The Speedy Foundation is so excited and honored to announce our partnership with Hannah Menzner, the newly crowned Miss Idaho USA. Her deep passion for mental health stemmed from her experience volunteering for a crisis hotline, and she has since founded Project IdaHOPE to teach Idahoans to spot suicide warning signs and risk factors. We look forward to working alongside her as she continues her campaign for suicide awareness, and can’t wait to see the wonderful things she has in store this year!

I have learned that tools for coping with my illness have come and gone and I know it will be ok. I still have setbacks and I have a recovery plan that I have shared with my therapist and my children so they can help me when I can’t remember why I am here and what tools I have.

As the platform and service, I choose to promote as Miss Capital City this year is Saving Lives: Preventing Suicide in our Youth and Young Adults. I have always been interested in suicide and mental health, but as a college student, wanted to learn more about what I can do to help others.

Family gatherings, while wonderful, can be a difficult time to get through if you’ve recently entered addiction recovery; they come with so many responsibilities, worries, and stresses, and there’s often so little time to do anything else that many of us neglect our own health and well-being. This can have detrimental impacts on your sobriety, so it’s important to reach out for help when you need it.

Fortunately, there are some easy ways to beat stress and maintain your sober status no matter what has brought your family together; with a little planning and preparation, you can ensure your time with your loved ones is fun-filled and substance-free. Here are a few of the best tips for doing just that.

You’re constantly bombarded with media telling you how you can get fit, eat better, and improve your physical health — but what about your mental health? Mental health is just as ( if not more) important than physical health, but it tends to fall by the wayside when dreaming up self-improvement to-do lists. Make mental health a priority in 2017 by incorporating these 10 habits into your plans for the new year.

Bipolar disorder affects nearly six million adults in the U.S., and many studies have been done in an effort to try and pinpoint where it begins and why. It’s not so easy to understand, however, and it is even harder to study in young people because the symptoms sometimes mimic natural emotional changes that come with growing up.