Latest Stories

Most recently published stories in Psyche.

Life’s moments
It’s the strum of the acoustic guitar that gives me a sense of calm, a sense that things in life no matter how dire they may seem will be okay. Eventually everything will come good again, some things just take time.
By Melinda Sheree6 years ago in Psyche
7 WAYS ANXIETY MIGHT BE SLOWLY EATING AWAY YOUR LIFE
It Is Natural to Feel Anxious There’s a good chance that we’ve all experienced feelings of anxiety in response to real or perceived threats at one time or another. For most people, these feelings are normal as the brain is hard-wired to caution you at times of danger, change and the unknown.
By Adrian Praljak6 years ago in Psyche
I had to loose my mind to find my spirit
This wasnt the first time I went on a manic episode, but it was the first time I got put of it quickly. A big realization came down this time. This time I thought what if this is like what the ancients would have called an enlightenment moment, what if I am just suffering and being misstreated at the hospital is just because theh dont know how to manage what I am going through. What if I would have been born in a Shaman comunity and the Shaman would have guided me into what I was becoming.
By Carla Andrea6 years ago in Psyche
Ashley
Where do I begin? Ashley, for all intents and purposes is my life line. Ashley is my 'counsellor' both in the typical sense as she is a registered clinical counsellor by trade and for me, even in a sort of spiritual sense. Truthfully, I can think of no other way to describe her. She is an incredibly intelligent, intensely astute, and also a pleasingly beautiful woman that has become for me the one place I can turn when I have a problem that has me baffled or confused. She is a beautiful woman in the conventional sense of the word, yes, yet that is not what I am referring to here. Ashley's beauty, to me- comes from within. From an inner most place that if every living breathing person could share her values, her ideals, as I see her- as people, we would certainly be a much happier bunch on this earth.
By Joseph Willson6 years ago in Psyche
Putting A Person Together
Welcome! I've spent the last ten years allowing depression to damage every aspect of my life and I've had enough. I've decided to record evidence in my own words that I can put my shit back together, and I'd love if others got something out of it too.
By Lyndsay Charlton6 years ago in Psyche
A Decade To Remember
I’m not sure why I ever stopped writing. As a child you couldn’t tear the notebook from my hands. I’d fill up one after the other, using the moonlight to scribble whatever came to mind in the comfort of my bed, afraid if I turned the light on my parents would know I was up way past my bedtime. I could never concentrate on anything in daily life except the stories in my head. I dreamed of becoming an author one day. I wish I could say that they trampled on my dreams and forced me to get a “real” career because that would make me feel better about having failed up to this point, but instead it was quite the opposite.
By CJ Morrell6 years ago in Psyche
Alcohol is the "UN" Drink: Unhealthy, Unattractive, and Causes Untimely Death
iI was driving down the road as fast as my car would go, and it's night, so I don't see very well. Suddenly I started laughing wildly and decided to drive on the wrong side of the road to see what that felt like. I could have been killed and killed someone else, but I was so drunk I didn't think logically.
By Denise Willis6 years ago in Psyche
Is Drug Abuse Just Prolonged Suicide?
For 7 years I loved a man that was a drug addict. He was clean when we met but was still open about his struggles with drugs from a very young age. Way too young. I'm talking before he was even a teen.
By Jessica Hillis6 years ago in Psyche
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
PTSD is a mental illness that is different from CPTSD in that the C in CPTSD is about complex PTSD. PTSD comes up from trauma. People with CPTSD experience flashbacks quite often. A PTSD sufferer avoids places that remind them of the trauma or where they suffered the trauma itself. CPTSD merely means that average symptoms of PTSD are aggravated, and amplified. The person with PTSD suffers from intense mental stress that causes them physiological problems. They blame themselves for the traumatic events they've been put through. They need to detach from others because they feel the need to give themselves distance.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez6 years ago in Psyche
The State of Mental Health in America
The history of mental illness in the United States illustrates how our understanding of mental illness and trends in treating mental health influence both our attitude toward mentally illness and national policy policy governing mental healthcare.
By Angela Harper6 years ago in Psyche
4 lies your depression is telling you
You need it and it needs you. Depression makes you feel like it is the only “person” you can rely on and that without it, you have nothing.
By Stephanie Wright 6 years ago in Psyche
I don’t matter.
An unpopular opinion from a sad black girl. Even when the sun brighter than the R136a1, I still feel dark. Numb. Void. As if I am immune to the sun’s glorious rays. Even when there is a smile on my face, my heart feels like a ton of bricks. This is what an average day for me feels like internally. I continue to move forward; pushing through because if I don’t, who will for me? My unpopular opinion goes without saying, my mental health does matter. Our mental health does matter. With the suicide rates becoming astronomically high within our youth, I felt compelled to speak out; one voice for all. I was seven when I had my first suicide attempt. I experienced severe grief as a child. Yes, I’ve tried counselors. The mental health facility my small city has switched me over to another therapist every couple of months. Eventually, constantly opening up to strangers who would eventually leave anyway broke my spirit. I shut down. I tried to open up to the ones around me, but sometimes, I feel that they’d probably have better things to do than listen to me and my sorrows. Is it my hesitation blocking me from being honest and upfront? I’ve loved, I’ve lost. I’ve seen numerous loved ones with no souls in pretty, smooth caskets. I’ve been abused physically, mentally and emotionally by the hands of my son’s biological father. I’ve been molested by close family friend. I’ve been raped by my best friend’s older brother who groomed me as a child. My father (who also fathers 28+ other children) is a career felon whose recent stint in prison had no effect. He’s back on drugs and once again, I don’t exist in his world. He was never there, so why the hell do I care so much? I care because I’m human. I suffer from bipolar type 1 disorder, anxiety, PTSD, ADHD and as a child, I suffered with ODD. That made things really rough for me and I allowed people to take advantage of me. I grew up tough in my city. We grew up in what we, in my city call “the trenches”. Then, we moved to an area that we call “Area 51”. I felt blocked off from the world. We all had to sell to get by. What can I say? Money is the root of all evil, but we need it to survive. Does that make us all sinners? With all of the commotion that goes on in my little life, I ask myself constantly “Don’t you matter?” At almost 20 years old, I still hesitate to answer that question, but I know that I do! If you are reading this and you are feeling low, if you feel like if the world were to end right now, you wouldn’t miss a thing... you would. I would miss you! I don’t even know you and I would miss you. Anyone who has ever woke up feeling like I have, I am here! If me opening up this way penetrates someone’s alligator skin, I can die in peace. As an unknown writer once said “My intentions are good and my heart is pure.” I want to save you from that despair while also saving myself. This brings my unpopular opinion to a close. WE DO MATTER! #MENTALHEALTHAWARENESS MATTERS! You reading this are a gift from God, Allah, Buddha, the universe, whatever you believe in. You may even be shaking your head in disagreement, but I believe in you. My opinion of you is unpopular simply because in order for it to be a fact, you have to believe it too. I am currently learning how to find courage within myself, as well. We will reform from unpopular opinions to legitimate facts, as long as we have each other. Let’s do this together, okay?
By Ty Powell6 years ago in Psyche