Of all the Super Bowl commercials last night, the one that stuck with me the most, surprisingly, did not involve the E*TRADE baby.

It was the preview for the new Martin Scorsese movie Shutter Island, the film adaptation of author Dennis Lehane’s best-selling 2003 novel – a movie the Los Angeles Times suggests might be “too sophisticated and complex for younger audiences and too intense and genre-driven for many of the adults who support cinema by serious directors” and one Scorsese admits was not just another day in the director’s chair:

I tried to pull back a few times and not get so emotionally and psychologically involved… But this story, these characters — it was a very unsettling experience.

Why?

Shutter Island tells the story of Teddy Daniels and Chuck Aule, two U.S. Marshalls who set up shop on a remote island off the coast of Massachusetts in order to investigate the disappearance of a murderess from the island’s “fortress-like hospital for the criminally insane,” and I imagine when one is a highly acclaimed filmmaker dealing with the subject of mental illness set against the backdrop of a pretty dark plot, one tends to get a bit stressed.

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Exciting things are taking place down south right now, and I’m not just talking about the action-packed days leading up to Super Bowl XLIV.

NFL All-Pro and nine-year veteran punter Greg Montgomery, Jr. is cruising media row to announce his new status as President and National Spokesperson for the suicide prevention and mental illness research campaign everyminute.org.

The three-time yards-per-punt average leader teamed up with Michael Corbin, everyminute.org’s founder, in January and plans to blend his knowledge and experience to dramatically change the way mental wellness is approached in the world of sports.

This alliance is one Montgomery believes will “give hope to those suffering depression and mental illness and raise money for research and awareness” and one that everyminute.org’s founder, Michael Corbin, says will help them “reach a demographic that is very difficult to break into”:

The 13- to 30-year-old demographic is when a majority of mental illnesses are likely to manifest themselves; the folks are also the most likely to attempt suicide without seeking help. In 2006, 33,300 people died by suicide in the U.S; over 1,012,300 suicides have been attempted since this campaign’s launch on February 29th, 2008. That’s one every minute. Greg’s bravery and willingness to step out and make a difference as a sports icon should open some eyes and let people know its okay to look to others without shame.

Montgomery and Corbin are currently in the process of building what Montgomery calls the “everyminute.org Dream Team,” and in the near future he sees everyminute.org “aligning itself with the most respected and goundbreaking thought leaders in the field of mental wellness.”

“This is why I’ve teamed up with everyminute.org,” says Montgomery. “To help provide access to a population of athletes who are under remarkable pressure from friends, family, fans, coaches, and themselves. Our goal is to help teams and players get their hands on a comprehensive program that can strengthen the mental aspects of every player on the field.”

Exciting things indeed

You can learn more about Montgomery’s journey when you visit his blog, The Art of Surviving Bipolar Disorder. Also, don’t forget to head over to everyminute.org to add your name to the Online Declaration to stop the ticking clock.

If you have any experience at all with depression – whether it’s you, a family member, or a friend – you’re probably all too aware of the havoc the mental condition can wreak on your weight. Both weight gain and weight loss are symptoms of depression, and on the “How Much Are We Talkin’ About Here?” scale, both usually tip closer to the significant, rather than the slight, side of the spectrum.

Kevin Federline is one of the most recent famous names to openly talk about his depression. In a recent interview with Access Hollywood’s Maria Menounos, Federline tags his break up with Britney Spears and overall unhappiness with himself as causes of his depression.

“A number of things between, I mean, everybody knows what happened with me and Brit. I’m not going to say that’s the total cause of it but, I mean, just not being happy with myself was probably the main part of my depression,” he said.

“Once you get depressed, you don’t really feel like doing anything. You’re kind of discouraged about yourself and then the weight gain too, or that makes me more depressed,” he said. “I mean, it’s a combination of all of those things.”

He doesn’t talk about how he managed the depression specifically, simply stating that things keep “getting better and better” and that his whole family has “gotten so much better from where [they] were,” but Federline tells Menounos that in order to tackle the weight he agreed to sign on as a contestant on VH-1’s “Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp” – an offer that apparently came at the perfect time:

“They called me and they asked me if I wanted to do it and I had maybe 24 hours to decide because the show started taping the next day after that weekend,” he said. “It just couldn’t have come at a better time.”

Kudos to you, Federline.

“Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp” airs next Monday (February 8, 2010), and if you want more information about depression check out Psych Central’s Depression Information and Treatment as well as this recent study about how weight loss can help lessen symptoms of depression.

As you probably know, “Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief” took over the airwaves last Friday night.

More than 40 television channels brought us performances by musicians like Dave Matthews, Neil Young, Chris Martin, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Jay Z, Rihanna, and Wyclef Jean and speeches from actors and actresses like George Clooney, Morgan Freeman, Robert Pattinson, Halle Berry, and Julia Roberts who explained to us the severity of Haiti’s situation and encouraged us to call or visit the website to make a donation.

Anderson Cooper talked with survivors and medical professionals on the scene, Bill Clinton told us about his and George Bush’s Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund, and we heard emotional stories from people who’d only just left the country or had family members in Haiti.

All in all, it was a good show; Mary J. Blige’s rendition of “Hard Times Come Again No More” made me cry and, according to an MTV release, Hope for Haiti Now has raised more than $61 million to date.

You might be surprised to hear that it’s that last part – the money part – that has some folks ranging from confused to angry.

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If you’re the parent of a toddler-aged little girl who likes to dress in boys’ clothes and will only answer to “John” or “Peter,” you’re in good company.

Well, depending on how you feel about the Pitt-Jolie clan.

Last week, UsMagazine.com reported that recent pictures of the celebs’ three-year-old daughter, Shiloh, dressed in a tie and bowler hat set the blogger gossip mill a’ turning with questions about whether the duo wished to turn their daughter into a son.

Really?

As it turns out, Pitt and Jolie allow Shiloh to choose her own clothes and, fortunately, experts stepped in to assure the masses that the two are perfectly within the realms of healthiness by allowing their daughter to do so.

“It’s quite healthy, as she is learning to make choices and think independently,” says Manhattan psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert, who writes a column in Metro newspaper called “No More Drama.”

Psychotherapist Carol Tuttle, author of Dressing Your Truth-Real Beauty for Real Women, tells Us the fact that Pitt and Jolie allow Shiloh to choose her clothes “is a very healthy activity for a little 3-year-old girl.”

Brad and Angelina and their many children are always sources of celebrity gossip material, but I sincerely hope that’s enough to squash the weak “they want to turn their girl into a boy!” scandal, haha.

He hasn’t been in the news lately, but Joaquin Phoenix recently resurfaced in a big – and GOOD – way.

His scraggly beard, dark sunglasses, nervous mumbling, and plans to leave acting for a rap career had many folks concerned about his mental health – including one doctor who believed the star could have schizophrenia – but the animal rights activist appeared clean shaven and completely articulate and completely hysterical at times as a mental health advocate in a new PSA for To Write Love On Her Arms.

To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA) “is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide” that “exists to encourage, inform, inspire and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery,” and Phoenix appeared with Jamie Tworkowski, the founder of TWLOHA, as well as fellow celebs Liv Tyler and Miley Cyrus.

In the video, not only do we get to see Cyrus attempt to explain to Phoenix who she and Lady GaGa are, but we find out that Phoenix actually helped inspire the title of “To Write Love On Her Arms” AND watch Cyrus explain to Phoenix and Tyler how to vote for TWLOHA win $1 million for suicide prevention.

In case the bubbly singer-slash-actress’s instructions weren’t clear, here’s what you do:

• Visit the Chase Community Giving Facebook page,

OR

• Visit www.twloha.com, scroll down a little to the “Vote: Suicide Prevention” banner on the right, and click it.

So, go do it. Now. Go!

Celebrity advocacy can do amazing things, can’t it?

Whatever the cause, when a celebrity becomes involved the issue is likely to be propelled to new heights – sometimes to beneficial heights and the public becomes educated and aware, and sometimes to damaging heights causing widespread misinformation and wary, frustrated medical professionals.

Such is the topic of USA Today’s Are Celebrities Crossing the Line On Medical Advice?, and we’ve seen both scenarios in the mental health community.

Celebrities and their mental health campaigns – such as Paige Hemmis and Blueprint for Hope, Glenn Close and Bring Change 2 Mind, and Joey Pants and No Kidding, Me Too! – not only offer hope to those dealing with mental illness who might feel hopeless and isolated, but also help spread solid information about mental health, research, and resources to folks who might’ve otherwise just not known.

At the same time, the mental health community has celebrities like Tom Cruise – who claims psychiatry is a pseudoscience and publicly chastised Brooke Shields for using antidepressants to treat her postpartum depression – who are, no matter how good their intentions might be, spreading inaccurate information and potentially swaying people from seeking life-saving treatments.

Even the best celebrity supporter of a mental health campaign won’t deny that no matter what a celebrity is saying about a certain cause, people in the mental health community – just like folks in any other community – must take responsibility for their own education, awareness, and treatment.

They can do this by…

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These days, plastic surgery doesn’t raise much of an eyebrow. Travel anywhere from Suburbia to Hollywood and you can meet both women and men who’ve gone under the knife to fix some “imperfection,” however large or minuscule, or sling another temporarily effective grenade toward the ongoing battle against the aging process.

No, it takes a little more than plastic surgery (and sometimes even the reasons behind it) to cause a stir in 21st century America; however, plastic surgery of the volume of Heidi Montag’s recent procedures is sometimes enough.

A recent issue of People magazine features a seven-page spread of 23-year-old reality-star-turned-pop-singer Heidi Montag, not to highlight the long overdue release of her first album, Superficial, but to shine what appears to be a much brighter spotlight on her self-declared plastic surgery obsession.

The Huffington Post provides a scan of the first two pages of the feature, which show both a “Before” and “After” picture and labels the more than $30,000 worth of procedures (10, to be exact) Montag underwent in just one day, including breast augmentation, a mini brow lift, fat injections, and liposuction on her waist, hips, thighs, and neck.

You might think that, while ridiculously drastic, 10 plastic surgery procedures in just one day does not an obsession make. However, according to Montag, plans for plastic surgery have consumed her for years.

“For the past three years, I’ve thought about what to have done,” the reality star tells PEOPLE. “I’m beyond obsessed.” (People)

Why?

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When it comes to mental health and wellness, celebrities have been pretty chatty lately!

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve run across several interviews, articles, and productions in which celebrities have spoken out about their struggles with and victories over mental illness and I thought that, rather than bog you down with multiple posts, you might enjoy a mini collection for a bit of weekend reading and viewing.

• An assortment of well-known celebs – including Katie Couric, Richard Gere, and Chevy Chase – participated in PBS’s This Emotional Life, a three-part documentary series that, along with its companion website, is meant to start a national dialogue about emotional wellness.
• Singer, actress, and reality star Natalie Imbruglia talked with the UK’s Daily Mail Online about how she coped with divorce and how she’s no stranger to depression.
• Actress Patty Duke recently took a break before one of her Wicked musical performances to talk with Behavioral Health Center about her career, her experiences with bipolar disorder, and her advocacy in the mental health community.
• Wilmington, Delaware celebrity, actress Ashley Jansen, is also speaking out about her bipolar disorder and journey to wellness. The actress spoke publicly for the first time in September then again in December, and plans to speak in February at the Delaware Theater Co. and as many as eight more times in the coming months. “‘When I’m doing this, I feel like I’m exactly where I was born to be,’ she says. ‘I want to be real and authentic.’”

Have you come across any similar stories lately? Feel free to share ‘em in the comments!

I used to become a bit sad when I thought about how I’d never go to Hogwarts or use an invisibility cloak or send a piece of mail via owl or slug down a butterbeer with The Chosen One, and I admit I belong to a Facebook group called “I Have Trouble Dealing With The Fact That Edward Cullen Is *Fictional*”, so when I read the headline for the recent CNN article Audiences Experience ‘Avatar’ Blues, I wasn’t all that surprised.

I soon discovered, though, that the title is a bit misleading. After diving into the article, it seems these viewers are a step or two above (or, below?) just having the blues or wishing they could experience the fantasy world. Some Avatar viewers, including those who use various Avatar-related forums, “have expressed feelings of disgust with the human race and disengagement with reality,” are experiencing something similar to “separation anxiety” when the two-and-a-half hour movie ends, and are quoted as stating they’ve become “depressed” and have “contemplated suicide.”

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