There are many reasons people die by suicide when living with mental illness, but I'm going to focus on three. Suicide is an all-too-common outcome of mental illness, and most suicides have untreated mental illness as a factor. But what drives a person to the edge? What overrides the instinct for self-preservation and causes a person to end it all? I've attempted suicide, and these three reasons people die by suicide hit closest to home for me.

How do we end mental illness stigma on college campuses? I want to figure it out because I was diagnosed with several mental illnesses when I was in college, and the entire debacle was handled poorly. First, I was told to seek help through my church and submit fully to the Lord. When that didn't work, I sought help through the university's counseling center, only to be referred several different times to different agencies in the community before ending up with one of the staff psychologists back at the university. When I became suicidal, I was suspended from class, kicked out of the dorm, and all my professors were notified--and I had to meet with the dean to be re-instated. Stigma was definitely a problem--and here's how to end mental illness stigma on college campuses.

Have you ever wondered what it's like to hear voices? Hearing voices is a classic symptom of schizophrenia. The bad news is, they're sheer torture. The good news is, medication can help--I haven't heard voices in several years. But for those of you who wonder, here's what it's like to hear voices.

Recognizing powerlessness over addiction is the first step to freedom--both literally and in literature. It's recognizing your powerlessness that is the tricky part. So here are some ways to know if you are powerless over your addiction.

Have you ever thought about the power of psychiatric medications to save lives? In the past few days, I was let go from one of my jobs and one of my pet rats died unexpectedly. This would be a stressful situation for anyone, but a few years ago this would have had me drunk and suicidal. But, thanks to the power of psychiatric medications, I'm sober and safe. I can deal with life's curveballs--something I couldn't do off my medications.

There are many ways rape culture impacts survivors' mental health. Rape culture, in a nutshell, is believing that women exist solely for the sexual gratification of men, that their consent is irrelevant, and that they have to protect themselves from men's sexual desires (Getting Raped: The Stigma of Being a Rape Victim). Three ways rape culture impacts survivors' mental health are by teaching a survivor she is "damaged goods," teaching a survivor it's her fault she was victimized, and teaching a survivor her worth comes from sexual purity.

There are three advantages to mental health crisis text lines. Recently, a mental health consumer organization in the greater Indianapolis area started a mental health crisis text line--the 13th such text line in the nation. Also, there is a national mental health crisis text line at 741741 (Suicide Chat Hotline Options). This made me think about three advantages to crisis text lines and how they help mental health consumers in crisis.

While not an official mental health diagnosis, video game addiction is very real (Addicted to Video Games). This is embarrassing to admit, but I did nothing yesterday but play a Facebook game. I began to question whether I had a video game addiction and how to recover from it. Here are some signs that help to recognize a video game addiction and tips on how to recover from it.

It's important to consider whether hospitals should be allowed to release patients to the streets. I was recently in the hospital with an 18-year-old man with bipolar disorder. He was so disruptive in his manic state that the hospital discharged him even though he had no place to go. It's not the first time I've seen a hospital discharge a patient to the streets (Mental Illness and Homelessness). It made me wonder if hospitals should be allowed to release patients to the streets.

Childhood mental disorders are not always the parents' fault. When I graduated from college, my mother dragged me to see a Christian psychiatrist who she was convinced could fix me. She asked the psychiatrist what caused my borderline personality disorder (BPD). The psychiatrist looked her in the eye and explained that BPD is caused by poor parenting. That is not always the case, and we as a society need to change our attitude that childhood mental disorders and illnesses are somehow the parents' fault.