Freed Control is my Insanity My name is Jay Insalaco. I am a husband, father of two beautiful children, and a public worker. Life wasn't always like this, here’s my story. In 1995 when I was 19, I started going to a rave club in New York City called "the tunnel". At this club I [...]
I bet you are thinking how can a man possibly have postnatal depression, well it happened to me and it was the reason why I set up Fathers Reaching Out. People say Mental health has a stigma attached, but a man with postnatal depression - trust me that's hard. Postnatal depression can occur in men. [...]
Social Media Hell At the time of writing this I have just come out to my friends and family on Facebook that I have been struggling with social anxiety and depression. I hate Facebook, it fills me full of anxiety and pressure knowing that everyone I know is looking at what I say and judging [...]
Never Judge Someone Until You've Walked A Mile in Their Shoes I flip through my memories like stacks of paper left unorganized for years. I fade away into these memories while I try to sleep, as I drive or even standing in line at the grocery store. No matter how many times I sift through [...]
In April 2015, I went to a health and wellness retreat sponsored by my college. I had signed up to attend several months prior because I knew I needed to start focusing on my own health and wellness, especially my mental health. I felt like I really needed some alone time away. It had been [...]
Leave it to me to be the dissenting voice. My mother wouldn’t at all be surprised. She might however be surprised to know that a few years ago I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. In fact most people in my life don’t know. Not because of stigma, not because of any sense of shame [...]
I was diagnosed with depression when I was seven years old. Yes, seven. My formative years were ruined by the addiction that held my father prison, the unresolved pain of my mother, and selfish ambitions of my step- father—someone who was supposed to be a superhero (but that’s a story for a different day). I [...]
Trigger Warning: Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse I still remember my first sexual encounter. I was 4 years old. I remember every detail, as if I was a spectator, rather than the child. I don’t remember the physical sensations, but I do remember every word spoken, every scene enacted. Since it’s with me more than [...]
Like many of you, I love chocolate, have a coffee addiction, and lie through my teeth when people ask me how I’m doing. Who wants to tell people, “I know I look fine, but this arthritis is really bugging me” or “my immune system is attacking my intestines and this leads to depression and an [...]
Living with Mental Illness: Better Doesn't Mean Cured Sometimes, I feel that I don’t know what’s going on or that I don’t care about anything. I am confused by my feelings, because I’m not able to explain how I feel, except for the emptiness, and I feel that no one is really there for [...]
