Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Psyche.
5 Signs Your Teen Has A Mental Health Problem
Do you ever take a look at your adolescent and marvel, "What's with him (or her)?" If you experienced your own difficulties as a teenager, you may quietly excuse your youngster's negative conduct as a passing stage, trusting that things will improve and that he'll rapidly and securely go through the tempest.
By Mikki Ashton5 years ago in Psyche
Ramblings of a Broken Mind
Part Two: When Worst Comes to Worst I thought I had seen it all. Years of anything but a simple, ordinary childhood. Surly at some point things would start to look up. At age 11 I was already mentally drained. I missed my mother. I missed my father. I was emotionally hurt with an indescribable hole in my spirit. It didn't seem fair for me to have to go through much else. Once I heard my father got a stationary job close to home a little hope returned. My brother and I got to move in with him shortly after.
By Esctacy Artistry5 years ago in Psyche
Addictions
I have personal experience with addictions especially with narcotics. I was addicted to narcotics from the age of 10-31 yrs of age. The key to overcoming addictions is to find a passion that you have for example I had my son and stopped the narcotics for him. I am not saying that it will be easy or that there wont be withdrawl symptoms but afterwards the benefits will for sure out way the drug use. It is hard at first but as the days go by it gets easier. What I have found is that there is always an underlying reason for the drug use. For me it was trying to cover up feelings that I needed to deal with. Never hide feelings because they always come out one way or another. Sometimes the things we need to deal with are the most painful and hurtful. These things could be anywhere from abuse to lose of a loved one. For me it was watching abuse then getting abused then losing a spouse to cancer. My son being born was a life saver and a big eye opener. He opened my eyes to the damage I was doing to my body and relationships. Believe it or not anytime I want to go back to narcotics all I have to do is look at my son. It has been almost 3 years clean and some days are still hard. I was spending $300 a month on pain pills and ended up losing my home, relationships, got kicked out of clinics and labeled a drug seeker for the rest of my life. I realize that drugs and alcohol can help deal with emotional pain but if you don't fully deal with the problem then those buried feelings will always be there. Some people can deal with the problems without help but others need the help. Most of my family has some form of addiction so I do understand why people do drugs or alcohol. There are also times it is better to cut people out of our lives for the sake of our sanity and staying sober. This is called getting rid of toxic relationships. It can be very hard at times but it is well worth it. I just ended a 2 year relationship for my sanity because I wanted to go back to the narcotics. I choose to leave my husband instead. There are more people that are going to be getting kicked out of my life for the sake of my sanity. Remember we all have to do what is best for each of us to stay sober. Sometimes we need to go into treatment and find different friends. We all have inner demons we have to stand up and face and it can be difficult at times. I will use myself as an example, I have bipolar, depression, and seizures, PTSD, and confronting my inner demons at times is very difficult without drugs or alcohol but even though my son doesn't realize it he is my angel and the reason I stay clean. I have kicked many people out of my life because they were toxic and I started realizing that it was the best choice. I have lost people because they don't like who I have become. Sometimes even family can be toxic. My key advice is to take an inventory of the people in your life and see who is supporting you getting clean and who is supporting your habit. By answering the following questions you can tell if the person is toxic or not:
By amanda jensen5 years ago in Psyche
My best friend.
Stones. Pounds. Kilograms. Something I have not seen in a while. Not since m mother threw out our tired old scales thats purple shade had faded more than the hairs on my father's head. They had only been collecting dust on the top landing for years and were practically stained that mousy-brown colour that, quite frankly, looked like what I deposited down the toilet after a horrendous dinner made by my grandmother, who -in her prime- was an amazing cook, not it was as if an oven was product made by aliens and food was edible fresh out of the freezer!
By Bella Higgins5 years ago in Psyche
Brain Fog
Constant living in a cloud. The one things they don't tell you about Chronic Pain and Fibromyalgia is about the brain fog. Forgetting conversations, forgetting what i went to the store for. But its bigger than that. Early morning I drop my daughter off at my grandmothers for child care on my way to work and most mornings I will have to text my grandmother to make sure I actually dropped my daughter off. It is terrifying that you can't remember the small details but the bigger things such as that are so much more important. I have a hard time while working not remember what people tell me to do and have to write every little thing down.
By Chronic Confessions5 years ago in Psyche
Relationships After Abuse
Abuse doesn't start right away and it doesn't start 10/10 it starts as 1/10 and slowly works its way after the fish is hooked. It starts with little comments like " oh your going out in that?" or " that was dumb" seemingly harmless comments and comments that ill be forgotten within a couple of days. The comments will slowly turn into " you look ugly today" then to " Your such an stupid idiot". Which one time comments like this from someone you went to high school with is one thing but totally different from the person who says they love you 5 minutes later.
By Chronic Confessions5 years ago in Psyche
Ataraxia
INTRODUCTION “Ataraxia? And what the fuck is that”. I can tell by my psychologist, Jaiyana Crossley AKA the judge of all thee labeled mentally misfit BKA my recurring monthly expense. Dr. J’s reaction that my vulgar vernacular struck her moral values. It amazes me how people act as if with all the crime, obscenities, and sexual advertising that the word “fuck” hasn’t lost its shock factor and is still considered offensive. Oh wow, she is still talking. Once again I retreated to the unsafe confines of my “louder than reality thoughts”. I hate when I do that.
By Tenika Bolton 5 years ago in Psyche
Abuse has its own demons!
Being in a childhood full of distress and dismay, hurts and is painful growing up. Trying to adult with the toxic life that was given to you is hard in itself. There is either failure or success. Unfortunately it is rarely in between. Some days I feel like I am just surviving this life. Some days I feel like I am a failure to my own children. My children will always be number one in my life, because of the trust I seem to not have in other people. It gets hard to question their existence and actually feel like they are safe with any human being. My life was just like everyone's life. If you really just peaked in for once, you would think that my life was wonderful. My life was less than normal and defiantly something people can relate to. My story starts truly when I was four years old when my parents decided to divorce and my mom running off with other men, all the time. There would be weeks upon weeks until we seen her. It was the worst. As a child, emotions ran through me wondering why I was never good enough for her. Why she was always leaving. My dad was around and had to work full time to keep food in our mouths, so I understood that part. He always provided no matter and made sure we had what we needed. I did lack on some emotions with him for being my dad. I really felt disconnected from him where I needed a parent in my life to stay. When my parents divorced, it was the worst. I remember my mom saying stuff to me about my dad. She would share bad stories of my dad. I remember it making me so mad and actually start hating him at some point. When I was five, my dad met my stepmom. They ended up marrying when I was six years old. I really hated my step mom. I remember being so mean to her and always wanted my dad and mom back together. I was deceived as a brat, but honestly, I wanted my dad and mom back together and it had nothing to do with her. When people marry in with other children, it is good to remember that it is not always about you, but emotions behind it, because they are still trying to process what really is going on. Many children can't grasp that until it can be clear to them, or even explained to them better. My step mom has three children. Two girls and a boy. It was five kids all together. I was the oldest. The ages was from six, five, four, three, and two (the two youngest were like the same age for a couple months). All I could think about was Cinderella. How they took my dad from me. It was not the same anymore. My dad was different from my step mom, my feelings were that he was more with us until he was married. I really never felt any love off of him. I remember following him around when I was younger because I wanted his attention. I remember the feelings I had when I figured out that I was a girl so it was not really good to teach me guy things. Little did he actually know, I am so much like him. I learn quickly and only need to be shown how to do it once. I felt angry for that. I remember living with my mom and my dad only taking my brother and leaving me. It made me furious. I did take it out on my mom. It broke my heart. I don’t even think he knows that from this day. I really don’t even know his family either. That really bothered me my whole life. I always doubted if I was actually his daughter or not. I always questioned why I never looked like him or my brother. Children's mind wonder when they are younger and if we are not careful for what is said, then it can be blown out of proportion. One thing I learned about being a parent to my children, is catching myself do the same thing my parents did. I don’t know if it is from habit or because it was done to me in the long run. How I process things to understand it.
By Teresa Hurley5 years ago in Psyche
