Latest Stories

Most recently published stories in Psyche.

The Ins and Outs of Panic Attacks
According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, approximately 4 % of the population will experience Panic Disorder in their lifetime. I am one of them. People with Panic Disorder experience unexpected and repeated panic attacks. These attacks are characterized by an intense fear or feeling of discomfort and can include the following symptoms (according to anxietycanada.com):
By Misty Rae4 years ago in Psyche
Beating Depression's Beaten Path. Top Story - November 2021.
Human beings are creatures of habit. We have a subconscious bias toward doing everyday things in certain ways that feel comfortable to us. I put my left sock on before the right one, but I always put my right shoe on before the left. I brush my teeth in a certain pattern; I shave my face from left to right. Whatever the task is, I definitely don’t remember choosing the particular way in which I complete it. As a child I learned the basics but as I grew older I simply found a way of doing them that just felt comfortable to me. If not by the lack of discomfort, but by the reinforcement achieved by repetition. Either way, our brains employ a flavor of the ‘path of least resistance’ strategy with these simple tasks; that being said, would it not make sense that our brains also employ this strategy with other functions buried even deeper in our subconscious?
By Mac4 years ago in Psyche
Who is at risk for Drug Addiction?
Who is at risk for drug addiction? There are three main categories of people who are at risk for becoming addicted to drugs, including young people and adults. One of the first steps that treatment centers take is to identify who among their client population is at greatest risk for drug addiction. For example, if a person is young, they are at the highest risk for drug addiction as the brains develop at a faster rate during the teen years.
By Manuel Romine4 years ago in Psyche
It's Not Aquaphobia?
Simone stood in front of the bathroom mirror, her reflection staring back at her. She examined the dark circles under her eyes, then the slight oiliness of her hair. Picking up her hairbrush, she sighed deeply, and stared at the bristles for what seemed like eternity before running them through her raven tresses. Once she started brushing, it felt wonderful on her scalp, scratching and scraping the itchiness away. Tiny flakes of dandruff followed the bristles through her hair, sitting like snowflakes against its inky darkness. Lightly brushing the flakes away with her fingertips, she set the brush back down and turned to leave the room.
By Sheila Sellinger, Author4 years ago in Psyche
Saved By The Sea
Mental Health Awareness has been at the forefront of many of our experiences in the last few years. When Covid-19 started to affect the world and countries enacted lockdowns for safety, many people experienced new challenges as the world stopped and we all had a moment to think about our lives in relation to the whole. We had spent so long on the hamster wheel of day to day living, shoving our problems deeper as we put a face on every day when we walked out of the door. Lockdown meant many of us realised that this way of life was causing us harm and that things had to change, that we could no longer live how we did before. For some lockdown increased their isolation and they found without others, they struggled to maintain good health. I think for all of us, it keenly bought home the fragility of the human condition.
By Kyra Chambers4 years ago in Psyche
Legal & Lethal
Alcohol. If it’s legal, it must be safe, right? As adults, we enjoy going out and having a few drinks. Sometimes we enjoy going out and having more than a few drinks, followed by hating ourselves, usually the next morning. Because it’s so accessible – even from a young age – we can forget how toxic alcohol is.
By Nicole Brown4 years ago in Psyche
Science, Philosophy, and Technology
As a research scientist myself nothing gets under my skin so deeply as hearing fellow scientists disparaging philosophy. Many times one hears it from the so called “popularizers” of science who spend their days not on the bench, or in the lab or the field actually practicing science, but rather on the couch or in front of a screen dispensing their wisdom upon the unwashed masses. These are the same “scientists” who praise the virtue of the technologists (who also despise philosophy for some reason(s) that make(s) no sense), and think science and technology are one and the same discipline, brothers in arms against the dark forces of religion and mysticism that threaten to overwhelm the land. In addition to their disgust with philosophy the other thing these pop-sci paragons share with the techno-elites is an ego that must constantly be fed a steady diet of adulation, praise, and recognition.
By Everyday Junglist4 years ago in Psyche
Baby steps.
“Focus on the step in front of you, not the whole staircase.” Unknown. If I was able to give just one piece of advice to those who currently face mental health struggles such as anxiety and depression , it would be to take it one day at the time. The mind dislikes the present moment and prefers to jump between the past and the future, which is not serving us at the best of times, but when the emotionally heavy states are present, this tendency can weigh one down even more.
By Eva Smitte4 years ago in Psyche
How Buffy Helps Me Process Big Emotional Themes
One thing that I learned from the mentors of my past that seems to hold very true, is that you have to feel your stuff in order to heal it. The feelings have to be present. And you have to acknowledge them and feel them in order to heal the associated wounds. Otherwise they just stay under the radar and keep coming back to kick your butt. Avoidance is really not a strategy that was ever intended to last for very long.
By Ursula Faye4 years ago in Psyche
Dear ---
Dear —, I don’t know how to respond to your post. I’m not even sure if mine would ever reach you. So maybe I like to think that if that’s the case, then maybe you’ll see this, someway and somehow.
By Minte Stara4 years ago in Psyche
What Is The True Source Of Confidence?
With the rapid pace at which our world is growing, with all its advancements and daily, new requirements — more than ever, confidence is becoming a key element in whether or not some of us (and our dreams) will make it through this emerging era of everything-and-everyone-must-be-perfect.
By Rabih4 years ago in Psyche
Crash
At first there is nothing—the long, dark, infinite nothingness of oblivion where the conscience takes a backseat to the unconscious. Then there are the smells, crisp, vivid scents of fuel, smoke, ozone, burned rubber, and, oddly out of place, coffee. This is followed by sound, sounds so awful they grate the bone and chill the blood. These are screams—screams of fear, agony, pain, and shock. It isn’t until my fuzzy brain begins to clear that I realize these sounds are escaping from me.
By Laura Ball4 years ago in Psyche