Holiday celebrations and alcohol seem to go hand-in-hand for many, but for the 18 million Americans who have an alcohol use disorder the season might be a struggle, especially with the added stress that comes along this time of year.

If you're avoiding alcohol this holiday season, try one of these festive alcohol-free drinks.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year … or is it? Instead of enjoying the holiday season, many people seem to dread it and feel relieved when it’s over. The stress of family gatherings, holiday feasts, and shopping take over and the joy of the season quickly disappears. But it doesn’t have to.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Depression. Substance Abuse. Alcohol dependence. These are some of the disorders that many men and women who bravely serve in the military return home to face.

October is National Bullying Prevention Month and it’s more important than ever to raise awareness of the horrible epidemic of bullying and cyberbullying. Although not every person shows signs of being bullied, many do. If any of the signs below are observed in your children, don’t ignore them.

For Children and adolescents, it is estimated that one in every five has a mental health disorder. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, half of all chronic mental illnesses begin by the age of 14 and fully three quarters have begun by age 24. However, few receive appropriate psychiatric services treatment until years, even decades later. The reasons for this include stigma, lack of resources, and a dearth of trained professions.

As people age many experience medical conditions that cause physical impairment, but mental health is often overlooked in the older population.

 A completed suicide is always a tragedy no matter the age of the victim. A life cut short in such a manner is devastating and traumatic, hard to understand and frightening. Teen suicide, unfortunately, is not as rare as we sometimes think. Learn how to help your teen cope effectively with a peer's suicide.A completed suicide is always a tragedy no matter the age of the victim. A life cut short in such a manner is devastating and traumatic, hard to understand and frightening.

For decades, Silver Hill Hospital and its patients have benefited from the innumerable acts of kindness and creative contributions of volunteers from all parts of Fairfield and Westchester Counties. Volunteers seek us out from wherever they may be when they are thinking about ways to give back to the community—they come from college campuses, popular Internet sites like volunteermatch.org or other nonprofit organizations like the Good Dog Foundation or the United Way.

As a community, the Sandy Hook area has suffered an unspeakable loss of previously unimaginable proportions. However, becoming as informed as possible is one way to cope. Therefore, we have compiled a list of trusted resources to help you deal with this loss. You will find information for children, teens and adults, videos, PDFs and books. We will continue to update this information as additional resources become available.

According to Stopbullying.gov, bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school-aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance.  More than just physical abuse, it also includes making threats, spreading rumors or excluding someone from a group on purpose.  Bullying seems to be reaching epidemic proportions.

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.

Support groups are an important resource that patients and families can tap to help understand and recover from mental illness. In fact, the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), has identified them as one of the Ten Fundamental Components of Recovery.

Adolescent Consultant Barbara Greenberg, Ph.D. discusses how summer is the perfect opportunity to help teens grow into independent adults who make wise decisions. Several parenting tips included.

Silver Hill Hospital will host the Connecticut Alliance to Benefit Law Enforcement (CABLE) training for the sixth consecutive year in June. This year, law enforcement officers from Bridgeport, Darien, Greenwich, Norwalk and Stamford will participate.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and as with other designated months, the laudable goal is to educate and raise awareness – and there is good reason.

Many schools will soon be hosting their senior proms, and while we do need to be concerned about all the excess that seems inherent to the event – indulgent spending, drinking, wild behavior – proms can be fun and meaningful events for you both.