Thriving Madly

12/10/2026

Bridging the Divide: An open letter to our disabled and mad communities.

During Mental Health Awareness Week, Alexia Black reminds our communities about our shared history, and challenges us to work together.

During Mental Health Awareness Week, Alexia Black reminds our communities about our shared history, and challenges us to work together.

12/10/2026

[Alt text: Illustration of a person walking along a grassy path through a mountainous landscape with pine trees, a river and a yellow sky. On the right, against a dark plum background, the Changing Minds logo appears above the text “The i’s in” in white and “BELONGING” in large pink capital letters.]

As we embrace Mental Health Awareness Week 2026 in Aotearoa, Changing Minds shares a series of thought pieces on belonging and community.

This first piece looks at the place of selfhood and choice in belonging, which isn't limited to social connection.

"Belonging is fluid and flexible, it is wherever we find ourselves on our paths, in time and space, history and place, and however we choose to belong along the way."

You can read more on our website here 👉 https://f.mtr.cool/c6xt8z7oux

12/10/2026

"The Personal Narrative Model puts lived experience, meaning, power, social context, and strengths at the center of mental health, but can a fundamentally different approach survive within today’s mental health system?"

[Alt text: A person with long hair sits on a sofa, leaning forward and speaking to another person in the foreground who is seated opposite them. The person's face is partially visible in profile. Below the image is the headline “Beyond ‘What’s Wrong With You?’: Rethinking Psychiatric Diagnosis Through Personal Narrative”.]

As the biomedical model of psychiatry is increasingly criticized for its narrow focus and lack of acknowledging the social and systemic causes of The Personal Narrative Model puts lived experience, meaning, power, social context, and strengths at the center of mental health, but can a fundamentally....

11/10/2026

[Alt text: Three-panel comic. In the first panel, a small green frog is sitting on a lily pad and another one is in the water. The one in the water says, “Always be yourself.” In the second panel the frog on the lily pad says, “It can be so hard at times.” In the final panel, the frog in the water says “I know, buddy” but we can now see that it's actually a crocodile with only its mouth and nostrils sticking out of the water.]

10/10/2026

[Alt text: A round piece of crochet with the text "the horrors persist but so do I" stitched onto a white background, with a border of green leaves and orange and red flowers.]

09/10/2026

"Learning to be one human among many has always been a little lonely and discombobulating. But young people around the world are lonelier than ever. Why?"

[A graphic with a mustard yellow background showing a small black silhouette of a person standing on top of a white, curved shape. In the lower right is The Guardian logo. Below the image, text reads “theguardian.com” and “‘There’s a lot of silence’: have we created a new ‘Lonely Generation’?”]

Learning to be one human among many has always been a little lonely and discombobulating. But young people around the world are lonelier than ever. Why?

09/10/2026

{Alt text: A screenshot of a July 12 2024 social media post by existennialmemes on a black background, with a thin purple border. The post reads: “Please be patient. I'm trying very hard to be A Person™ but it's really difficult for me, and I'm not particularly good at it. There was no tutorial and the rules seem wildly inconsistent.”]

08/10/2026

08/10/2026

[Alt text: A cartoon of two people sitting at a table. One of them is eating and the other one is looking at an empty plate and saying "My emotional support dog ate my comfort food." A dog is sitting on the floor eating with crumbs around them.]

08/10/2026

From today Netsafe have partnered with counselling service Ignite, to offer free support to victims.

[Alt text: At the top left is the RNZ logo. The background shows a dark, shadowed image of a person’s face. White text reads “Crime / Justice” followed by “Free mental health support launched for sextortion victims as cases reach record high”. At the bottom, white text reads “Link in comments” with a downward arrow.]

Online safety organisation Netsafe says sextortion is at its highest ever level in Aotearoa, and the number of people falling victim to the online harm is rising rapidly.