Category: Behavioral Health
Essays about depression and suicide.
Posted on June 12, 2020
by Kēphen
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When Life Hurts the Most We are all broken, none of us are lucky enough to get through life unscathed. What sets some apart from the rest is that they learn and grow and become stronger in the broken places. Who are you? Who… Continue Reading “When Life Hurts the Most”
Category: All, Behavioral Health, Human ConditionTags: *See All Posts, Anxiety, Awareness, Behavioral Health, Broken, Choice, Courage, Depression, Emptiness, Fear, Fitness, Gratitude, Happiness, Hope, Hopelessness, Insight, Introspective, Lessons on Living, Life, Meaning, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Mindfulness, Peace, Peace is Every Step, Power of Belief, Purpose, Recovery, Sadness, Self, Suffering, Suicide Awareness, Suicide Prevention, Teen, Thrive, Tragedy
Posted on June 12, 2020
by Kēphen
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Start a Conversation that Matters I can’t begin to tell you how much it astounds me when I ask someone to talk to me about how they feel, to share with me the pain they are afraid of that they harbor within, and… Continue Reading “Start a Conversation that Matters”
Category: All, Behavioral Health, Human ConditionTags: *See All Posts, Addiction, Alone, Anxiety, Awareness, Behavioral Health, Broken, Compassion, Depression, Emotional Connection, Emptiness, Healing, Hope, Hopelessness, Human Connection, Loneliness, Loving Kindness, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Mindfulness, Sadness, Suicide Awareness, Suicide Prevention, Thrive
Posted on April 4, 2020
by Kēphen
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The reality is life is hard and sometimes even painful, but so is the truth. We shouldn’t cover up the truth and we shouldn’t hide from life out of fear of or submission to hardship and pain. Many of us have things in our… Continue Reading “The Power and Truth of Self-Awareness”
Category: All, Behavioral Health, Human Condition, MiscellaneousTags: *See All Posts, Behavioral Health, Emotional Control, Emotional Intelligence, Julian Rotter, Marcus Aurelius, Self-awareness, Self-control, Self-regulation, Viktor Frankl
Posted on April 4, 2020
by Kēphen
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Pulled from the archives and originally written in 2012, updated and expanded. Please be advised this entry discusses difficult emotions and suicide, it may not be appropriate for those easily disturbed or triggered by such topics. Support resources are provided at the end of… Continue Reading “A Journey Called Hope”
Category: All, Atheism, Religion and Spirituality, Behavioral Health, Human Condition, LGBTQ+Tags: *See All Posts, Behavioral Health, Bipolar Disorder, Childhood Trauma, Closeted, Coming Out, Coming Out Story, Depression, Homophobia, LGBTQ+, Major Depression, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Religious PTSD, Religious Trauma, Religious Trauma Syndrome, RTS, Self-Acceptance, Self-Hatred, Spiritual Trauma, Suicidal, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicidality, Suicide, Suicide Awareness, Suicide Prevention, Trauma
Posted on January 21, 2019
by Kēphen
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“Nature is not a place to visit. It is home.” ~Gary Snyder Liberation and a Return to the Sacred Buddhism has a long history with the forest. Siddhartha Gautama fled the comforts of the Shakya Kingdom and immersed himself with the lands beyond to… Continue Reading “Liberation and a Return to the Sacred”
Category: All, Atheism, Religion and Spirituality, Behavioral Health, Environment, ScienceTags: *See All Posts, Behavioral Health, Buddhism, Ego, Forest Bathing, Forests, Four Noble Truths, Liberation, Mahayana, Mental Health, Nature, Nature Therapy, Pan, Pantheism, Sacred, Self, Siddhartha Gautama, Taoism, Woodlands
Posted on January 20, 2019
by Kēphen
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The Perfect Life: An Unexpected Loss In order to protect the identity of his family, I will only refer to the young man in this article as “A.J.” A.J. was in his senior year of high school, where he was active in… Continue Reading “The Perfect Life”
Posted on January 2, 2019
by Kēphen
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Love Me Not:A Conversation About Mental Health & Relationships If you’ve read my previous work, you know that I’m often very personal and brutally honest about my experiences and my mistakes. This essay will be no different. I want to share with you some… Continue Reading “Love Me Not”
Category: All, Behavioral Health, Human Condition, LGBTQ+, MiscellaneousTags: *See All Posts, American Midwest, Behavioral Health, Boyhood, Bullying, Coming of Age, Dating, Erectile Dysfunction, Growing Up, Homophobia, Life, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Orientation, Performance Anxiety, Relationships, Repressed, Romance, Self-Hatred, Sexual Dysfunction, Sexual Experiences, Sexuality
Posted on October 24, 2018
by Kēphen
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Recovery for me is a multi-faceted term. It means acknowledging my behavioral condition, understanding it and understanding that I and it are not one in the same – that I am more than my condition. It means that I recognize the signs and symptoms… Continue Reading “Life After”
Category: All, Behavioral Health, Human ConditionTags: *See All Posts, Behavioral Health, Bi-polar Disorder, Depression, Health, Inspiration, Life After Trauma, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Recovery, Suicide Awareness, Suicide Prevention
Posted on September 20, 2018
by Kēphen
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My name is Kephen Merancis and there’s really no easy way to start the conversation that we need to have. It takes a lot of courage to break the wall of silence that stigma builds. It takes at least a little bit of hope… Continue Reading “Out of the Darkness: My Experience with a Mental Health Condition”
Category: All, Behavioral Health, Human Condition, Kephen's Commentary, MiscellaneousTags: *See All Posts, Behavioral Health, Bi-polar Disorder, Depression, MCRD, Mental Health, Mental Illness, San Diego, Suicide Awareness, Suicide Prevention, USMC
Posted on April 6, 2018
by Kēphen
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Following an extended period of depression, a friend of mine carved this into a park bench after contemplating suicide. He sent me the photo and I’ve kept it because I think it holds a powerful message. Choose To Live Do something that scares you.… Continue Reading “Choose To Live”
Category: All, Behavioral Health, Human Condition, MiscellaneousTags: *See All Posts, Awareness, Death, Life, Live, Mindfulness, Mortality, Thrive
Kēphen
Memento Vivere 
Out of the Darkness: My Experience with a Mental Health Condition
Posted on September 20, 2018 by Kēphen
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My name is Kephen Merancis and there’s really no easy way to start the conversation that we need to have. It takes a lot of courage to break the wall of silence that stigma builds. It takes at least a little bit of hope… Continue Reading “Out of the Darkness: My Experience with a Mental Health Condition”
Category: All, Behavioral Health, Human Condition, Kephen's Commentary, MiscellaneousTags: *See All Posts, Behavioral Health, Bi-polar Disorder, Depression, MCRD, Mental Health, Mental Illness, San Diego, Suicide Awareness, Suicide Prevention, USMC