In the past, the prognosis for a person experiencing psychotic symptoms, especially the diagnosis of schizophrenia, was grim. Patients would be told that recovery was impossible, medication would be for life and their lives would never be productive.

Most college students have been back on campus for a month or so. Whether new or returning, the routine is the same: choose and register for classes, purchase textbooks and supplies, resolve any remaining problems with housing and meals, and most importantly make sure the money is right. If asked, it’s a safe bet that many college students would say that their stress level begins to creep up from the moment they take that first walk around campus.

John Crawford. Michael Brown. Eric Garner. Three unarmed black men killed by law enforcement. Even in death, they are still inspiring activism and advocacy on behalf of other men, women, and young people like them.

Colorism is hard to talk about. It’s shameful to admit that people who have been systematically, historically, systemically, strategically, and forcefully oppressed based on having black skin would discriminate and hold prejudice against their own with blacker skin. But colorism is alive and not treating us so well.

When seeking health care—physical or mental—it’s all about finding providers within our budget or HMO, with an office close to home or work that can see us when our schedule allows.

or several years the rate of black infant mortality declined. From 2005 to 2012 the black infant mortality rate decreased from 14.3 to 11.6 per 1,000 births. But two years later in 2014, the rate started to inch up, going from 11.4 to 11.7 per 1,000 births in 2015.

Ourselves Black recently spoke with Liza Jessie Peterson about her new book, All Day: A Year of Love and Survival Teaching Incarcerated Kids at Rikers Island.

I have fallen prey to all these negative traps. And they are traps that not only keep you from maintaining wellness, but keep you dissatisfied and unhappy with your life.

Mental health seems to be a recent buzzword of sorts; for better and worse it’s been commonly thrust into the media spotlight.

True to their optimistic outlook, many seem to recognize the need for building and maintaining strong inner reserves to confront obstacles and be the change catalysts they envision themselves to be. Black Millennial women are spearheading mental health outreaches like Healing Melanin, Melanin Mental Health, Redefine Enough, and others, demonstrating the kind of awareness required to hang tough for the long haul.

Unlike with physical conditions such as diabetes or cancer, individuals with mental illness may view their disorders as a character flaw rather than a common treatable condition.

That can be extremely difficult because one thing we know is that people know how to act. They know how to save face. But what they do when they get back in their own space is different from what they say [in public]. One thing I tell people is ‘I know I can’t change your mind, and you’re welcome to think whatever you want to think but now let's challenge what you’re doing’.

On March 31, Netflix released its series adaptation of Jay Asher’s young adult novel, 13 Reasons Why. Like it or not, the topic of suicide is moving into the mainstream. And it’s about time.