Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Psyche.
How depression feels like? How can you overcome it?
Major problem people are facing these days is depression and it has increased even more during the covid-19 times as they are losing their loved ones and not feeling ok. They know they will be okay but not today and probably not tomorrow. Feeling down and not wanting to do anything is perfectly ok sometimes but feeling hopeless, down, confused, changes in the mind, feeling irritated, anxiety are all the symptoms to identify that you are going through a tough time.
By Vanshika Dhawan5 years ago in Psyche
When Your Patient Teaches You a Thing or Two About Living
The thing about clinical work is that each day you never know what’s coming. You can be working with a patient in the most clear-cut treatment plan with everything going textbook perfect and suddenly . . .
By Donna L. Roberts, PhD (Psych Pstuff)5 years ago in Psyche
Yarn-Over Matter
Arts and Crafts have never seemed like a good fit for me. I have never been good at any kind of creative pursuit that requires sitting still or closely following instructions. My apartment is filled with IKEA furniture that looks like it was assembled by Picasso (this includes an armchair that definitely can’t be trusted and a bathroom cabinet I suspect will collapse like a Jenga tower if I were to ever breathe too heavily on it). I’m a chronic knee-bouncer with a short attention span, who will jump from one task to another leaving a trail of half-finished work in my wake. Loved ones will generously refer to me as a multi-tasker. In truth, this nervous energy is a symptom of my chronic anxiety, something I have struggled with since before I even knew what it was. Over the years many well-meaning friends have recommended a variety of coping techniques from meditation to mountain climbing. And one after one I have tried and failed; feeling a little more defeated each time. The number of adult coloring books in my possession with half-finished pages is frankly embarrassing. Long had I marveled at the artisinal projects of my friends and family; my mom has never met a Pinterest craft she couldn’t conquer, a number of my close friends are supremely talented graphic designers and photographers, and at family holiday parties there is no shortage of homemade jams and embroidered dish towels.
By Katherine Elizabeth5 years ago in Psyche
My Monster
I dig my nails into my palms, deeper and deeper, making little crescent shapes. I push the tip of my tongue into the sharp tooth I like to use, it is dulled over the years, but it still helps. I try to breathe. Stop being such a spazz. It’s difficult though. The thoughts come faster and faster, all at once, creating a dull hum in my head like a hive of bees, slowly getting louder. It makes me want to bang my head right into the table. After a deep breath, I lick my lips, and glance around. I don’t think anyone has noticed us yet. Our disguises are working. I guess you don’t need to try as hard as I do though. I don’t want to say that you’re not real. I think that maybe you are, but I know that they can’t see you. Even I can’t always see you, but I can feel you. Your hand on my shoulder, your claws tapping away at my skin, digging in every now and then to make my body shudder.
By Holding Hands With Shadows5 years ago in Psyche
Now
Now, I can’t be around people without completely going somewhere else. I can’t relate and just feel natural and enjoy the flow of being together. I can only think, terrified, about keeping them at ease and trying to appear acceptable and appropriate to them: laughing and scrunching my face up, nearly closing my eyes in a contortion to create the look of a smile, no matter if something is funny or not. When this is going on, every moment is a little humiliation. “I am SO fucked up.” But they will never know what I am thinking. My internal experience is grotesque. Almost every time after I have made another effort to be with people and give it a good effort on the bright side, I feel beaten completely down, drained. I have to just completely escape and medicate to soothe myself from a whole traumatic experience, that I have apparently done to myself, but I have no idea how to not do. I have to eat a tub of ice cream or spend over $10 on a heavy bag from McDonald’s. I have to completely. Drown. It out.
By Emaw Langden5 years ago in Psyche
“Andoumboulou Vorfreude”
We are all an andoumboulou, a rough draft of humanity, a work in progress until our guaranteed demise. What we leave behind could be some of the joy that we had felt in our lives, even before we understood it to be joy, before we anticipated it to occur, our vorfreude.
By Patrick M. Ohana5 years ago in Psyche
Conversations, Companions, & Canvases
Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD) makes for a childhood of extreme irritability, anger, and frequent, intense temper outbursts. This lovely disorder was gifted to me around what society calls “the terrible twos.” Though, my irritability in a car led to more than just a normal toddler tantrum. One moment I would be the happiest kid in the world, enjoying the warmth of the sun and the gentle breeze on my skin playing pattycake with my friend on the lawn. The next moment, though--actually during an outburst I did not retain any memory of the events that followed so there’s not much description to be given other than when I awoke from my rage-slumber I found myself grounded and my poor friend nowhere to be found.
By Alani Medlock5 years ago in Psyche
