There are three lessons the Bill Cosby case can teach us. Unless you've been living under a rock this past year, you've heard of the Bill Cosby rape allegations. As a sexual assault survivor, any time a high-profile rape case occurs, I want to speak out. I've watched this case with interest, and have learned three lessons the Bill Cosby case can teach us.

Having a mentally healthy perspective is important. It's a new year, and that lends itself to reflection. Whether 2015 was kind, brutal, or somewhere in between depends largely on your perspective (Putting Mental Illness In Perspective). So having a healthy perspective is important. So how do we have a mentally healthy perspective?

There are many ways to have healthy communication. My family's communication style is not even remotely what I would call healthy. For example, I mentioned I had an upset stomach on Christmas Eve, and my mother said that if that were the case I needed to go home before the festivities started. I took this to mean that I was not welcome and left shortly after gifts were opened. Hurt feelings could have been avoided by phrasing this in a healthy manner (Healthy Communication In Relationships). Here are three ways to have healthy communication.

Do you know how gut health affects mental health? We know that mental health and physical health aren't separate concepts. But still, it came as a slight surprise when my psychiatrist said that gastroenterologists call the gut "the second brain" because it has such a powerful impact on one's mental health. For example, constipation (a side effect of many psychiatric medications) can cause the body to kick into fight-flight-freeze mode, which causes racing thoughts, fear, and panic. So it is important to know how gut health affects mental health.

There are many ways to deal with holiday depression. While it is a myth that the suicide rate goes up during the holidays, holiday depression is no joke. Between the lack of adequate sunlight, the stress of being with our loved ones (I have four nephews and one niece age five and under), and loneliness at the absence of loved ones (my grandfather died on Christmas Eve when I was a child), we have a perfect storm for emotional over-stimulation. So, here are three ways to deal with holiday depression.

There are many ways the 12 steps help besides addiction relief. Recently, I lost my bus pass. I decided to ride my bike into town to save money, only to discover that someone had stolen the seat. I said, "Seriously?" and decided that if that was the worst thing that happened that day, I was blessed, and went about my day in a cheerful mood. That would not have been possible without the 12 steps of A.A.. So here are three ways the 12 steps help besides addiction relief.

I have a mental health Christmas list. There's a popular Christmas song called My Grown-Up Christmas List. In the song, the musician sings about a desire for healing, peace, and friendship. In keeping with that spirit, here is my mental health Christmas list.

There are three things those affected by suicide should know. When someone makes that heart-rending painful final decision to end his/her life, those left behind suffer from horrific grief and loss. Guilt is common, as is depression, anger, and denial. In order to help with that pain, here are three things those affected by suicide should know.

The closure of mental health treatment facilities is often a disaster for the patients being treated there (Inpatient Mental Health Treatment Facilities: Who Needs One?). When an abusive mental health treatment facility in Indianapolis closed, the patients flooded the city's low-income housing. The success stories still have apartments. The rest of the patients are either in jail, another institution, or dead. The closure of mental health treatment facilities must be done in a very careful fashion.

Addiction relapse prevention includes playing that tape to the end. Drug addiction is a difficult thing to live with; our brains often want to relapse. We have a tape in our heads that remembers the "fun" we had in active addiction--the rush of the substance, the camaraderie we felt with other users, and so forth (The Allure Of The Addiction Culture And Lifestyle). In my Alcoholics Anonymous group, we have a saying--play that tape to the end. his is how it works.