know you had.
Decisive Liberty's avatar
Decisive Liberty
Lyn Yexley makes some great points, and I have something to add to underline all that was shared. After my son has been on ADHD drugs, I'm wondering how much of this is brought on by improper diet and processed foods. Some background is needed: my former is a nurse and believes there is a pill for everything, I believe food is our medicine. The diet my kids had was mostly takeout, as evidenced by the overflowing trash bins in the driveway. The first time they had Thanksgiving with me, I had invited a friend and her 2 kids - they mentioned they never had everyone sitting at the same table. Enough of that. My kids arrived for their annual month-long stay, and I had discovered before their arrival that my son was taking a prescription for ADHD. I asked my daughter what she was witnessing about her brother - figety, attention always drifting, not sleeping regularly (many times up all night on the PC only to sleep all day in classes). Took his prescription from him upon arrival, we went on a disciplined diet and regimen. 3 meals a day, NO processed foods, no soda, no power drinks, nothing but fresh from the farmers market and nearby farms, fresh milk, and water. We went for a brisk walk every evening and spent the mornings outside for about an hour. TV was limited to 1-2 hours, PC for 1 hour, everyone to bed by 11, no electronics (their phones were kept in my BR). We went to a bookstore to buy whatever books they wanted (I dealt with quality reading later). After just 3 days, my daughter shared she already noticed a difference. After week 1, he was convinced and wanted to learn to cook. His skin tone changed, his eyes cleared, his focus was sharp, and his thinking was even sharper. And no nervous habits. When they went home, he made the mistake of telling his mother what transpired, and she blew a gasket. He eventually hid his prescriptions and tossed his daily dosage down the toilet. He went on to learn how to cook for a career - none of it involving processed foods.
We are programmed by our education system and our medical system, and all taht was flipped on its head by Andrew Carnegie and John D Rockefeller in the 1910s. JDR needed to recoup his lost Standard Oil empire and discovered he could use petrochemicals in pharmaceuticals. Carnegie hired Abraham Flexner to do a study on how to convert the medical industry. JDR and Carnegie used Flexner's report to change both the education and medical professions within a decade. Medical colleges either complied or would not receive their liberal funding. The number of medical schools dwindled. The number of medical schools declined from 190+ in 1912 to 76 in 1930, with the number of physicians per 100,000 capita decreasing from 157 in 1900 to 125 in 1930. The number of medical students decreased in parallel, from 28,142 in 1904 to 13,798 in 1920. Plain and simple - they made medical school expensive to attend, and the hospitals not following their 'recommendations' saw their financial backing dry up.
Fast forward to the last 15 years, more than 100 natural remedy doctors have suddenly died, all under very suspicious circumstances. Many are reporting threats. Independent doctors are being persecuted by the State Medical Boards for the flimsiest of excuses, the most public of cases being Dr Mary Tally Boden in TX.
The Flexner report - as well as Obamacare - is responsible for everything in the medical industry being expensive for patients (little known fact - Obamacare ceased for the people, hospitals maintain Obamacare in its administration). We are where we are because we have permitted it for more than a century, and Big Pharma is not taking No for an answer. It is our due diligence to make sure that is their problem, not ours.

Reimagining Mental Health Tools

Sculpting AI Fields - Not Feeds - for Self, Other, and the Sacred In-Between
Jocelyn Skillman, LMHC is a therapist and relational design ethicist exploring the emotional and ethical terrain of artificial intelligence. Her work centers the clinical realities of digitally mediated attachment, synthetic relational fields, and the evolving future of care. She writes in collaboration with GPT-4o, engaging large language models as ref…
Jocelyn Skillman LMHC

Book Publishing & Mental Health

The most imperfect coupling ever.
I have a few things I want to write about this week, but they can wait. Last night, after I shut down my laptop for the day, I decided to take a swim. As I floated around the pool, I thought, “I can’t believe I’m still alive.” I wasn’t sure writing about my mental health again was good for business. On the other hand, keeping this inside for so long has…
Kathleen Schmidt ∙ 187 LIKES
Danielle R. Shapazian's avatar
Danielle R. Shapazian
Expressing your feelings out loud is one of the healthiest things you can do. I say this as a nurse and a writer. Feel free to engage in this kind of sharing with us anytime. 🙏
Kimolisa Mings's avatar
Kimolisa Mings
Sending love and light your way.
Although I don't have such a huge workload, I am quite aware of the burnout and suicidal thoughts. And what you are going through reminds me of a friend who is a secondary school teacher, a mother & wife, teaches lessons outside of school, tutors students, has a wine brewery, and is studying for a BS online. As friends, we make space for her to just relax and vibe because she has a lot on her table. Oh, and last year into this year, her father had a health scare and moved in with her and her family.
I don't know if it's because we are taking on a lot instead of reducing or we've tied our worth so tightly to what we do but sometimes, all that can be done is to stop and allow of bodies to release that pent up energy.
TLDR: love and light from the edge of the Atlantic.

The Hidden Cost of Constant Headlines

How nonstop news is reshaping your mental health
When distressing events dominate the news cycle and social media, I’ve been able to predict with surprising accuracy which of my patients will have a stress reaction to what’s happening in the world.
Dr. Aditi Nerurkar, MD ∙ 13 LIKES
Christina Cardy, DNP's avatar
Christina Cardy, DNP
staying informed while also protecting your mental health is so hard! and everyone’s boundaries and limits are unique. combo self control + self awareness is key IMO.
JFT Beach 🇬🇧 🏊 🧘‍♂️'s avatar
JFT Beach 🇬🇧 🏊 🧘‍♂️
So so true. I generally avoid the news. Over Covid, the worst excesses of Boris Johnson (here in the UK) and Trump now in the US ... I found myself drawn back in. Always to my detriment, until I realise and delete Facebook app and stop visiting the BBC news. Thanks for the reminder - I'll share a link to this article in my newsletter next week.

This is Trauma, Too

How Witnessing Injustice Can Wound the Psyche—and What to Do When You’re the One Left Numb
Muslims in America post 9/11.
Dr Deborah Vinall ∙ 29 LIKES
Ryan TAA's avatar
Ryan TAA
You nailed it. Why so many people are spiralling right now during these traumatizing times of injustice. But also with that recognition, how to be resilient and heal.
Karen May's avatar
Karen May
This touched me deeply. Tears came. I am feeling this so much and your words feel so vital. Would you consider doing a workshop with me? I feel like this message really needs to get out. I’m in such deep gratitude for your wisdom and beautiful writing.❣️


Mental Health and Kapwa Care

A special invitation to an upcoming workshop
This coming July, I will be starting a special workshop on mental health. Wellbeing has always been seen as something individual and isolated, something you have to do on your own. To be mentally healthy means being functional in society—but this same society expects you to be a restless machine, to produce and consume in a cycle of domination. So, “mod…
Carl Lorenz Cervantes ∙ 10 LIKES

WHAT CARE LOOKS LIKE...

C for Mental Health is a consociation of Nigerian students championing student mental health in Nigeria through meaningful discourse, advocacy and community engagement. Newsletters are by students for students!
Zainab Oderinlo ∙ 7 LIKES
Rosemary Eze's avatar
Rosemary Eze
I was this friend to Lillian. My best friend. Listened to her, sacrificed so many things so she could get over what she was going through. Advised her. but she never took any. I got tired. stretched beyond limits. I wasn't reaching out like I used to. few months later, I heard she committed suicide..I was broken..I should have called her more often, should have continued to listen.shouldn't have given up on her.. maybe things wouldn't turn out this way. I miss her terribly.
Oladejo Muinat Oladoja's avatar
Oladejo Muinat Oladoja
Hmmm
This is fantastic.
I love it.
Keep going darling.
Cheers to more impact on people's lives in positive ways.👍
Well done.💖🫂


Technique and Resonance in Mental Health

Some thoughts based on Freya India's latest
I always look with anticipation for Freya India’s post, and her latest, titled “Nobody Has a Personality Anymore” doesn’t disappoint. The central thesis is that many contemporary people have medicalized and labeled their personality traits so that nothing is left but a series of diagnoses. That part of her argument is interesting and …
O. Alan Noble ∙ 50 LIKES
Bob Nelson's avatar
Bob Nelson
I think I finally realized why stoicism is just a passing interest for me: It is about techniquing your life into control. It many ways it accomplishes the same thing as self-surveillance by smashing the mystery from life via control. Just like learning and applying therapeutic techniques in such a way that they become background guidelines, stoicism could be used similarly.
Thanks for that insight, Alan. It helped me realize such concepts - therapy and stoic philosophy - are "coulds" instead of "shoulds."
Sheila Dougal's avatar
Sheila Dougal
Again, I love the way you write about mental health. So helpful.



For better (or for worse?) depends on your personal “mental health” care.! p*rpsp*ctive ;)

What being in it together can look like.
I experienced a head injury after an accident eight years ago and it triggered an episode of psychosis. This was a horrendous time because I became seized with a delusion that my husband was plotting to kill me. My relationship with my husband is about as good as it gets. I can only guess that a prior trauma combined wi…
Sarah Hawkins (she/her) ∙ 13 LIKES
Richard Hauken's avatar
Richard Hauken
Thank you for sharing. It helps me relate to the experiences I've had.
Sue Umpleby's avatar
Sue Umpleby
I just want to say something besides "can I have your husband ?" So I will say what my heart feels. I love you. Your honesty about such a serious "adventure" warms my spirit Thank You


You Don’t Need to be ”Fixed”—You Need to be Accepted

Facing “BAD” mental health days
A note about today’s post:
Alice Wild ∙ 8 LIKES
Debbi's avatar
Debbi
Thank you. Normal just means normative which just means the most frequent form of something. Frequent does not imply a +|- value though people insist on applying one - every way of being exists on a bell curve. Personally I don’t want to exist on the top of the curve. It’s boring to be like the norm❤️⭕️❌. ( I like to reduce us to math - I know it’s weird, just like me, thank goddess!)
Sarah Gillian Bower's avatar
Sarah Gillian Bower
Myron, your child is in hell


The Mental Health Exception Trap

Feeling Like Everyone is Allowed to Struggle Except for You
Please check out our socials and listen to our podcast! Instagram | YouTube| Spotify
Katherine Nieweglowski and Delve ∙ 2 LIKES

Can you Pray Away a Mental Health Condition?

Why religion can be bad for your mental health
Let’s say one morning on your way to work, your car suddenly stalls in traffic and you can’t start it. Sucks, right? We’ve all driven past (or been) motorists on the side of the road with car problems, and know just how disruptive and exacerbating this can be.
Jim Palmer ∙ 28 LIKES
Virgin Monk Boy's avatar
Virgin Monk Boy
Yes, Jim. A thousand incense sticks lit in your honor. 🙏
Trying to pray away a mental health condition is like shouting at a toothache in Aramaic and calling it “deliverance.” It may feel holy, but all you’re doing is bleeding in tongues.
The idea that faith should eliminate depression is the spiritual equivalent of prosperity gospel for the psyche: dangerous, dishonest, and designed to keep people quietly suffering while they try to outperform their humanity with devotion.
What you said about the This-Is-What-I-Have vs. This-Is-What-I-Am mindset? That’s real theology. That’s the desert wisdom the early monks were trying to channel when they stared at the walls of their cells until the walls started talking back.
We are not our pain. We are the space that holds it.
So no, you can’t pray it away—but you can bring prayer with you as you sit on the therapist’s couch, refill your meds, and walk through your grief like the mystic you forgot you were.
Thank you for naming what so many of us were taught to deny. This is gospel. Just not the kind they’ll preach from the pulpit.
Kirsten Powers's avatar
Kirsten Powers
I remember a church I went to 15 years ago where the pastor told people they shouldn’t be on antidepressants and to rely on God instead. Another church I went to convince me to do healing prayer for my anxiety and then a year later I discovered I was in perimenopause, and I started taking hormones, and the anxiety was gone within a week. The irresponsibility of this kind of behavior cannot be overstated. I’m glad I’m not part of these kinds of communities anymore but I do worry about people who are.

Is GLP-1 Marketing Attacking Our Mental Health?

GLP-1 marketers are flooding our feeds. What's the mental health cost to those of us in recovery from eating disorders and internalized weight stigma?
Recently I was driving around San Francisco. It was a beautiful day (for SF), I was feeling at peace with myself and my body, and all of a sudden I look over and there’s a bus plastered with an ad fo…
58 LIKES

ND HIVE
4:47 PM

The Cost of VC Capital in Mental Health

Why We're Not Selling Out
If I wanted to be a millionaire by next year, I'd do everything differently. In all honesty, I know how to do that, and it's a whole lot easier than the path I am on now.
Danielle Ralston

AI Can Simulate Biology and Decode Mental Health

Expert takes from Omar Arias-Gaguancela PhD & Nicolas Hubacz MS
Decoding Biology Using Artificial Intelligence: Molecular Dynamics Simulations (MDS) and AI
Nicolas Hubacz ∙ 12 LIKES
Thriving Minds's avatar
Thriving Minds
It's true AI can be a valuable tool also for supporting individuals with various communication styles, especially those who are neurodiverse or have ADHD. and in Other ways such as helping people talk in a way and express their feelings and stuff like that in a safe environment. I did it ok no my old blog if you want to check it out https://vocal.media/lifehack/empowered-expression-how-ai-can-help-neurodivergent-and-anxiously-wired-communicators-build-confidenceEmpowered Expression: How AI Can Help Neurodivergent and Anxiously Wired Communicators Build Confidence | Lifehack
BioFIT Medicine's avatar
BioFIT Medicine
Fascinating to see AI accelerating breakthroughs at both ends of the spectrum—from molecular simulations that may revolutionize drug discovery to brain models bringing objectivity to psychiatry. The future of medicine is being decoded—one algorithm at a time.