Latest Stories

Most recently published stories in Psyche.

Suicide prevention needs to be handled differently in patients with Hyperacusis
I wanted to talk about the connection hyperacusis pain suicide/suicidal thoughts. The severe chronic pain that people with hyperacusis experience is almost impossible to escape from, as it is triggered by normal everyday noises.
By Jemma Rosewater 5 years ago in Psyche
Confessions of a Mad Man
“Here’s a question for you: What is an “addict”? According to Cambridge Dictionary an addict is “a person who cannot stop doing or using something, especially something harmful”. According to Wikipedia an addiction is “a medical condition characterized by compulsive engagement in rewarding stimuli, despite adverse consequences”
By ApKWrites5 years ago in Psyche
Being
Allowing myself to let go and just write until it gets to where it seems I can't write anymore. I wrote this back in 2016.
By katrina Taylor5 years ago in Psyche
Signs of Depression
As someone who has dealt with depression their whole life I can tell you from my person experience what signs I have shown that have proved to be related to depression. Not only that but, how I have found a few ways to combat these signs and reverse them.
By A.C. P.5 years ago in Psyche
A piece of my struggle.
We all wonder about life and how fast it can change. One minute we are laughing and smiling, the next sad or crying. We even wonder about where all the time has gone and why there is not enough of it in a day to complete all the things we hope to accomplish which leads to more stress and anxiety. Another one to add to the list is the loss of a loved one, friends, or just someone we know. For someone suffering from depression, bi-polar, post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and or any of the other mental health issues, this can intensify normal life situations or experiences to an almost unbearable level.
By heather pfeiffer5 years ago in Psyche
My Socially Acceptable Self Harm.
When I was 14, I cut myself for the first time. I felt the hurt of childhood trauma. I wanted control over my own pain and the feeling of the blade gave that to me.
By Moon Child 5 years ago in Psyche
Have you ever battled Addiction?
This is the face of addiction. I know I look fine and you can't really tell in this picture. At this moment I was homeless staying from one place to another anywhere someone would let me sleep on the floor or on their porch. It is crazy now that I think back on it. I can not even believe the dangerous places I went to just to have a place to shower and sleep. I am clean and sober now and have been for almost a year and a half. I was an addict for four years. The hardest part of my life so far and now I hate myself for even starting. Nobody wakes up one morning and says "hay I wanna become a drug addict." Things happen in our lives that make some people turn to drugs like the loss of a child cause that is what happened to me. My 8-month-old daughter died from SIDS while staying at her father's over the weekend. I lost my whole world that day. I couldn't go to work because my mind wouldn't function. How I was introduced to drugs was my best friend was doing them and told me it would help take my mind off the pain. Next thing I know I am broke and homeless and putting a needle in my arm to get through the next few hours. Two years go by and I am still homeless and have no real friends because nobody wants drugs around them or in their house. I find myself using old needles increasing my chances of giving myself Hep C. By the way for your education you can get Hep C from a bacteria in dry blood, so you can give it to yourself using a needle more than once. By year four I had overdosed three times. At this time I just wanted to die it wasn't like anyone would miss me right? Wrong I was hurting my family and what friends I did have because they just wanted me safe and to get sober. So my cousin introduced me to a group called celebrate recovery. This group was a support system for people who are clean and sober and trying to stay that way. I was in and out of the group for six months until my best friend almost died and had to have open-heart surgery. That changed my life. At that moment I had something to live for my best friend I had to get clean so I can help her stay clean because if not she would die. Once she came home from the hospital I started taking her to celebrate recovery every week. I still go once a week because you will always fight that urge to want to do it just one more time. It is hard but anyone can do with the right help and a good support system. I have been clean and sober a year and a half. I now help others who come into the group I am someone they can call any time of the day when they feel like they wanna relapse.
By india novia5 years ago in Psyche
Moth To A Flame
Although I am an artist, none of this back-piece was planned or intentional. The design developed over time and each part of it carried me spiritually forward on my journey. Because I believe in a multidimensional reality, I believe I designed it from my future incarnation/self to help guide me along my path of mental health and spiritual development. I had no concept of the end result when it began, much of how my artwork is conceived. I believe, through my artwork, I always had a channel to higher dimensions and ideas/ my higher self, without yet knowing it. The tattoo developed itself like a story over a number of years, marking turning points in my life. It started off with the deaths head moth (Acherontia atropos) on the left. It was also an ode to the three fates in Greek mythology, Their names were: Clotho “The Spinner”, Lachesis “The Alloter” and Atropos “The Unturning" or “The Inflexible”. Atropos cut the thread of life, the moth landing on my shoulder signified a reminder during my depression that the thread of life can be cut any moment try to appreciate it. Unfortunately it was on my back so I wasn't reminded very often, but I suppose the idea stayed with me. I struggled a lot in my young adult and teenage years with mental illness due to unresolved trauma that kept me stuck in negative patterns. This led me to see the world as a very dark and threatening place, which I self medicated in unfortunate ways. My untreated mental state and inner wounding led me to walk down a not so good path, and I really harmed myself and those around me. This is especially why today I am a mental health awareness advocate, to make sure to end the stigma and support more resources for mental health awareness. I always felt like a moth, in the dark and guided towards the light. They were the first ever spirit animal that resonated with me and so it is special to me in that way. I discovered later after healing from my mental illness, that I have unique gifts such as shamanic abilities and I am closely perceptive of the spirit world and energy. Next, a few years later on my journey, I decided to balance the idea with a colorful Luna moth. Luna moths are very beautiful and only live for a week! I thought this beautiful tragedy was worth noting, a beautiful twist of the impermanence I was suffocating under. After years of suffering mental illness, I found hope in practicing meditation and spiritual practices and awareness. I like incorporating inspiration from the world around me, as if to weave the living breathing universe into my experience and art as an ongoing conversation. My friend drew the flame of (spiritual) awareness inspired by Tibetan Buddhism art for my forearm initially and I spontaneously decided to have them go over my moths as wings. Specifically to burn them in the flames. Intentionally, to burn the past. An alchemical ode to my experience of transformation as a transformational art piece. I appreciate that it all happened organically also, which made it feel more special and unique, unlike it being planned from the beginning as a concept. It is like my "Higher Self" sent my past self symbols and messages to carry me through difficult and dark times. The growth of this tattoo without a prior preconception led me to understand how powerful I am, and always was. Even when my mind was clouded with my unfortunate circumstances and self- doubt, underneath it all I was strongly pulling myself through.
By Eve Kat5 years ago in Psyche
Child of an Addict
Addiction- The fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing, or activity. That's the technical definition, at least.
By Meila Barton5 years ago in Psyche
Positive Thinking
Positive thinking is all about happy thoughts while negative thinking is about dark thoughts. You cannot have OCD without over-analyzing things. Untreated mental illness is hell on earth, I have to say, and only because I'm saying it out loud that is such. I take my medication to make sense and sleep at night. I really do need it. Negative thinking is something that is only human to do. It doesn't make you a bad person but I grew up in the 1990s when negativity was banned. This is why Kurt Cobain was a suicide, he didn’t have anybody to hear him out and he was a drug addict.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez5 years ago in Psyche
life after a traumatic event of an active shooter
I just moved to Florida and I started working for amazon in August 11th 2020, I worked nights cause I thought if I worked night I wouldn’t have to deal with people... well I was wrong big time, I was on my way to work on Oct. 3rd 202 and I stopped at a gas station to get petrol (Gas) in Lakeland Fl.. I started filling up my tank on my car.. I heard a lot of yelling and I looked around the corner near the pumps and I heard her yelling grab him she said to me to grab her bf because he was chasing the shooter that shot into a vehicle that had 8 people in it.. I had no idea what I just walked into... and I started checking on people seeing if there ok and a Girl was shot in the back... I have been trained for that type of situation but have never been in one till now.. it was really scary I had to miss work and answer questions from law enforcement... they couldn’t find the shooter and I hope that kid get thrown in Jail big time.. also I hope that girl who was shot is healing up and is ok... I didn’t get home till 7 in the morning because of what happened, I have a hard time going to gas stations because of what happened.. I don’t sit near windows nor my back to the door.. I don’t know why I do that now.. Lately I have been having nightmare about that whole ordeal.. I wake up in a sweat and breathing hard... I listen to classical music now and more because every time I hear a sound I go and investigate.. I wouldn't say I am paranoid but if you have ever been in that situation then you know where I am coming from.. I watch people’s hands and movements more than ever because of it... I check my surrounding a lot and my aunt thinks I am going crazy and she is like you are protected.. she has never been in that situation. but believe me if you have been in that situation how did it effect you???...
By Jessi Small- Price5 years ago in Psyche
How to Recover With Your Addiction?
If you are looking for information on how to get into addiction treatment then the internet is definitely the place to look. There are several sites out there that will be able to point you in the right direction of finding a treatment center and you will find there are many that offer free advice and even some advice on how to get into addiction treatment as well.
By Ramiro Dunn5 years ago in Psyche