Latest Stories

Most recently published stories in Psyche.

HOLD
“There was this thing she used to do sometimes, when she slept. She would hold my arm, snuggle it and wrap herself around it. It made me feel like I was a lifeboat. Or an anchor. Like I had a purpose.”
By T. L. McDermott5 years ago in Psyche
Lost in 'Love'
I never thought you would notice someone like me, I’ve always been kind of quiet and to myself. I never thought you would actually talk to me, I get these butterflies in my stomach when I’m around you, and I can’t seem to form complete sentences when I talk to you.
By Kyal Page 5 years ago in Psyche
New Grad, New Anxiety?
Let me tell you a little story about the first couple months following my graduation from college. I was excited. It was a rough 6 years of pharmacy school, and now I was going to be living in my own apartment in a new town with a job lined up. I was set up for success, right? First, I just have to get my pharmacist license. Easy. The pass rate of the licensing exam was 95% so, there was nothing to worry about. I had been a decent student and I have all the study materials I should need already purchased. I moved in quickly, since I had no furniture yet, and bought myself a mattress with a financing plan the store offered. Thank goodness I had enough credit for at least that. With my mattress and a borrowed folding table with chairs from a friend, I set to studying.
By Julie5 years ago in Psyche
Memories of a psychotic
Does she know you’re psychotic! Mum screamed at me across the dining room table in her demeaning stance. She was referring to my new landlord whom I was supposed to live with for university. I had been offered a place for a leading university in the UK for my course, little did I know what the future would hold in the next few days, it certainly wasn’t enrolment. I felt humiliated, vulnerable, useless and tired. There was no fight left in me and so I did whatever I was told. “you are sick”, “you are not firing right”, “you are not going to university”.
By Grace Thomas 5 years ago in Psyche
Happiness Is Created, Not Found
In the 2006 film, “The Pursuit of Happyness” (yes, that’s how it’s spelled), Will Smith’s character is a poor, unhappy salesman. Through hard work and a bit of luck, he lands a high paying job as a stockbroker, is then able to afford everything he wants, and therefore becomes happy. It’s the same old premise: external stimuli make you happy. We’ve seen it in countless other stories, and it shapes most of our lives.
By The Happy Neuron5 years ago in Psyche
Why Focusing On The Present Can Help Alleviate Your Pandemic Depression
There is no doubt that the impact of Pandemic has affected more people mental health than the actual virus itself. I am one of such. I have been working from home since last year May, and the whole UK, is on total lockdown means social outing of any kind is restricted. I am not that much a social type of person, nevertheless, I do feel the fact of not being able to just go out whenever I like is curtailing.
By Lanu Pitan5 years ago in Psyche
Shhh...
I was recently asked if I could please stop talking about suicide. They felt that I talk about the subject too much, and that I use the hashtags just as much, and that by my continuing to talk about suicide and suicide awareness, I will only encourage others to commit suicide themselves. They proceeded to tell me that they had a relative who committed suicide and that if it was not for people like me talking about it, they feel, that person would still be alive.
By Max M Power5 years ago in Psyche
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Resulting from Workplace Violence
Introduction Workplace violence and mass shootings in the office environment can significantly impact the mental health of those directly or indirectly affiliated with the organization: the injured, survivors and witnesses, colleagues, family members, and in some cases, clients and customers of the organization. It is not uncommon for survivors of a violent attack or mass shooting to experience a variety of responses including depression, anxiety, and post traumatic stress disorder (Shultz, 8). Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is when a person experiences or is exposed to a traumatic event or events which may result in a variety of debilitating symptoms. In the book Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD is described as when “posttraumatic stress reactions persist for at least 1 month and interfere significantly with personal adjustment and functioning” (Ford et al., 7). When a victim of trauma experiences these symptoms or posttraumatic stress reactions for a prolonged period and it causes significant and negative changes to their way of life, then it is likely that they are struggling with PTSD.
By Katherine Silvey Bates5 years ago in Psyche
Good Days
I am going to spoil the ending for you, and it will make some of you upset with me. Might even make you respond with your own anecdotes about your experience with depression.
By Cori Renee5 years ago in Psyche
Forgiveness is a Fickle Friend
What does it mean to forgive? To be forgiven? It’s something we sometimes reach for when feeling hurt as well as when we’re responsible for causing hurt. It’s human to crave acceptance, even when we screw up, but forgiveness isn’t always about redemption or soothed egos. Sometimes contextually speaking, acceptance appears in the form of forgiveness we crave that can be born from the hurt others have caused us. So what’s the deal? Why do we so often depend on it for healing? Who is forgiveness actually for?
By Marianne Suppa5 years ago in Psyche
Lucid readings
The cold creeped up on my back as if I was dancing with the coldest winds of winter. I continued to walk through the second floor hallway of my house not knowing my destination. Even though I knew my hallway led to my mother's room, all I could see was pitch black. I continued to walk and it began to feel longer.. I suddenly stopped in my tracks, I wasn't afraid and also not cold anymore. I knew I was dreaming, I knew I was in control and I suddenly became annoyed. I was annoyed because I knew I needed a good night's rest for my summer camping job that morning. My name is Rockelle Springer and for as long as I can remember I always encountered lucid dreams and false awakenings. Whenever I had them I would wake up feeling restless. Lucid dreams are dreams where the person is aware that they are dreaming in which they can eventually figure out ways to control the outcomes. False awakenings are a bit different where the person dreams about waking up when they actually have not. These dreams can both feel very realistic and can sometimes overlap. I have several past methods about waking up but this time I laid on the floor and closed my eyes. I then opened my eyes to my room that was covered in sunlight. It was 8:30 a.m and I jumped out of bed knowing I had to be there by 9:00 am sharp. I am 20 years old and I signed up for a summer job helping the youth and got accepted with my best friend Willow. As I ran downstairs I was greeted by my mother who was holding a lunch bag and flashlight.
By jenaira Mc5 years ago in Psyche
Grieving a Lost Self
Many events that happen in our lives can be explained with a simple idea: psychology. When I first started college I was majoring in psychology and minoring in legal reasoning. In some aspects examining human behavior to predict someone’s intentions and their background has always been a natural instinct for me. The things people will do and say to reveal or cover who they really are have always been a fascination of mine. I am not an expert into the ways a human mind works. I never received my psychology degree. I can only tell you from my own personal experience what my opinions are pertaining to human behavior. I believe that only by truly understanding ourselves can we begin to understand others.
By Schatzie Deal5 years ago in Psyche