Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Psyche.
My Love/Hate Relationship With Stigma
Stigma, the sound of that very word strikes anger in many of us burdened with mental health challenges. It also strikes fear in many others and is one of the more significant factors in stopping many with mental health challenges in actually reaching out for help.
By Rob Leathen6 years ago in Psyche
How TV representation helped me come to terms with being a woman with a highly stigmatised mental illness
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend *sounds* like it should be a show that uses a tired stereotype about women for cheap laughs. It also *sounds* like it should be a show that diminishes the serious nature of mental illness and the struggles of living with one. It is, in fact, the complete opposite. When I first started researching into the representation of women with mental illnesses on the small screen for my undergrad dissertation I had only seen the first two seasons of the show and less than half of the third, but had already fallen in love with it.
By Chloé McMinn6 years ago in Psyche
How to deal with sufferers of depression.
Image by Anemone123 I have been blessed with the fact I've never been depressed nor suffered from depression. Believe me, it is a great fact of my life to have never been cursed with this debilitating disorder which is affecting millions of people. As I write these words, people everywhere are enduring depression. Luckily, I've never been on of those people.
By Halden Mile6 years ago in Psyche
An inanimate object controlled my life.
i never knew that an inanimate object could be my biggest enemy. it’s digital numbers and cold glass front give me chills every time i stepped on it. closing my eyes praying the numbers would go down. breathe i tell myself as i look at the numbers. just breathe. “it’s okay” is the first thing i say as i try to calm myself. the numbers went up instead of going down. “i’ll just skip lunch or maybe eat half of dinner” is a common phrase i think while reassuring myself that i WILL go down again. Every time i start to feel hunger, i tell myself i will go another jean size up, anyway i feel prettier when i’m hungry. pretty hurts, right? i first got the idea of “skinny” when i heard the doctor say 127 pounds. Chills ran down my spine as i heard these horrifying words. i felt i had to do something. i couldn’t even look at myself in the mirror. I was disgusted. slowly, i stopped eating. inch by inch, i started losing weight. i loved how i looked after the first few shedded pounds. i need to lose more to look picture perfect. my clothes started fitting loose and my face started looking thinner. people started noticing, and i loved it. questions started flooding in, “how did you lose weight to fast?” “just changed my diet”, i would say. i couldn’t let anyone know my secret. but there were consequences to my actions. i would often feel week and i would get sick very easily. the dark circles under my eyes became more visible and i was easily fatigued with doing minimal activity. soon, my collar bones became visible and so did my rib cage. i looked sort of scary. it’s not enough. not till i looked like a bobble head i told myself. i thought maybe if i was skinny, boys would like me. all my friends had boys begging on their knees for them, but I didn’t. I wanted to make all my friends envy me. all I want is to be beautiful. all I want is for a boy to look at me like i’m the most beautiful thing they’ve ever seen. but they don’t. so i’ll try my best to make them. when girls talk about their boyfriends, it makes me very insecure. almost as if nobody notices me. it sounds shallow i know, but there’s this longing. it’s just stays in my heart, and it won’t go away
By Chloe Robles6 years ago in Psyche
Too Much of a Good Thing...
There’s a whole world in your mind isn’t there? There are characters, problems, climactic resolutions, and emotions; all only for you to witness and feel. They’re your personal story reels and you’re the star of it all. Everything can go your way-or against you- and it feels like the only semblance of control you can manage in a world where the decisions of 7.53 billion other people can and will affect you in some way. You’re a star in your mind but you feel like a nobody when you open your eyes. The sobering realization is enough to push you back into your head, isn’t it?
By Liv Longue6 years ago in Psyche
The Battle with Depression in the Mornings
My own struggle with Depression started long before I was aware I even had it, although something did always feel kind of empty, a little numb in circumstances where "normal people" felt a lot more joy, or pain, etc. Something was off. In the years preceding my High School days, my sleep health was probably the biggest sign. Days would turn into weeks and my summers would quickly pass. The signs were there, but we didn't know much about these things in my family.
By carmina jasmine6 years ago in Psyche
TSK36k presents :R.E.D of y.a.e Anxiety short film
An artist talks about anxiety and how It feels. the video talks about how people don't trust other people. In the world of society where people don't treat other people the way they want to be treated people with anxiety feel insecure. This causes tremendous stress on the person with anxiety. For people with anxiety its hard to breathe hard to sleep and hard to eat. symptoms for anxiety can also be physical so far as losing weight and losing hair. Other people with anxiety can also stress a lot. In the video you hear a voice over and you also here the anxiety soundtrack. Anxiety is torture. To some with anxiety living feels like dying. Panic attacks are major when it comes to anxiety. Some doctors don't take it as serious and will give you counseling. Medicine only suppresses anxiety its still there. Anxiety can also mess with your hygiene if you are not careful. People don't like other people with anxiety. A lot of people get bullied because of their previous experience of anxiety. Depression is also a very bad effect with anxiety. Depression is the next level of anxiety and people commit suicide. Life with anxiety is far worse than no life at all to some people. people think that other people with anxiety are selfish because they think that people would anxiety just wants attention. the seriousness of anxiety topic is for the sake of people with anxiety anybody who doesn't have it should be worried about somebody who does have the symptoms. people think other people with anxiety are crazy even though they're not it's just a symptom. Some people with anxiety can't stop tapping or can't stop moving. They can also experience insomnia something that real serious. anxiety is not just one thing other things are involved with anxiety so far as depression insomnia and ADHD. psychiatric help will not help. Just being open and being open-minded will work. mistreatment only makes it worse so please be extra cautious when you talk to them. Understanding is difficult in the world so it's only natural that people think that people with anxiety are beyond help. Encouraging words will help people with anxiety. Reach out and give them support. This video talks a lot about it and it should be watched. in the world of violence in the world of hate this video should be watched only because it talks a lot about anxiety. a lot of people with anxiety have good hearts and are very good people only because of their bad experience. They overthink a lot of things people with anxiety they do this a lot. if you have a family with anxiety don't mistreat them don't take advantage of them just a love them and have affection for them. This will help anxiety tremendously. with everything that's going on with the politic world we should only care about each other. in today's society people only care about money including doctors so er people will not help this situation. Police the people that protect us are also the people that are untrustworthy to those with anxiety. Anxiety is not just stress it is a very major thing it's a big deal. People see anxiety as being overdramatic And don't really think twice about it. They think it's entertainment when really its somebody who needs help. major artists are being lost because of this and it should be changed the only way it could be changed is if we have open minds. The community should help each other. No one person is unimportant than the other. actions speaks volume and if other people are bullied or mistreated into this it can cause very bad anxiety. Violence and other things can also cause anxiety. Anxiety happens to people who are very scared and come from very bad environments. Donovan Francis talks a lot about this. Talented spirited kids is the presenter. Everything is negative to people with anxiety even their own family can also be a victim when it comes to somebody with anxiety. the really big message of this video is just to treat other people with respect and dignity. Love is more powerful than hate if only people knew that. More people get praised for being Ignorant and bad people. A lot of people love disrespectful behavior. They see it as a way of standing up for yourself. But you could stand up for yourself in a positive way. Imagine a world with kindness faithfulness gentleness self-control. It will be like heaven a world with true peace. Only we can make that day happen. character says a lot about somebody and people with anxiety are very cautious of other people. People with anxiety it's not first impression it's first look. if they seen somebody that look like you who did them wrong they will not trust you.
By TSk36k Entertainment6 years ago in Psyche
Jung & The Value of Anxiety Disorders
"I am not altogether pessimistic about neurosis. In many ways we have to say, “Thank heaven he could make up his mind to be neurotic.” Neurosis is really an attempt at self cure…It is an attempt of the self regulating psychic system to restore the balance, in no way different from the function of dreams — only more forceful and drastic.” Carl Jung — The Tavistock Lectures
By Will Russell6 years ago in Psyche
On Calling Myself an Addict for the First Time
I was an addict for about a decade before I realized it. It's not like I didn't know I drank too much all those years. Even if I hadn't, from time to time, read up on how much alcohol was "too much," I think I would have had some idea that consuming around 8-12 ounces of hard liquor nearly every day for several years was going overboard.
By Cecil Adkins6 years ago in Psyche
34 MINUTES.
This was thirty-four minutes of my life. I was at work on the sales floor, cleaning like I do every day. Nothing happened, no one said anything to me but I got to a point in the back of the store where I had to stop. Something entered my body. Not just my brain but my entire body. This was not a physical ‘thing’. It was more on the metaphysical side. It was something that was already there and it chose the perfect time to fuck up my night. I stood there for a moment and stared at the glass in front of me without really seeing anything. I felt people walking around me so I had to walk to the office. I couldn’t sit so I paced back and forth and repeated, “This is my body, this isn’t me”. I said that more times than I can remember. At this point, my hands were shaking.
By Antoinette Kite6 years ago in Psyche
The Daily Struggle of High-Functioning Alcoholism
As I write this, I’ve been sober for 685 days. And I have thought about drinking for each one of those 685 days. Unlike a lot of people who have problems with alcohol, I didn’t start drinking as a teenager. In fact, I don’t think I had my first drink until after I was 21. After those first few drinks, I didn’t drink again until I was in my mid-30s. I became friends with a college-age guy at my workplace who drank more than anyone I had personally known (and I had several alcoholics in my family) but who still managed to go to class and work every day and generally keep his life together. He’s now a lawyer and seems to be doing well.
By Cecil Adkins6 years ago in Psyche
