When our son was a teenager, like many teenagers, he was an avid music fan and, eventually, a musician in his own right. I also enjoyed the music he listened to, so we sometimes bonded over screaming until our vocal cords were bruised. Since it’s a known fact that mental illness runs in families, we weren’t too surprised when our son started showing signs of a depressive disorder. But his disorder and his music choices unearthed some mental illness, depression stigma in our home.

Like it or not, other people often have input in our mental health treatment. For example, my mother once contacted a psychiatrist and told her my symptoms. Without talking to me, the psychiatrist told my mother what changes she would make. I confronted her and she later told my mother I had an attitude problem (ironically enough, this psychiatrist told my mother my borderline personality disorder (BPD) was caused by poor parenting). Long story short, I fired her. But you can't really blame my mother. She wanted what was best, even if it meant the psychiatrist broke confidentiality in a non-emergency situation. It raises an interesting question: should other people have input in your mental health treatment?

Sometimes, I suffer from catastrophic thinking. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but recently I fell for the old "one million Neopoints" scam. For those of you not familiar with Neopets.com, it's an addictive site in which you own a pet and play games with it. The "one million Neopoints" scam is against the site's Terms Of Service. As a result of my stupidity, my account of 10 years may be frozen, causing me to lose everything I worked for. And equally embarrassing to admit, this has caused me a great deal of stress. I've had nightmares about it. I even have a surgical procedure scheduled in February and the Neopets thing is stressing me out more. This is typical for my borderline personality disorder (BPD)--just about anything can seem like the end of the world, like a catastrophe.

Staying sober for New Year's Eve (while everybody but me will be drinking) will be a challenge. Fortunately, therapy, medication and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) have helped me prepare a sobriety plan. Here are three things I plan to do to stay sober for New Year's Eve and beyond.

There are many mental health myths such as mental illness only affects a few people or mental illness is caused by personal weakness. However, some mental health myths, especially myths surrounding suicide, can be particularly dangerous.

"Sheriff's Department, open the door!" At first I thought it was a joke, but then I heard the sound of a struggle and someone screaming. I opened my door, only for a staff member to wave me back into my apartment. She was on the phone. "He's psychotic. He's seeing things. He was cooperating but they took him down when he tried to run. What do you want to do?" I posted the details of the confrontation on my Facebook page with the hashtag #PsychPatientsLivesMatter and soon received comments on my bravery.

I have a a four-year-old nephew, Landon, who is exhibiting traits of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). He insists the blocks be arranged by color and cries when they are not. Autism has been ruled out, so the next suspect is OCD. But is it really OCD, or is it just a phase? How young is too young to make a diagnosis of mental illness? And when a diagnosis is made, at what age should treatment start?

I have a new neighbor who scares me. He likes to wander the halls, yelling at nobody and at least once threatening criminal activity. I'm scared it could turn violent. I lock my door, keep a knife handy and try to ignore his rants. People have told me to call the police and try to get him admitted to the psych ward. But the staff at my apartment assure me he's sick, not violent, and there's nothing they can do. Which means there's nothing I can do. So how sick is too sick to be in public?

Those of us in mental health recovery are often faced with the hardships our symptoms can cause us. It can be easy to get discouraged, to look at our progress in recovery and tell ourselves, “I’m never going to overcome this mental illness.”

Other than a trip to the hospital, my Thanksgiving was great. I became ill almost immediately after the dinner and assumed I had indigestion. On the following Sunday, I called my doctor after Googling "indigestion lasting three days." The nurse sent me to the emergency room (ER), where I was admitted with a diagnosis of acute pancreatitis. That may not sound like the most educational of experiences, but I've learned three things about mental illness and how it is affected by physical health.