Focus on Year-Round Self-Improvement Instead Who doesn’t want to lose a few pounds, eat healthier, save more money or give up bad habits like smoking? The New Year seems to bring about pressure to improve ourselves. Every year about 45% of Americans make resolutions, but only about 8% achieve their goal. Why?

Strategies to help you enjoy every aspect of the holidays, including the food. You may be surprised that Silver Hill Hospital prepares holiday feasts for our patients and their families to enjoy. This is because we believe food is an integral part of every holiday celebration, and we want our families to enjoy the moment together.

The holidays are quickly approaching and many parents are eager to have their children home from college, but the son or daughter they dropped off in August may not seem like the same one that returns for the holiday season.

In the U.S.  42.1 million people smoke and people with a mental illness are twice as likely to smoke. Most likely you know that it’s a dangerous habit, but did you realize cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the US? Smoking is responsible for about 1 in 3 cancer deaths.

It’s Mental Health Wellness Week and unlike other awareness days and weeks the focus is on staying well, not the condition itself. Two of the goals are promoting the benefit of mental wellness for both the mind and body and educating people on how to incorporate mental wellness techniques into their daily lives, whether you have a mental illness or not. The best way to stay well is to have good coping skills and build resiliency to deal with life when it throws us curveballs.

As fall arrives, college students are settling into their routines. The pressures of college create a great deal of stress for students. Keeping up with school work, getting good grades and navigating new social circles can weigh heavily on a young mind. How does one keep up?

People often use the terms mental health and mental illness interchangeably, but just as with any other medical condition, you are healthy or you are ill. It is a serious mistake to call it a mental health issue when someone has a mental illness. They are sick. It is real, and because people do not understand the difference, it can interfere with proper treatment.

Suicide rarely occurs without warning. It is the final sad step in a life unnecessarily taken over by illness and despair. In fact, 90 percent of people who kill themselves have a diagnosable and treatable mental illness. In other words, suicide is very often preventable.

For many people it’s hard to hold back a smile when you are greeted by a happy, friendly yellow lab looking for a pat on the head. Meet Hooper, one of the visiting therapy dogs at Silver Hill Hospital.

Having a baby is supposed to be one of the most exciting and happy times in a woman’s life, but depression can make this time very difficult and unpleasant. The dramatic changes in hormones following birth cause mood swings and up to 80% of women experience the “baby blues” However, having baby blues is different from clinically significant depression.

Your child is begging to come home from camp. Maybe you suspect bullying. What should you do? Dr. Aaron Krasner, Adolescent Transitional Living Program Service Chief, gives parents a few tips. 

Frank Bordonaro created a weekly drawing group for the Adolescent Transitional Living Program, a residential program for teens struggling with psychiatric and addiction problems.