Talk therapy gets a bad rap sometimes. For many, it is something only weak people do, a thing they would never need and something to be deeply ashamed of doing. To them "analysis" is a self indulgent, obnoxious thing to talk about and something only crazy people utilize.

This is not the background I come from. It might be because my mother WAS a shrink, but in my family and among many of my friends, having a therapist was par for the course.

It's actually a great thing to do. Even if you don't have a "reason" to go to therapy (like a trauma or some deep secret), the reality is that therapy can be beneficial for everyone. It's a chance to talk and talk to someone who has nothing to gain or lose from you. A neutral party whose sole purpose is to help you What could be wrong with that? Here are 8 great reasons to consider therapy now:

The name of the disease sounds like just another clinical term: Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis. But the experience of the disease sounds like the premise of a psychological thriller: A healthy young woman has everything going for her -- a promising career, an active social life -- until suddenly, she starts feeling "off." She's moody, she's paranoid; she becomes convinced her apartment is infested with bedbugs and her boyfriend is having an affair ... soon, the seizures and hallucinations begin. Before long she's hospitalized, appearing "possessed, crying or laughing hysterically one moment and turning catatonic the next." Doctors prescribe antipsychotics for what they assume is some form of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

But Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis isn't a mental illness at all. It's a recently discovered auto immune disease that strikes mostly young women and is decribed as having one's "brain on fire."

Yikes! Have you seen Lindsay Lohan’s new ink? The troubled starlet arrived in Los Angeles for court Wednesday morning bearing two seriously disturbing new tattoos.

The one on her upper right arms reads simply: "What dreams may come." Shakespeare lovers will recognize the quote as being from Hamlet's famous "to be or not to be" speech, in which the poor prince ponders whether or not to commit suicide. He's wondering what "dreams may come" in the sleep of death. Pretty grim stuff, LiLo. 

It's frightening to watch a loved one go off to war, but what many military families have discovered is that another battle begins once they return home. Nearly 30 percent of the 834,463 soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan that were treated at V.A. hospitals have been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. 

"We can't send out men and women to kill other human beings and expect them to not suffer any ill. It's human nature," a mother of a soldier, who asked to remain anonymous, shared with The Stir. "We are not born killers and can't be expected to return to normal and not be properly cared for."

Indeed. The changes in personality PTSD causes can be terrifying for family members, who are often at a loss for what to do. Sadly, in many cases, the illness goes untreated simply because V.A. hospitals are too overloaded.

Depression is never easy to talk about, especially for celebrities. The last thing anyone suffering from depression needs is public scrutiny. So I was impressed by Michelle Williams' decision to come forward and talk about the years she spent suffering from "moderate depression." The Destiny's Child singer and actress says her first bout with depression happened when she was around 15 years old, and that part of what made the time so difficult was how the people around her responded.

By now, Suzanne Somers is likely used to getting flak for her brilliant but unconventional ideas about health and wellness, hormones and toxins. So I wouldn't be surprised if Somers' recent questions about Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza are rubbing some people the wrong way. The actress, TV host, and health activist was on HuffPo Live yesterday and discussed how she believes gun control shouldn't be the only conversation we're having in regards to the Sandy Hook tragedy. She said, "I look at it and go, 'What is the diet of that guy who went nuts? What toxins was he exposed to? What kind of household cleaners are they using?'"

Okay, yes, at first glimpse, this seems wacky. It's definitely a more "out there" discussion than we're accustomed to having in response to a tragedy like this ... BUT that doesn't mean it's not a valid one!

Check out how Suzanne went on to explain ...

Unless you live under a rock, you're most likely already well aware of the fact that diet soda is really, really bad for you. We're talking increased risk of stroke, heart disease, weight gain (ironic, that one), diabetes, and even cancer bad for you, which is pretty damn bad. Well, guess what? Turns out diet soda could be bad for your mental health as well as your physical health: A recent study links diet soda consumption to an increased risk of depression. Sheesh. What a bummer!

Valeria Levitin, 39, weighs only 56 pounds and is currently the world’s thinnest woman. She also happens to be one of the saddest and loneliest women in the world. She is fighting for her life, but because of websites that encourage the anorexic lifestyle, she has become an unwitting idol of many teen girls -- and even gets fan mail regularly.

Valeria developed anorexia in her teens, after years of her mother weighing her to make sure that she didn’t become obese. She wanted to be a model but was told she was too heavy, at a healthy size 12.