+
upworthy

mental illness

Family

A mom whose 19-yr-old died by suicide has a vital message for parents about marijuana today

"You may be thinking, 'C'mon, Laura, it's no big deal – it's just pot.' 'Pot's legal, so it must be safe.'"

Johnny Stack

Laura Stack's son Johnny lost his life to suicide three months ago when he was just 19 years old. Though she says the grief of his death is "still fresh," Stack took to Facebook to share something that happened three days before Johnny died, hoping it will help other parents whose kids may be at risk.

She wrote:

"On Sunday, November 17, 2019 around 5:30 PM, he came over for dinner. He lived in our condo a couple miles down the street and would often pop in for a home-cooked meal. This evening, he was a bit agitated but lucid. 'I need to tell you that you were right,' he told me. 'Right about what?' I asked. 'Right about the marijuana and the drugs. You told me weed and drugs would hurt my brain, and it's ruined my mind and my life. You were right all along. I'm sorry, and I love you.' He died by suicide three days later.
Keep ReadingShow less

Man gives tip to stop anxiety related heart palpitations

Anxiety is weird. Not weird in a funny way but more like weird in a terrifying 'am I dying or am I just having an anxiety attack' kind of way. Our brains are powerful things and can make our bodies have physiological responses to stress, anxiety and depression. One of those annoyingly terrifying symptoms are heart palpitations which can feel like your heart is beating too fast, skipping a beat or rolling around in your chest.

When our hearts do something funky that make us acutely aware of its existence, the immediate thought is usually you're having a heart attack. Which can lead to more anxiety, thus more heart flip flops. It becomes a vicious cycle until you either get it checked out or it stops on its own because your brain decides to do you a solid and let you forget your heart was being weird five minutes ago.

It is really very interesting to know your brain has that much power over what your body does when you're just sitting there existing. But for those that experience the unwelcome excitement of anxiety related heart palpitations, there's a neat trick to get your heart back to feeling normal.

Keep ReadingShow less

Man diagnosed as a sociopath answers people's questions.

The term "sociopath" is something that people don't often understand. The public's exposure to what a sociopath is generally comes from the media depictions, usually in some psychological thriller that portrays the villain as a manipulative, out-of-control killer. They slap the sociopath label on them either in the background information or through inference.

But what is a sociopath? For starters, it's not actually called "sociopath," though the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. The correct diagnosis is "antisocial personality disorder," and the Mayo Clinic defines it as, "a mental health condition in which a person consistently shows no regard for right and wrong and ignores the rights and feelings of others." While it's true that people who have this specific type of personality disorder often engage in criminal behavior, that doesn't mean they are going to be unpredictably violent.

Greg, a man who says he was diagnosed with sociopathy around the age of 21, sat down to answer people's questions about the disorder.

Keep ReadingShow less
Health

The Dodgers continue to renew the contract of retired baseball player to keep him insured

Andrew Toles has schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. He hasn't played since 2018.

Dodgers renew Andrew Toles' contract to provide health insurance.

In America, some people are consumed with medical debt, and while many people argue for universal health care, we have to live within the system that currently exists until something changes. This means many Americans live without adequate medical insurance and are saddled with astronomical medical bills. Since healthcare is tied to employment, people who are unemployed are likely disproportionately affected.

People living with severe mental illnesses are most likely to be unable to hold down employment to maintain medical insurance—the same medical insurance that provides mental health services and medication management needed to treat their mental illness. It's a medical care quagmire, and one that retired Dodgers player Andrew Toles would've found himself in, had the Major League Baseball team ended his contract.

Toles signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2016 and just two years later, the team placed him on the restricted list indefinitely, essentially retiring the player while he worked on his mental health.

Keep ReadingShow less