Mental Health

Talking about mental health issues is daunting. Often just starting the conversation is the hardest part. With his latest book, “Max’s Box,” Brian Wray offers children and grown-ups a way to begin these important discussions. Through simple story-telling and cartoonish illustrations, Wray gives his readers a glimpse into what can happen when emotions are suppressed. He also demonstrates how with the help of people who care, we can learn to express, and then let go of the things that hold us back.

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by work, school, or just life in general, a new storefront in the Nittany Mall has just the solution for you.

The sound of a washing machine being hit with a baseball bat fills a room that is sectioned off by spray-painted drywall and filled with objects ranging from old appliances to empty bottles of wine. For a fee that ranges from $20 for a 10-minute session to $65 for what the company calls an “All Out Rager,” participants don what looks like hazmat gear, grab a baseball bat or crowbar, and start smashing.

This story originally aired on March 19, 2019.  

On a recent school day at Mount Nittany Elementary School in State College, Tiffany Myers read a children's book out loud to a class of about 20 fifth graders.

“The story we’re going to read today is called, ‘Red: A Crayon’s Story.’ Just right off the bat, what are you noticing about this crayon that make it different than what you might expect?” Myers, a school counselor, asked.

After losing her sister to suicide in 2011, Marisa Vicere founded the Jana Marie Foundation in her sister’s honor.

The State College-based non-profit aims to educate and empower young people in the Centre County region and to build awareness about mental well-being and suicide prevention.

Vicere talked with WPSU during National Suicide Prevention Month about the foundation and her sister. 

College students are at the prime age for the onset of schizophrenia. At Penn State University Park, senior Cecilia McGough is starting the world’s first nonprofit specifically supporting college students suffering from schizophrenia.

Early on in her college career, Cecilia McGough was working a job in downtown State College. But her schizophrenia was causing her to miss shifts at work. Up until this point, she had been giving her boss excuses like food poisoning or a faulty alarm.