Latest Stories

Most recently published stories in Psyche.

The Importance of Friends' Night
Friend’s night. A concept most of us might have forgotten about during the pandemic era of slowly fading video chats, text messaging, and phone calls. Your closest friends seem a world away, distant online and distant in text.
By Aisling Rose5 years ago in Psyche
Young Children Kick Pigeons but Adult-Children Kick You
Wherever human beings gather there is ‘drama’. We can’t seem to help it. Everyone knows a person whose entire raison d’etre is creating and manufacturing ‘situations’. If you don’t know a person, it might be you.
By Argumentative Penguin5 years ago in Psyche
Objects in Our Rear View Mirror
The popular rock personality “Meatloaf” is by no means a trained psychologist. Nor is he a qualified researcher in the social science arena. He has not attended graduate school. He has no clinical experience. His message is poetic and anecdotal rather than based upon statistical and psychometric standards. He is simply a musician. And yet, his lyrics “Objects in the Rear-View Mirror” tell the tale of the profound effects of traumatic life experience, specifically including child abuse, on later, even much later, adult functioning even more poignantly than the finest and most current publications in the field. Simply put, he argues that one does not simply “get over it”, but rather carries the pain and confusion of early hurts down the road of life for a very long time. This is, of course, something survivors know instinctively.
By Donna L. Roberts, PhD (Psych Pstuff)5 years ago in Psyche
Shaped By Adversity
March 18, 2021...a date still fresh in my mind, because it was just over a month ago. It is the day my mother died, two days after being vaccinated for COVID-19. I was in the middle of getting my CPR and First-Aid certification when I got the text. "Momma died...", my baby sister had typed. At first I didn't know how to feel.....I drew a blank in the beginning, felt nothing. Then, the nothingness turned to sadness, the sadness to anger, but not for the typical reasons you might expect.
By Lynnette Walker5 years ago in Psyche
Dying to Be a Prospect
They called him Bubsy, but his cutesy name didn’t do much to reduce his wild and fearsome reputation. His linebacker like frame juiced to the tits with steroids didn’t fit it either. I only saw him one summer when I worked as a laborer, but the stories about him made their way back to me via a co-worker and many of them were terrifying.
By Steve B Howard5 years ago in Psyche
An Unfinished Soul Book
For someone like me whose mind speaks louder than the rest of the world; Sometimes too loud, to the point where no matter what strings the outside world pulls to show me there’s better things out there, I am almost always drawn back to the comfort of my room and the other world I have created within it. The graphic of me sitting on my bedroom floor or on the bed, with the door locked - my mind in some other world. In the midst of all these mental battles I fight daily, some from the present and some from the past, the only way I can grasp some sense of normality is through the process of journaling. A small book I crafted, whose existence is only known by me, lies secretly stored among all my other collected books. Lost in the flock of fictional stories and novels which from the outside seem pretty standard for any book lover, that one book holds all the conversations of my mind which cannot be spoken out loud. Every letter written on the fine black lines; each word too loud for anyone say no matter the strength within their throat. The weight too heavy like a ton of bricks ready to fall. These words are the secret to my life. Words that daily inspire me to reminisce, to keep going, to reconsider, to evaluate, to persevere, to question. No matter what situation I may be going through, I made this journal with the intention to fill this book with everything that moves my soul and heart, so I never think of giving up ever again. The idea that when days get tough, and my inner voice no longer has the words to provide the strength I need, I will always have this book to turn to, and someday I hope I can give it to the person who means the most to me, so they also have a source of condolence to turn to, which is what this book has become for me.
By Maariya5 years ago in Psyche
Everyday Life
A little girl started 3rd grade and she was happy for a second. One second of happiness dramatically changed to depression, suicide thoughts, anger, and heartbreak. It's when the girl learned what bullying meant when she saw she was experiencing it at school and at home. That little girl was me.
By Adrianna Menendez5 years ago in Psyche
Tales from the Dyslexic Side: Part 1
Over the years, I’ve worked, and been sacked as a copywriter, a graphic designer, an editor and even an English teacher. I’ve written for famous international brands and taught English in universities. The majority of these career experiences have either finished with me being sacked or simply told not to bother coming back next term. Yet despite this, I think I’ve been fairly successful, and as Douglas Adams said, “I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be”.
By Jodie Adam5 years ago in Psyche
The Addiction to Ink...Tattoo Ink
For as long as I can remember, I have always loved and appreciated tattoos. I always saw them as beautiful and a way to be free, even when I was too young to have any, I always enjoyed looking at the tattoos on other people. I like to believe I am a creative person, at least in some ways and I always love to find different ways of expressing myself. I have been dying my hair since I was 8 years-old and have recently hit the 20 year mark of doing so. I am proud to say that my hair has officially been every color that is available for hair dye, and a few months before my 18th birthday, my body became a canvas. Where I live, the law dictates that you have to be 18, but I got my first tattoo shortly before by a guy in his house and blessings from my mom. For my first tattoo, I chose a loose representation of the NYC skyline with different elements that remind me of my best friend because I knew then that she would always be a large part of who I am, no matter where life takes us.
By Crissy Cornwell5 years ago in Psyche
A Space For The Spiritual
It's taken me a while to figure out my purpose on this planet. I've gone through many incarnations when it comes to my career - translator, teacher, baker - each one feeling like I'm playing dress-up, or a starring role in a particularly bad comedy where this one girl just can't catch a break or find her way in life. A very, very bad comedy.
By Nati Saednejad5 years ago in Psyche
Talk Therapy & Pure Speech
Every person faces issues. Sometimes power people misuse. Innocents sometimes take abuse. Our words can harm or they can help. People in pain send out a yelp! When we're weak we feel like a whelp. We heal with communication. All our cells need stimulation. Mind does heal with meditation. We help people get their thoughts right. A baffled brain is quite a plight. A darkened psyche just needs light. We do promote psychiatry. Brains bombard with variety. Psych-evals maintain clarity.
By David Duran 5 years ago in Psyche
It Was A Long Time Coming: Mental Breakdown, Hospitalization and Road to Recovery, Part 2
CONTENT WARNING: mentions of suicide, general upsetting themes, mentions of hospital settings, mentions of law enforcement.
By Lee Johnston 5 years ago in Psyche