For many, James Durbin was the contestant to beat during Season 10 of American Idol.

The native Californian, who has a penchant for pro-wrestling, pulled at our heartstrings more than once during Idol‘s tenth season; after all, his pure and intense desire to make it in the music industry despite the many obstacles and setbacks he’d encountered was something so many of us could identify with (of course, we can substitute “music industry” with pretty much anything else).

Durbin wasn’t chosen during the Season 8 auditions, he had to come to terms with his musician father’s overdose, he was dealing with unemployment (made all the more desperate with a baby and young fiance to support), and he was managing Asperger’s syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism.

The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) is all about chatting it up, lately.

The same organization that brought you the free telechat with athlete-turned-advocate All-Pro NFL punter Greg Montgomery last week is bringing you a free webinar on beating holiday stress in a couple of weeks, on Monday, December 12, 2011.

I’m telling you about it now because the webinar is limited to 100 seats, so time is of the essence if you want in on this.

Last week, USA WEEKEND posted an interview with actress Mariel Hemingway about her 2009 award-winning film, Archie’s Final Project.

The film, which will be released to DVD next month (December 6, 2011), is about a topic that has seemingly surrounded Mariel all her life: Suicide.

Many of you probably know the 50-year-old actress is the granddaughter of American author, journalist, and Nobel Prize-winner Ernest Hemingway (The Sun Also Rises, For Whom The Bell Tolls, The Old Man And The Sea), who committed suicide in 1961.

Because of this connection, some of you might even know Mariel has been a suicide prevention advocate for many years.

Yet, I’m willing to bet a smaller portion of you know that Mariel’s association with suicide – and mental health in general – goes much deeper than her famous grandfather.

Here in America, tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day, the holiday during which we – you guessed it – give thanks.

There’s a whole bunch of other stuff mixed in there like safely landing in the New World and Pilgrims and Native Americans and harvests and Abraham Lincoln making it official in 1863, but this isn’t a history blog, okay?

It’s a mental health blog.

As such, I thought it’d be beneficial to post some information about dealing with stress during the holidays, because, let’s face it – the holidays can get pretty freaking stressful, for different reasons for different people:

• Strained family relationships.
• Loneliness or missing loved ones.
• Striving to make sure everything is perfect.
• Juggling everyday activities like work with major holiday preparations like cleaning and cooking.
• Negative associations with family gatherings or holiday celebrations.

Yep, sounds like there’s potential for stress there, to me.

Have an hour to spare tomorrow?

If so, you might want to check out the live telechat with Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) President Allen Doederlein and athlete-turned-advocate All-Pro NFL punter Greg Montgomery (yep – we like Greg pretty well around these parts!).

During the chat, Allen and Greg will discuss Greg’s own personal story of living with bipolar disorder as well as the work he’s doing within the mental health community. A Q&A session will take place, and the DBSA has made available this Telechat Question Submission Form for participants to submit questions for Greg before the call.

Find details about the telechat in the November 2011 DBSA e-Update, but in short the telechat will take place tomorrow, Novmber 22, 2011, between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. EST and you can access the call by dialing (866) 679-8068 and entering the conference code 1188276976.

Can’t wait for the call to learn more about Greg? Check out the November 2011 issue of efieldHouse.

Have you heard of the “Men of the Stacks” project yet?

Okay, okay, okay – so it’s not actually reading. Still! It’s a calendar of librarians! That totally fits the theme of “Weekend Reading,” right?

The “Men of the Stacks” project – which, on the surface, is a pin-up calendar of male librarians – was conceived a few years ago after the release of a couple of other librarian-themed calendars.

“Where are all the men?” those who are now dubbing themselves the Men of the Stacks asked.

They answered their own question by creating a 2012 calendar featuring 12 real life male librarians.

My good friend Michael Corbin recently shared this story of near suicide with me, and I’d like to share it with you.

(If Michael’s name sounds familiar, it is; I’ve talked about him a lot here at Celebrity Psychings, as he’s the mastermind behind the nonprofit organization everyminute.org and currently working with “Touchdown Tommy” Edwards and his The Heart of Virginia Foundation.)

The idea behind sharing such a story is that others who are contemplating suicide might read the story (or, hear it, depending on the venue) and be touched in some positive way. The Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE) program even dedicates a section of its website to sharing stories about suicide.

Please note that, for some, stories of suicidal thoughts, plans, or actual attempts act as suicide triggers. Please consider such a possibility before clicking the link.

Earlier this month, Christopher Chaney pleaded “not guilty” to hacking into numerous e-mail accounts belonging to celebrities like Mila Kunis, Christina Aguilera, Vanessa Hudgens, and Scarlett Johansson (who’s nude picture eventually ended up on the Internet because of it).

The plea was, undoubtedly, strictly protocol.

After all, the 35-year-old Florida man, who has been indicted on 26 counts (including charges such as accessing protected computers and aggravated identity theft) and faces up to 121 years in prison has already spoken publicly about his crimes, apologizing to the celebrities via CNN.

What I find most interesting about Chaney’s apology is not that it exists, but that it includes a fairly insightful qualifier:

I know what I did was probably one of the worst invasions of privacy someone could experience.

Last week Glenn Close helped ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition build a new home for an Iraq war veteran suffering from PTSD, and tonight the award-winning show teams up with the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) to bring us an hour-long fundraising special, “Rise and Honor: A Veterans Day Special.”

The special program will both announce the launch of the new Rise and Honor program and encourage viewers to make donations to charities such as the Fisher House Foundation, Hire Heroes USA, Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, USO, Volunteers of America, and Welcome Back Veterans.

Ty Pennington, along with the episode’s co-host and special performer Jewel, will revisit some of the show’s past military stories, while celebrities such as Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams, George Lopez, Rachel Ray, and Major League Baseball (MLB) players Clay Buchholz, Daniel Murphy, and Shane Victorino will help educate viewers about the issues veterans face and the skills they can bring to the workforce and their communities.

According to Jewel, who will perform to an audience of veterans and active-duty service members:

We want everyone to pitch in. We don’t want the veterans to feel forgotten. Through their struggles, illness, post-traumatic stress disorder and a tough economy, we’re here to let them know they’re still supported.

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition airs on ABC at 8 p.m. EST.

Image Source: Wikipedia

Meow.

Last September, when she was a guest on E!’s Fashion Police, Sarah Hyland (Modern Family) had some snarky things to say about Lea Michele (Glee) regarding her, er, “confident” red carpet style.

Hyland told host Joan Rivers that Michele “sticks out her collar bones to make her look skinnier” and then demonstrated her fellow actress’s pouty lips and head turn, calling the whole thing “very strange” and “awkward.”

(See the video clip, courtesy of E! Online.)

I actually saw a clip of her doing that on the red carpet and you see me in the background, like with my back turned looking at my publicist, being like ‘I don’t know what to do right now.’ Like this is very awkward for me, I’ve never seen anything like this before in my life.

Michele replied to Hyland’s remarks while at Variety‘s 3rd Annual Power of Women event, stating that they did “hurt [her] feelings a little bit” and using the venue to make a very clear point, I think:

I really think the message of today is that women should motivate and empower women, and so that’s why I’m honored to be a part of today.