Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson has made it clear that he could not uphold the oath of office to defend the U.S. Constitution. By claiming that Muslims should be precluded from holding presidential or judicial offices on the basis of practicing their religion, Ben Carson has revealed more than his own personal prejudice and bigotry. He has, in fact, revealed his own personal inability to serve as the President of the United States.
Read MoreMs. Magazine: H&M - Where Pseudo-Sustainability Meets Diversity Porn →
The world’s second largest fashion retailer recently made a deliberate move to attract members of the world’s second largest religion, and people have taken notice.
Read MoreBipolar [bp] Magazine: Bipolar Disorder & Missing Memories: I Did What? →
Once, outside of a Taco Bell, I offered a homeless man my bank account information when all he wanted was a burrito. I only know this because my mother was a witness and happened to mention it to me months later. She assumed I would remember it. I didn’t. In fact, there’s a lot I don’t remember from the land of mania, on account of mania.
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: 11 Tips on Getting Your Book Published →
Becoming an author is a bit like becoming an acrobat. Few people know how to go about either; fewer bother to attempt, and fewer still succeed.
Read MoreThe New York Times: A Persian in Therapy →
My people don’t do psychotherapy. We have friends. We have families. We have pharmacies. Paying strangers to listen to our problems isn’t our style.
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: Treat, Don't Traumatize →
Given plans to introduce at least two mental health reform bills in Congress this month, some have high hopes that our leaders will soon deliver meaningful mental health reform. I do not.
Read MoreDBSA: Life Unlimited Stories →
If you met me five years ago, it may well have been on a locked psychiatric ward. I may have told you I was a prophet, or a high-level advisor to Barack Obama, or a goat, or all of the above.
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: 5 Tips From Your Sober Holiday Guest →
When people first learn that I don’t drink alcohol, they often request an explanation. Mine is rarely consistent. Sometimes I say I don’t like the taste. Sometimes I say I’m Muslim. Sometimes I say I have a medical condition.
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: When Reader Inspires Author →
To the joy and horror of authors everywhere, it’s never been easier for readers to reach us. And given the value so many publishers now place on platform, celebrity and branding, very few authors can afford to be reclusive. So we do the professionally responsible thing. We make ourselves available to our readers — through websites, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, and the list goes on.
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: A Better Way to Remember Robin Williams →
While many have speculated that Robin Williams struggled with bipolar disorder, the Oscar-winning actor and comedian who lost his life to suicide on Monday never publicly stated as much. In fact, he outright refuted it in a characteristically quick-witted interview with Fresh Air‘s Terry Gross in 2006. In response to being “branded” a manic-depressive after volunteering to be on the cover of an issue ofNewsweek about medication, Mr. Williams said, “‘Um, that’s clinical. I’m not that.’ Do I perform sometimes in a manic style? Yes. Am I manic all the time? No. Do I get sad? Oh yeah. Does it hit me hard? Oh yeah.”
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: Why Forcibly Medicating the Mentally Ill Is Dangerous →
In a 9-2 vote on Tuesday, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved Laura’s Law, which allows judges to order involuntary outpatient treatment, including forced medication, for certain patients with a history of psychiatric illness. While adopted in 2002, Laura’s Law requires authorization by local jurisdictions, so this vote made San Francisco the third jurisdiction and first major city in California to approve it. Los Angeles County is slated to decide on full implementation in the coming week.
Read MoreCNN: Why is Texas GOP backing gay conversion therapy? →
Apparently working under the impression that they understand the science of sexuality better than the World Health Organization or the American Medical or Psychological or Psychiatric associations, Texas Republicans made a bold statement last weekend.
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: Stop Misappropriating Tragedy →
Why? It’s the first thing people want to know when tragedy strikes. Why us? Why here? Why now? Why this?
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: 4 Tips From an Ethnically Ambiguous Stranger →
I’m used to people asking me where I’m from. Sometimes it’s other brown people wanting to know if we share a heritage, and sometimes it’s white people wanting to know...well, I’m not sure what.
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: The Case for Produce →
High prices, geographic disparities in availability and the misguided demonization of all sugars (including the natural ones found in fruits) have deprived many Americans of some of the most delicious and curative foods on the planet.
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: How News Can Make You Happy →
I hear it all the time, from doctors, teachers, lawyers, hairdressers, accountants, you name it: “I don’t follow the news. It’s too depressing.” While I understand the sentiment, I find its consequences far more depressing than even the gloomiest of newscasts.
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: Girls’ Night Out? Count Me Out →
While I’ve enjoyed plenty of evenings out with female friends, I’ve never especially appreciated any outing billed specifically as a “girls’ night out” (GNO). The whole concept — including its male counterpart, the “guys’ night out” — just seems strange to me. Perhaps it’s because self-segregation has always struck me as silly, or perhaps it’s because being an Iranian-American Muslim bipolar feminist rarely affords me the luxury of fully self-segregating anywhere. Whatever the reason, I’ve grown to hate these gatherings and avoid them whenever possible.
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: U No Read, Me No Write →
As disheartening as it is to admit, I know that many “readers” don’t actually read, at least online. Still, until recently, no editor ever encouraged me to write for the skimming, scanning, browsing, not-actually-reading “reader.”
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: Mental Health Ought to Matter More Than Uniforms →
As part of its bid to become the least productive United States legislature ever, the current 113th Congress is managing to hold up yet another worthy piece of bipartisan legislation. Senate Bill 162, introduced by Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.) as the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Act, would authorize grants to “improve the treatment of mentally ill individuals in the criminal justice system” within state, local and tribal governments.
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: What Really Matters to the Iranians? →
Even before the details of the temporary deal between Iran and the P5+1 group were released on Saturday, many Iranians were already celebrating. Just the idea of an agreement — any agreement — between Iran and the United States was enough to bring tears to the eyes of this Iranian-American, and I wasn’t alone. Iranians all over the world took to social media to express their elation at the first formal agreement between the U.S. and Iran in over 30 years. I received Facebook and Twitter messages from across the globe, all striking the same tone as this tweet from @PrrrsianKitten, who lists her location as “Wonderland”: “I’m so happy, I keep crying and laughing. This is such a great day/middle of the night/evening!”
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