Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Psyche.
Committed to Mental Health, Mindfulness, Gratitude, and Positivity
I have struggled with mental health for years. Depression is the shadow that haunts me the most. I am sure I’m not fully aware of how long I struggled with it, but I can look back and recognize behaviors that might be attributed to depression. I still have to wonder, though, which came first, drinking or the depression. I have always been open about my mental health issues. I don’t share every thought that pops into my head, but I share the struggles that I believe are obvious to those who know me well and occasionally I will share some of the darker moments. I do this because I think it is important for men to see it is something we struggle with and it is OK to ask for help. I share because I know that for many men, it feels weak to share their struggles. They feel compelled to hide their emotional issues… to bury them. I also hope that helps all who read my thoughts and struggle, not just men. Everyone.
By Tom Stasio5 years ago in Psyche
PTSD
I was diagnosed with PTSD back in 2002 due to a childhood full of abuse and relationships with domestic voilence. I have also cared for numerous patients who have this condition. I remember when I was a student nurse my first encounter with a patient who suffered PTSD was an old man in his 80's he had been a soldier in WW1 and WW2. This man came in to us with a urine infection that had been left untreated due to this he had become delirious and confused. I was in charge of this mans care, one day when I was doing my routine observations I heard a commotion within the bay this man was placed, he was on the floor sheilding his head and shouting. I tried to get close to him to see what was wrong but he started throwing items from his table and they came hurdling my way. He believed the nurses were German soldiers and would not let anyone close to him. I had to think fast as this man was in distress, I went and took my nurse uniform off and put on a plain hoody in the hope he would let me close to him and it worked, I crouched down beside him and asked what was wrong he told me he was in the war and the German soldiers were trying to take us captive, I reassured him and told him the war was now over and congratualted him on his service, I went on to tell him that he was now in the hospital and all the people he saw were nurses and doctors here to help him. I was able to coax him back into bed and gave him a sedative that he was prescribed for moments like this. PTSD can be debilitating for the people who live with it, I know first hand just how debilitating it can be. I remember my first flash back, I was a little girl again and I was back in that room with him, my eyes wide with fear I would try and back away from everything and everyone around me. These flash backs can be triggerred by smell, touch, words, a noise, tv show anything really. I was commenced on anti depressants that had a sedative effect and went for hypno therapy. Hypno therapy is expensive at £60 per session but worth it in my case anyway, I would reccomend it. Hypno therapy enabled me to cope with my memories better, taught me control and even erased some memories that were particularly traumatic. My partner is my god send during flash backs he knows what to do, he will tell me I am safe, where I am for exmaple if I am laying in bed or out and about. He will tell me the day, the time and just be there for me reassuring me constantly.
By Michelle King5 years ago in Psyche
I Burned All of My Journals
I have made many attempts to tell my story but the words get stuck. I've managed a bit of poetry. In poetry I can be more elusive. The metaphors and analogies pour out but my truth gets to stay hidden. Eventually I will get there but until then I'll just start with what I can.
By Shanna Barton5 years ago in Psyche
Ableism in Reading Communities
I have experienced many things in the reading communities I am a part of and not all of them have been wholeheartedly positive. Reading communities, like every other community on the internet often have a certain amount of toxicity. As the reading community is made up of so many different kinds of people, there would definitely be amounts of various things that are problematic in internet communities including: racism, sexism, homophobia, misgendering and transphobia, insults and various other forms of discrimination. But I think one of the worst forms of discrimination I have seen in the reading community is ableism. Ableism is alive so much in the reading community and it comes in the form of 'listening to audiobooks is not reading' and 'e-readers are not real books' or even 'reading on e-readers is not really reading'. I find this behaviour disgusting.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Psyche
Dear Current Abuse Victim
Dear current abuse victim, I am sending you love. I am so very sorry for your situation, whatever that may be. It doesn't matter how you ended up here, or why. You're where you are right now. It's not fair. I know that you've tried and tried and tried. I've been there too. I've been abused in every way. I know how awful you feel. There's shame, guilt, fury, resentment, excitement, hatred, love. It is harder to experience than anyone gives you credit for. Nobody understands.
By Cosmo Carr5 years ago in Psyche
Day Moonbeams
There’s something in the air that drifts, floats, pops into a semblance of a moonbeam. I wine and dine the thought that it could be a flying moat of dust or a piece of cosmic detritus coalescence. I ponder the thought of trash in a meaningful extraterrestrial form for a moment as I follow the thing to its source. It’s a moonbeam, but in the daytime coming through my window. What if we were all on a floating piece of waste in someone else’s day moonbeam? It makes me feel just as small as that little something moving through the air. I am no more meaningful than that collection of skin cells floating through the air above me. Drifting through the dust moats that have a swirling piercing motion about them. That’s what the day moonbeam reminds me of, a ray of sunshine coming through my window. They slump through the holes in my wall without any regard for my furniture, much like my cat. He looks liquid, the way he moves through the spaces between the dust moats and sunbeams. Like a slug, his eyes seem to leave trailing iridescent worms across the floor. He follows those slipping blundering sunbeams to the head of my bed and stares at me with his eyes like the cold windowpane the sliding beam has stumbled through. Sitting there his purring smells like that moat of dust. Like warm hugs, soft blankets, deep motor roars, and the inescapable way the heat waves off the pavement.
By Abraham Mancino5 years ago in Psyche
Life with Borderline Personality Disorder
I’m not an expert writing in my field. I am a patient who was diagnosed several years with incorrect disorders. It is not easy to be diagnosed as Borderline, which I will refer to now as BPD. There are nine qualities that your therapist or psychiatrist will go over to determine if this is really what you have. As difficult as it is to diagnose, it is difficult to deal with. What I’m wanting to share is my experience with the nine major signs, and hopefully help others that are suffering and don’t know why.
By Rhiannon Brown Reeves5 years ago in Psyche
The Narcissist vs The Empath
She spread her wings and flew the nest. On the track to college where she knew things would be different than her small town. She had a bright future ahead of her, she could feel it deep in her soul. She was loved on campus for her beautiful spirit and contagious engery. She took risks, she made strides, she was happy.
By Anneka Anderson5 years ago in Psyche
Black
I googled the definition of suicidal today. It scared me. I would've never thought myself suicidal because I don't consciously think about killing myself. I don't want to kill myself at all. I don't even want to die. But the definition I read didn't mention anything about wanting to do it. It just said that a suicidal person is someone who is deeply depressed and is likely to commit suicide. Likely to. That could mean anything. It could mean that I could just get so deep in my depression that I just up and kill myself one day. That's not what I want. That's not what I want! THAT'S NOT WHAT I WANT!
By Akilah Simpson5 years ago in Psyche
