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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...