Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Psyche.
In The Corpse
When I stopped wanting—wanting to work, make, feel, be—I started sleeping a lot. I don’t know if you know this, but there’s a kind of limit on how much one person can sleep. Even after hitting that limit more than a few times throughout my life, I still couldn’t tell you what it is. I haven’t done any testing. All I know is that it exists. A thin line, dictating your ability to sleep and to not.
By Zoey Hickman6 years ago in Psyche
Learning to accept that I have a brain injury
I have had the longest time admitting that I have a brain injury. These injuries are supposed to just go away with time aren't they? People keep telling me it's just like a muscle, just work it out and it'll be fine. Everyone's a professional when they talk to you about health but the problem is that the recovery of the brain is totally different from everything else. I have seen the signs but never really thought I actually had anything wrong with me until now.
By Brian Anonymous6 years ago in Psyche
PTSD The 10 Keys To My Success
I, like so many 1st responders have been burdened, or gifted depending on your perspective, with PTSD and depression from a career of firefighting. I have been challenged to navigate this whole PTSD recovery process and have had some success. There are still many areas and aspects that I need to work on and address but I am moving forward which is always a good thing. While I’m not where I want to be, nor where I need to be I’m sure glad I’m not where I was. Everybody's mental health journey is unique to them as is their traumas, their therapy and recovery process, a fact I need to continually remind myself of. I've thought a lot about why I’m where I am in my mental health journey and believe the following things have directly contributed to that.
By Rob Leathen6 years ago in Psyche
Baby Doll
I was coming up on a quarter century... So far, it was a life perfectly thrown in the gutter. Its almost too easy to convince yourself you do have sky high aspirations. Heroin is lovely at making it ALL feel extra magical. Masking her pain inside daydreams of luxury. You 'nod' out for a break of visions. Some wild, some weird, all of them pure joy. Nothing about the mundane day can touch you. Not with this escape. Every participant is apart of a delusion-ally incredible existence. Even sitting in a room all day; sky high full of kitten shit, wont phase you. You could see someone scouring the grungy, dust-mitten house; looking for a clear water bottle. Something 'clean' for that hit of pure orgasm.
By Heather Glasses6 years ago in Psyche
not so sweet dreams
I have often read that at least part of the dreams you have at night are based on the last things you think of before you sleep. My mind must be going off on some bizarre tangents I don't notice if this is true. Its not always the case that I remember dreams or that they gradually disperse as I wake up. For the first time that I can recall I physically woke my self as I reacted to something in the dream and even woke my fiancé. I can usually pick her up and move her if she's on my side of the bed so I presume my reaction to the dream was violent.
By ASHLEY SMITH6 years ago in Psyche
Lockdown diary
I have just been reading how historians suggest people start to write journals and diary entries about the pandemic and lock down. Therefore in the future you can have first hand stories about how people remembered this time and how they got through it. One of my favourite historical book series is hidden voices, books made from first hand accounts of the two world wars. It includes account from both sides of the conflict and doesn't have any bias as both sides are represented.
By ASHLEY SMITH6 years ago in Psyche
Domestic Violence
Payton watched silently as her mother painfully leaned her skinny, frail body against the kitchen bench. She was still wearing the clothes from yesterday morning, and probably the day before. Payton couldn’t be sure when she had bathed or even changed her clothes last. She lit up a cigarette and took a deep puff, directing the second-hand smoke into the open fly-screened window, which hardly helped. Payton wasn’t supposed to be out of bed, they are never allowed out this early. But she hadn’t slept at all that night. How could she? She leant against the door frame ever so gently, not taking her eyes of her mother. She felt almost nothing, as if she were so immune to this wretched household that she had become almost numb to her senses. She had never noticed it before – maybe it was true, or maybe this was how all 14-year-olds are supposed to feel. She might never know.
By Abbey Dowden6 years ago in Psyche
Introversion Is Not a Character Flaw
Being an introvert myself, I am often criticised for being quiet or shy. This is a common misconception of introverted people. We are not shy or quiet, in fact we are more than happy to have a conversation with someone and socialise with friends, family, co-workers. The main difference between us and extroverted or ambiverted people is that we gain our energy and perspective from being alone and spending time in a space that provides us a chance to recharge and reflect - we are also very careful where we invest our energy.
By Caitlin Graham6 years ago in Psyche
Let's Get Real
We’ve all heard the word “depression.” We’ve all known someone with “depression.” But for those that don’t suffer, it may be hard to understand. What IS “depression?” How does it work? Why does it turn our loved ones into people we don’t recognize? Why does it push people to take their own lives? Unfortunately, doctors and scientists don’t have answers for every single aspect of depression, but there is a lot of research that explains the ins and outs of it. I’m here to share some of the research I’ve compiled to help those without depression understand those with depression. The stigma around individuals who struggle with it, or any mental health illness, has created a barrier - I want to break that barrier. I also want to make it clear that I am NOT a mental health clinician, only an individual that has suffered with multiple mental health illnesses and witnessed firsthand how this stigma has affected others.
By Shaley Speaks6 years ago in Psyche
5 Ways to Cope with the Mental Health Effects of Isolation
Record levels of Americans are now living and working alone. In fact, there has never been a time in the history of this country when rates of social isolation were as high—and their long-term, mental health toll as potentially far-reaching. What, then, are the mental health effects of social distancing and isolation, and what can we do to prevent them and cope with them?
By Dr. Beau Nelson6 years ago in Psyche
My Social Anxiety
Mental health is such a big topic lately. It’s crazy how friends and family may not understand but complete strangers do. All over the internet, I see people cry out for help from complete strangers through social media because they do not find that support from their own family or friends. Behind a screen they take off their mask there and post just about anything. They are simply looking for someone who understands. I find it incredible how individuals jump to encourage someone that is going through a hard time and just needs affirmation or someone to tell them, “me too, I’ve gone through the same thing”.
By REBECCA CHACON6 years ago in Psyche
