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Deconstructing Stigma: Revealing Leads to Healing

The following story features Brandon , a NFL wide receiver, co-founder of PROJECT 375, and participant in our Deconstructing Stigma: A Change in Thought Can Change a Life mental health public awareness campaign. Told through the eyes of its participants, this campaign boldly challenges the...

Deconstructing Stigma: Remember to Live in the Moment

The following story features Meghan, a 27-year-old nanny in Massachusetts and participant in our Deconstructing Stigma: A Change in Thought Can Change a Life mental health public awareness campaign. Learn more at DeconstructingStigma.org . A trip to the local market could send Meg into a severe...

A Historical Parting: McLean’s Registrar and Historian Retires

On June 30, 2020, Terry Bragg, MSLS, MA, will retire from his position as the director of McLean’s Registrar and Professional Staff Office (RPSO), a position he has held for more than 35 years. Bragg began working at McLean Hospital in November 1981, when he was recruited to establish an...

Deconstructing Stigma: Finding Strength Through Writing

The following story features Vaidehi , a participant in our Deconstructing Stigma: Changing Attitudes About Mental Health public awareness campaign. Told through the eyes of its participants, this campaign boldly challenges the misconceptions of what those with mental illness look like and is...

Deconstructing Stigma: I’m a Survivor

The following story features Robert , a participant in our Deconstructing Stigma: A Change in Thought Can Change a Life mental health public awareness campaign. Told through the eyes of its participants, this campaign boldly challenges the misconceptions of what those with mental illness look like...

Deconstructing Stigma: Therapy Truly Saved My Life

The following story features Ivy , a participant in our Deconstructing Stigma: A Change in Thought Can Change a Life mental health public awareness campaign. Told through the eyes of its participants, this campaign boldly challenges the misconceptions of what those with mental illness look like and...

Running Against Stigma, Not Away From It

On April 17, 2017, suicide survivor Ana Febres-Cordero and her father Rafael ran the Boston Marathon to support public awareness and outreach programs focused on eliminating the stigma surrounding mental illness. Ana was inspired to partner with McLean Hospital to develop Deconstructing Stigma: Ana...

Paying It Forward

Ten years ago, then 27-year-old Mike Muccio thought he was having a heart attack or a stroke. His heart raced, he was dizzy, off-balance, and felt like he was dying—and it kept happening. With his parents at his side, Mike spent the next nine months in and out of physician’s offices with no concrete...

Brudnick Family Funds Adolescent Depression Research

Irving Brudnick’s struggle with chronic depression began in his late teens and, according to his widow, Betty, the disease troubled him for much of his adult life. A successful businessman, educator, and philanthropist, Brudnick was passionate about putting his time and charitable resources toward...

Deconstructing Stigma: Finding a Way to Recover from Mental Illness

The following story features Joe F. , a 33-year-old author from New York and participant in our Deconstructing Stigma: A Change in Thought Can Change a Life mental health public awareness campaign. Told through the eyes of its participants, this campaign boldly challenges the misconceptions of what...

Deconstructing Stigma: Novel Therapy

The following story features Luanne Rice , a 60-year-old novelist and participant in our Deconstructing Stigma: A Change in Thought Can Change a Life mental health public awareness campaign. “My throat hurt. I was holding back tears and words.” For Luanne, writing is therapeutic. She creates...

Ana’s Marathon Fund: Running Against Stigma, Not Away From It

On April 17, 2017, Ana Febres-Cordero , a suicide survivor, and her father Rafael will run the Boston Marathon to support public awareness and outreach programs focused on eliminating the stigma surrounding mental illness. Ana was inspired to partner with McLean Hospital to develop Deconstructing...

Depression Robbed Me of My Music, But I Was Stronger Than the Illness

McLean Hospital recently launched Deconstructing Stigma: A Change in Thought Can Change a Life , a national public awareness campaign intended to change the way mental illness is perceived. Told through the eyes of its participants, this campaign boldly challenges the misconceptions of what those...

McLean Launches Its First National Public Awareness Campaign

They are musicians and librarians, fashion designers and fitness instructors, actors, athletes and artists. They are sisters and wives, brothers and fathers, from New England and around the nation. What do they have in common? All have been affected by mental illness and its stigma, and are brought...

Living a Healthy Life Without Alcohol

By 5pm, Kathy Stafford’s busy day with the kids was winding down and she would reach for a glass of wine. But as time went on, one glass in the early evening wasn’t enough. “I found myself wanting and having a glass of wine well before 5pm,” says the mother of two whose battle with alcohol lasted...

Dreams Really Can Come True

Share your greatest dream. Even if you are sure it won’t come true. Most of us would give pause to such a request, but for Thomas J. Swan III, it was especially daunting. The request was posed by his treatment team at McLean’s Fernside program , which provides intensive residential treatment for...

How One OCD Patient Is Finding Hope

Katie Wilson is a former patient at McLean’s OCD Institute. I am six months pregnant and I am sleeping on a small patch of the living room floor, because every bed, sofa, or other surface in my home feels contaminated to me. Not safe. I am a trained and registered nurse, with a fear of blood that...

A Case of Pulmonary Embolism

My name is Katherine Athens and I am a nurse in the electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) clinic. It was a busy Friday in the clinic in March, a year ago. We were preparing to treat over 50 patients that day. Our practice had been expanding over the years, and it was hardly unusual to treat 50-plus...