Leave those diet ads in the dust and face your fears this New Year! We’re making it possible to channel your inner champion, face your fears, and raise some money to support NEDA’s life-changing programs and services.

Join The Fearless Challenge, a NEDA initiative in which we call upon participants to choose a fear and an activity to overcome that fear.

This morning, I checked my phone to find a flurry of excited Facebook posts about TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year, the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and assault. The magazine featured a group of women and men crucial to the movement, whom it dubbed “The Silence Breakers.” 

When my friend, Lily Stav Gildor, and I realized that we weren’t aware of any podcasts that specifically focus on discussing mental illness with people our age (18-35), we decided to take matters into our own hands.

Last month, we launched our podcast called  Mental Health Hangouts, where we interview millennials about their experiences with mental health treatment, mental illness, addiction, etc. 

I often want to delete all of my social media profiles. In fact, I deleted my Snapchat months ago and it has been great. But I keep my Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter alive, and I do this because social media holds a lot of powers. One of them is giving everyone a voice. 

We spend more time than ever using media and everywhere we turn there are messages telling us how we should look that can make us feel less confident about our appearance. While we’re probably not going to use less media, we can protect our self-image and body confidence from media’s narrow body ideals that reinforce thinness for women and muscularity for men. It’s all about asking the right questions. 

Last month, the Hemendinger family of Amity Harbor, NY successfully reached the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa. Together, as a family, they completed the 10 day journey of the highest free standing mountain in the world at 19,341 feet. The 91 mile round trip journey consisted of daily hiking through five different climate zones of Kilimanjaro including a Rain Forest, an Alpine Desert, and the Arctic Summit. 

People often assume that dance training is at odds with the ideals of body positivity. I can understand why – at the professional level, dance has a longstanding reputation of requiring a very narrow ideal body shape and size and dance class can often focus on physical shortcomings. That said, I am a dance teacher, and I believe in the power of body positivity. I believe in its power to inspire young people and to train better, stronger dancers.

Twice a year, advocates come together in Washington, D.C. to influence federal policy, push for change, and educate representatives of Congress about those affected by eating disorders. NEDA has served as a collaborative partner with the Eating Disorders Coalition (EDC) on these efforts throughout 2017. 

On October 5th, I along with many other advocates shared our own personal journeys and the impact eating disorders have had on our lives. On that day, we represented the voices of the 30 million Americans who suffer from an eating disorder.

October marks LGBTQ History Month, a time for reflecting on the community’s history as well as the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement. The community’s numerous accomplishments would not have been possible without the efforts of countless individuals working tirelessly for equality. Here are 10 individuals from the past and present who have made the world a better place—and have offered words of wisdom on confidence and taking up space. 

Happy New York Comic Con! As native New Yorkers and out-of-towners alike gather at Javits Center for a weekend of geekery, we had a chance to chat with Sharon Rose, a professional cosplay model who has been featured on numerous geek culture media sites, including Geeks Are Sexy and Marvel.com.