Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Psyche.
How to Deal With Your Loved One Who Has PTSD
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that is triggered by a traumatic event that can be instantaneous, or it can be delayed up to three months. People of all ages can get PTSD. When you are in a stressful event, your nervous system reacts with a fight-or flight response. Your heart rate increases, blood pressure rises, muscles tighten which increases your strength and reaction time. When all danger is gone, your nervous system calms your heart rate, and blood pressure to a normal state.
By Catharine Parks5 years ago in Psyche
Hair Stylist/Artist/Mom/Crafter
So, a few months ago I discovered abstract art. I really enjoy watching painting videos that are not abstract though. I cannot paint with a brush, at all. I have tried to learn hacks, tricks, and even got an easel. I was watching the same videos over and over again trying to understand how they make it look so easy. I had wasted many, many canvases. Then, I found acrylic pouring method I just had to try. Instantly I fell in love! I never knew something could make you feel a thousand times better about yourself and at the same time you're making some extra cash here and there from it. So it's September, and my house is literally slap full with paintings after about one week of trying these pouring techniques. I post them online to my Facebook and suddenly people start messaging me about the ones that they like already! So, I decide maybe I can make a career of this one day and quit hair. I am so desperate to get out of the hair business it is unreal. It's just not for me. I have been doing hair since I was in highschool so maybe I'm just sick of it? Anyway, I decided to invest in more supplies, get a cricut maker cutting machine and go big or go home. It is now November and I am finally getting everything in order to try and start some kind of a crafting business. I have so much fun making odd and end things. My daughter can even help me with some things I create. We already paint a lot together so once she is older she will have so much fun with me making all sorts of cool things! I have not been at this long at all but I truly hope all things work out and I can stay home and make stuff instead of going to work and cutting everyones hair in the middle of a pandemic. Doesn't it sound fun yet? I don't know if I should journal about my days in the salon or about my art journey but I'm sure the two will intersect anyways. I want everything to be about my art and crafting. My facebook page is Kreative Krafts1989, just search for it and check out all my sweet paintings so far. I'm just trying to be positive lately since everything in my world has been devastating the past couple of years. My grandma died last year and I have been trying to fill that hole ever since. No one, and I mean no one, will ever be as awesome as my grandma. I miss her everyday and recently finding out I am bipolar doesn't help anything. From trying to find the right doctor, to getting on the right medication, to getting the days off from work can be downright exhausting in itself. So art to me is an escape from my reality. I feel no pain or sadness when I pour. I feel no emptiness when I start to work on a craft. Talking to other people everyday and hearing some of their problems does make me grateful for my little problems in the world, don't get me wrong. But sometimes the wrong people cross your path and shake up that little world you're in because they're just a miserable as you are. But at least I try to hide my misery and be cheerful and chipper. I try to never be the debbie downer of things so when people sit in my chair and just continue to be awful I tend to get quiet. This is why I want out of dealing with customers. I'm not saying everyone or even half the people I see are like this but more than enough are this way and it desperately makes me want to pack up my things and quit but I quickly realize I have no other options around here and I am stuck here. This is why I do crafts and pour my little heart out on that canvas. Puts me in a much better mood, I feel productive, and sometimes I make a little extra cash from it. But to make a career out of it... that is what's stumping me. I have done everything to make it seem more like a business. I have made a youtube channel, website, etsy, and now I'm even journaling about this. I am told if you have a passion for something and give it your all it will always work out. But it doesn't quite seem this way. I dedicate all of my free-time to painting and working with my cricut to really understand how everything works. I am obsessed with a new pouring technique that involves my blow dryer, which is super cool since I am really good with a blow dryer in more ways than one now. So I am going to end this now hoping I don't sound whiny or like a cry baby. I'm really neither one. Just someone who is fed up with this pandemic and touching people on a daily basis who don't shower or think that it is okay to get sick then come get a haircut at their local salon. Thank god for masks is all I can say!! YES I SAID IT. I am thankful to all of our healthcare workers who I know are severely stressed out and are working tons of overtime due to the pandemic. I always have my nurse friends in mind. I want to personally thank everyone in the healthcare field. I don't know how they do it but I hope whoever is reading this enjoyed it and was able to put my shoe on for a minute and walk around in it.. No one has a perfect life, but when you're thrown one too many curve balls, the little things in life are all you have left and you cherish every little thing a little bit more. Thank you once again to our nurses, medical assistants, and all medical professionals. I appreciate you all! Let's get through this pandemic together and support each other!
By Danielle Solo5 years ago in Psyche
SBAR Project
Situation: The coronavirus pandemic is pushing America into a mental health crisis! With the current pandemic at hand anxiety and depression is on the rise and spreading fast. “Three months into the coronavirus pandemic, the country is on the verge of another health crisis, with daily doses of death, isolation and fear generating widespread psychological trauma” (Wan). The U.S. is not prepared to take on the mental health crisis that faces us today. Many facilities that focus on mental health are struggling to get their companies online to reach the people who need the help. The cost, and licensing, along with the lack of federal funding and reimbursement from the government is a huge concern in providing the care needed by society today. “Community behavioral health centers — which treat populations most at risk — are struggling to stay financially solvent and have begun closing programs” (Wan). This is a rising concern as suicide rates and overdoses have already begun increasing since the pandemic began. Mental health problems can affect anyone, it doesn’t matter who you are. The risk is increasing especially in those who work the front lines; this includes health care workers, grocery clerks, and delivery people. “The suicides of two New York health-care workers highlight the risks, especially to those combating the pandemic. Lorna Breen, a top New York emergency room doctor, had spent weeks contending with coronavirus patients flooding her hospital […] She had no history of mental illness, her relatives have said in interviews, but struggled increasingly with the emotional weight of the outbreak before she died. Days later, reports emerged that a Bronx emergency medical technician also killed himself” (Wan). The impact of mental health problems is a challenge that needs to be faced more now than ever.
By Mary ODonnell5 years ago in Psyche
Holiday Covid Lifestyle
It's now almost Thanksgiving. Once a holiday where families and friends set to gather around the table not only to feast but to give thanks. To give thanks to everything they cherish in life. This Thanksgiving will not be like the others. This Thanksgiving is the start of the Covid holiday season.
By Chris Cerchio5 years ago in Psyche
Postpartum Depression 101
One of the major topics I wish people would have talked about more or even told me is postpartum depression ( PPD for short). I’ve dealt with it and I am still currently dealing with it. Some days are worse than others and some days I don’t notice it at all. what is it? What can you do? Does it ever go away? I’m here to answer all of your unanswered questions about postpartum depression. Welcome to Postpartum 101.
By The.H.Blog5 years ago in Psyche
Through A Child’s Eyes
Alone. Again. Lexi’s husband pulls her close in his sleep. Her son, dreaming beneath his mountain of sleepy toys and fish shaped pillows in the next room. She glances at the pictures of her family and friends displayed on her bedroom wall. Each placed in just the right spot so that no passerby could possibly miss its gaze.
By Katelyn Scheu5 years ago in Psyche
This mother of mine.
I wasn’t a typical girl. I didn’t fit in with anyone. I was just me. I came from an abusive home, and I was constantly moving from house to house or whomever would house me. As life went on, I came to accept that I would be on my own. I didn’t care about what the world threw at me, I was just focused on survival.
By Tiffany McMurray 5 years ago in Psyche
Broken
They say you can’t choose your family, but there are so many things in life that can’t be chosen. You’re born into a family, a religion, a belief, a lifestyle and sometimes you just can’t get out. You grow up based on what you were taught and sometimes you can’t get away because the loss is too big. Sometimes the freedom you seek leads to a path of loss, but sometimes that loss is yourself. You lose the love you have for yourself, the love for your goals, and the love for your dreams. You become emotionally unstable because you have to choose between your sanity or your family. You choose between being free or being trapped in someone else’s lifestyle. You choose between doing what makes you happy and worrying about becoming a disappointment to those you love. We all grow up and plan to become who we want to be. We set our life goals and we do everything in our power to make them happen. We shoot for the moon and we make our dreams a reality. But unfortunately for one girl, her life was dictated by the people who were supposed to protect her. Sometimes those who hurt you are those you love most.
By Lobna chaya5 years ago in Psyche
Me too.
You know, I’ve never told anyone about my sexual assault before. Well, no one besides my therapist. But even that took four years to muster up the courage to do. My own husband doesn’t know. My mother. My friends. No one knows I go to therapy for PTSD rather than just depression and anxiety. Let me start by telling you a little backstory.
By NewTalent145 years ago in Psyche
