Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Psyche.
Depressed Vigilante
One thing that I find incredibly unique to the society and the world we live in is the access to media outlets and information. If you compare this to the late 1990’s and early 2000’s things were not quite as mainstream and sticking your face into something besides your phone (such as a book) was a lot more common. Today, I can journalize about mental health during a pandemic and relate it to the philosophy of comic books through an introduction about the unique mainstream media outlets of the twenty-first century.
By Zachary Pierce6 years ago in Psyche
Pandemic, Or Panic-demic
It started like anyone else's story. I was at work, just doing my job. The news had just started trickling in about the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. I was doing my best to ignore it. Not because I didn't think it was a big deal, but because if I wanted to function for the rest of the work day, I couldn't think about what was happening "out there." Isn't "out there" a scary phrase? You don't know exactly where it is, so it could be anywhere. Or everywhere. And what was "out there" was killing people - a lot of people. So I did my best to keep a smile on my face and act like nothing was happening. I work in retail - office supplies. Orders kept coming in, so for a while thing were business as usual.
By Cheyanne Monk6 years ago in Psyche
Living with anxiety
Anxiety is a very complex emotion that can impact anyone and everyone at any given time. It was something that I had not experienced before in my life and is very new to me. In this blog I want to talk about my experience of anxiety as someone that has never really experienced it before. I want to explore to sources, how it makes you feel and the methods for coping and living with it day to day.
By Maya Neama6 years ago in Psyche
Fixing Anxiety without Medications Part 1
I have been an in the closet about my anxiety for my entire life. When I turned 30, I finally came to the realization that I have to get a hold of this as I laid in my bed gasping for air and freaking my husband out. Anxiety had taken over my life. It had completely ruined it actually. I was on edge. I couldn't balance my checkbook. I blamed everyone else and then wondered why no one wanted to be around me. It made me feel as if I was stuck in life. Worrying about one thing or another. Frustrated with the fact that my life wasn't as I had intended it to be. This was a crazy cycle of my life with no end to it.
By Richlynn Arthur6 years ago in Psyche
Psychological whiplash
psychologists, psychiatrists, councillors, are all the same when it comes to mental illness. When it comes to mental disorders in children and teens, the only way to deal with it is to drug them up and hope for the best.... there are more natural options out there that have no side affects nor do the kids have to go through withdrawal symptoms if the parents can’t afford to keep up with the cost of the medication. My daughter suffers from depression and anxiety (among other things) and I’m trying to tell her dad that there are other things out there that can help her that will keep her healthy at the same time.... of course, they want proof or reading material for while their in the bathroom, that will convince them that what I’m saying is actually true. I told my ex to take our daughter off the medication, give her charcoal capsules to help her detox and I will send her what I know will help her better than that toxic crap that she was on. The problem with this whole situation is that poisons are better to push than natural remedies because there’s no money in natural remedies as there is in the pills that are being pushed. My daughter is only one of hundreds of teens out there that suffer with mental illness, what causes it, well, Trauma is a big thing, and that could mean anything from being physically hurt by someone to the divorce of parents especially when it happens while they’re still young. Forget genetics, that doesn’t always explain why these things happen, and psychologists and psychiatrists only know what they know because even they were only taught, not what they needed to know but, what others thought they should know, with the same restrictions that our children face, without even knowing it, when they go to school. Thank goodness it isn’t like the 1800’s when people were put in assylums for things like PMS or postpartum depression or just because you talked about something that scared someone and because it can’t be explained And it scared someone then you must be nuts so.... LOCK EM UP! I would have ran away with my daughter and helped her get better safely than see her go in a place like that. Not everything can be explained easily and when it comes to mental illness, there are no perfect answers but, using our children as guinnea pigs for profit is wrong in more ways than one, I’m turning 50 this year, I’m not on any medication for anything and that is how I want it to be for my children. I take a lot of health advice from my oldest daughter, why? Because she had done her research and I have no reason to doubt her, I have done some of my own as far as what will help my daughter be healthy in her mind , body and soul. I have even looked into bhuddism because I do a lot of meditation and I think all my kids would benefit greatly from that, and the study on feng shui is also another helpful tool. I know, you think “what does any of that have to do with mental health and your daughter” well, I will tell you.... when your home is not supportive or happy, mentally you start to wither, also, when your not being treated good, everything in your life will feel out of control so... get back in control, I tell her that she is the one in control and the only way I can help her is if she really wants my help. To feel better, we need to want to, not for anyone else but for ourselves. These “professionals” out there, think they know how to handle all kinds of mental health problems but the problem is they handle it the same for everyone, doesn’t matter what their age or background, the push the pills and let the families deal with the consequences or side effects of the drugs given. There is very little actual understanding when it comes to this and I’m not subjecting my daughter to it anymore.... especially when I know there are alternatives.
By Kathleen McGillis6 years ago in Psyche
Social Media Addiction
Through the early 2000s to now, Social Media has always been around. Whether its email, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Myspace, etc., it will continue to grow. We see what our eyes see but do we fully understand what social media can do to our human brains? There are pros and cons of social media. One pro would have to be constant communication to family, friends, and depending on work. We all like to wonder and see what we do day to day. And that is ok. It is ok to stay in contact with family and friends and watch their funny events and triumphs. Even during these pandemics, like COVID19, or any illness spreading, we rely on social media to stay in touch due to social distancing. Communication is the biggest reason for Social Media. Now, there a lot of cons of Social Media. What a lot of people don’t realize is that social media can affect us in so many ways. It does mess with our human brain and does destroy human brain cells slowly but surely. Throughout my years, I have watched and observed people through in person and online. I like to observe before jumping the gun. I consider social media, especially Facebook, a trap. What do I mean by trap? Here is a prime example. My man and I have been together for almost 6 years. I understand he doesn’t have a life like me, but he is constantly on Facebook. His eyes are glued to it. When he gets home and I ask him to spend time with me he, through my eyes, is on Facebook. It hurts me emotionally because I think he loves social media than myself. It’s ok to be on social media and check time to time but when I see him and others constantly and can’t put their phone down, then that is the problem. That is where ADDICTION COMES FROM. WHEN SOME IS ADDICTION TO MEDIA AND VIDEO GAMES AND TAKE TIME AWAY FROM IT, UNLESS IT’S WORK, THEN THEY NEED SERIOUS HELP. It’s like their brain triggers social media but leaves out everything else. It takes away that sense of knowing there are things out there other than Facebook, Twitter, etc.
By yana reguli6 years ago in Psyche
Abandonment Issues and COVID-19
One of the symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder that I struggle with the most are feelings of abandonment. These feelings have mainly been connected to people in my personal life when I feel that they are drifting, leaving, or neglecting me. But something happened recently that completely knocked me off of my feet, and it was completely unexpected.
By Ashley Nestler, MSW6 years ago in Psyche
Why Did You Abandon Me?
We met when I was the delicate age of 13. I loved that you liked me. After enduring a childhood of being alone most of the time, I took your companionship to mean more than it did. That's how early my desperate need for love and attention began, at least as far as I can remember. Or maybe that's just the first time I found someone to fill that void, even though I wasn't aware that that's what I needed at the time.
By Loretta Flowers6 years ago in Psyche
Understanding Anorexia Nervosa
Anorexia is an eating disorder characterized by weight loss, difficulties maintaining a healthy weight, and oftentimes, a distorted body image, and it actually isn’t about food at all. In reality, this disorder is an unhealthy and possibly life-threatening way to cope with emotional issues surrounding a negative body image and poor self worth. At any given moment, 0.4% of young women and 0.1% of young men will suffer from anorexia nervosa.
By Shaley Speaks6 years ago in Psyche
Understanding Trauma Triggers
I feel so powerless right now. “To admit uncertainty is to admit to weakness, to powerlessness, and to believe in yourself despite both. It is a frailty, but in this frailty, there is a strength: the conviction to live in your own mind, and not in someone else’s.” -Tara Westover
By Surviving Childhood Trauma6 years ago in Psyche
