Phil Chearamonte

Before our son died, we knew very little about suicide, and if we had known for one second that he was contemplating ending his own life, we would have done everything in our power to stop it, just as any parent would.

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To understand how big of an impact raising awareness could make in suicide prevention, consider these three facts.

While news that your child has a malignant brain tumor remains a life-altering, frightening event, there is renewed reason for hope.

Since the 1950s, clinical depression has been thought to be caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, specifically an imbalance of the neurotransmitter serotonin. But a paper published in ACS Chemical Neuroscience last month suggests that no, depression is not cause by serotonin dysfunction.

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When they steal the covers. When they grab your hand in public. When they wrap their arms around you and squeeze you. When they make you laugh. Every moment that they make you fall in love all over again is why being in love is so unbelievably incredible.

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If you take a close look at stress over the course of a busy week, you're likely to discover that stress is happening in you far more than it's happening to you. It has more to do with the anxious way you relate to people and events than with the events themselves.

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Perhaps I should put down my phone a little. Maybe we all should (fellow college students, I'm talking to you). Because yeah, life is moving pretty fast, and if we don't stop and look around once in a while, we could miss it (couldn't resist). Do they have AA groups for this sort of thing?

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Tech use among kids: Good, or bad? Having a black-and-white answer might make it easier to monitor use and create guidelines around that use. But unfortunately, the real answer is more in the gray area.

Similar to many others I've met in this situation, I am neither sad nor angry. And as more time passes, it has become increasingly apparent that what I want most in life might not be evident from where I am sitting.

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For some, cross-contamination might not be as harmful as it is to others. But if someone says "I'm gluten-free," whose responsibility is it to make sure that "gluten-free" means "cross-contamination-free" to the chef?

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We need to love ourselves and loving yourself does not mean just your exterior. When we look into our own eyes there should be no doubt that we love what we see. That heart, mind and soul is something to celebrate. All original, one of a kind, you.

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The show had one purpose and that was to raise money and not to address other issues in the cancer continuum. The questions raised in my mind while watching the show were just from me reading between the lines.

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We often forget that fear and panic are not the same things; one is necessary to stay alive, and the other is not. Panic is actually dangerous, putting a person in a state of complete chaos, removing the ability to make sound life-saving decisions.

I don't know how to narrate the experience of trying to decide if I should save the life of the mother of my existing children or hope to live through my body shutting down to try to keep growing their little sister.

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It was an online friend who, upon my disclosure that I was cutting, contacted my brother and told him to check on me. It's my online friends who in times of crisis or trigger events will send me text, Facebook, direct or email messages to keep me engaged.

I don't really even know how to tell you about Hyperemesis Gravidarum. In short, it's a bitchy version of morning sickness hell-bent on being an overachiever. A relentless case of the stomach flu.

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I have been depressed for so long that I simply do not know who I am not depressed. I don't remember a time in my adult life, adolescence, or childhood that I would consider myself not depressed. It is who I am.