Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Psyche.
The “Lack Mentality” Is Killing Us
The truth bombs about reinforcing a mentality of shame due to lack of something in one’s life need to finally land. I’ve dropped these bombs on myself because this way of thinking led me and my friends to a life of torment, no matter how many stupid memes we post about how our life is a rancid garbage fire. The “lack mentality,” meaning the constant focus on what you don’t have or the habit of running away from the truth of your reality, is a slow, subtle suicide. As I break down how the “lack mentality” festers within us, the end of each point will propose what I call “Challenge the Illusion” statements. Please apply them to yourself if you struggle with this mentality or find yourself relating to the following points.
By Aliciel Alone7 years ago in Psyche
Stuck in a Winter Loop
If you’re anything like me, as soon as the weather turns a bit colder and the days start getting a bit darker, your body starts to shut down. It doesn’t matter how much I love walks in the cold, crisp air with my dog, all the joys of snow, wrapping up warm in coats and gloves or chopping wood in the garden; my body has other ideas. My brain does too, part of it seems to conspire against the rest of me and forces its very different idea of daily life on me.
By Alicia Brunskill7 years ago in Psyche
The Depths of My Mind
I'm walking into the water, I've gathered my rocks and placed them in my backpack. I feel the cold water grasp at my shortened breathe as I fully submerge myself under. Moving out into more open water so that I'm out of my depth, I start to struggle under the weight of the rocks which start to jostle against each other and pull me down into the darkness below. I'm beginning to get tired I can't keep fighting this...
By Sean Checkley7 years ago in Psyche
Living with Borderline Personality Disorder
I was 18 the first time I saw a psychiatrist. He was a man in a button-up shirt with glasses and frazzled hair. Everyone said he was one of the best in Minnesota and he would be able to help me with anything. He very briefly mentioned something called Borderline Personality Disorder, but didn't seem too worried about it. The next psychiatrist I saw was a tiny Pakistani woman, and that was all she could talk about with me. She seemed convinced that Borderline Personality Disorder was the root of all my problems.
By Laura Bruns7 years ago in Psyche
Is It Okay to Disclose Mental Illness at Work?
If you have a mental illness and work at either a paid job or a volunteer gig, chances are at some point you'll be faced with the question of whether to disclose your mental illness at work, and if so, how much. While employers may not be legally allowed to discriminate, the possibility of negative repercussions is still very real.
By Ashley L. Peterson7 years ago in Psyche
Transcendental Meditation and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Approximately 50-66 percent of people suffering from PTSD also struggle with substance abuse. Since drugs increase feelings of relaxation and pleasure, they can seem like an effective coping mechanism for those struggling with PTSD. Unfortunately, for those who battle with drug addiction, the drugs eventually stop working. A person starts to require more and more of the drug to provide the desired effects, then becomes physically dependent on the substance. This dependency often leads to addiction.
By Cassidy Webb7 years ago in Psyche
10 Things to Keep Your Mind Off Hurting Yourself
In the winter months of my freshman year, I was diagnosed with depression. I had started to self harm and I always had this paranoia that nobody actually liked me and they were all talking behind my back about me. I still struggle with these obstacles in my daily life to this day. I am now a senior in high school, and the symptoms have gotten so much worse.
By Alexis Runyon7 years ago in Psyche
Having Your Shit Together IS Exhausting
I’ve had my shit together since I was a kid. I fully believed that to live the best life, your poop had to be in a group, and probably definitely color coded. So I filled my life up with ways of being better—with the ultimate goal of being the best if it was at all possible. I had good grades. I got accepted into a competitive program in college. Applied and received increasingly better-paying jobs. I had never been unemployed for longer than the weekend between me leaving one company for another. You name it.
By Stefania Brandner7 years ago in Psyche
Antisocial Personality Disorder in Lady Lucille Sharpe of 'Crimson Peak'
A Summary of the Case of Lady Lucille Sharpe To briefly introduce the character of Lady Lucille Sharpe from the psychological horror masterpiece of Crimson Peak created by Guillermo del Torro, one might say that terms like “psycho,” “evil-doer,” “whore,” and “main antagonist” definitely fit. However, the genius behind the creation of Lady Lucille Sharpe may go much deeper than she would appear on the surface. When they were children, Lucille and her brother Thomas grew up together and began to relate with one another on a much deeper level than may be expected of siblings. Often abused by their mother, the two siblings soon became the only safe place they could find. As this “safe-feeling” between them grew, an incestuous relationship developed between them. Lucille became vividly obsessed with protecting Thomas, even going so far as to kill their mother when she forced Lucille to kill the child born from the “sin” between the two siblings. After Lucille easily coined her mother’s death as an accident, she became obsessed with managing her image and devised a plot in which she used Thomas to secure brides. Shortly after the damsel’s marriage to Thomas, Lucille would deviously ween the bride’s health from them and secure what would have been Thomas and his wife’s inheritance as Thomas’ inheritance.
By Noctis 5057 years ago in Psyche
How I Used Psychedelics to Help Overcome Severe Anxiety
I first took Welsh magic mushrooms when I was 20 years old. It was the year 2000 and I was woken up in my first floor flat by the sound of a Mark Three Ford Escort doors slamming shut. I only had to glance out the window to see some friends with bags of freshly picked Welsh magic mushrooms. My world was about to be turned upside down. People were going to take their trips at different times, and I should have waited for the later mushroom tea. But I was eager to try, so I was told that it was a good thing that I hadn’t eaten anything for breakfast, it’s always considered to be better to take mushrooms on an empty stomach. My empty stomach was soon to be introduced to more than what Terence McKenna would refer to as a heroic dose of magic mushrooms. Instead of drinking 15 grams of fresh mushrooms with some fruit juice, and having a nice introduction to the world of psychedelics, we stewed hundreds of mushrooms into a thick jelly (mixed with soil and grass) and served it in half pint measures. Half-a-pint of this magical jelly juice was well over the five grams of dried mushrooms—75 grams of fresh mushrooms—that is considered to be a heroic dose. I was told to down all the gloopy mixture as quickly as possible as to avoid the bad taste. It was to be a brutal experience; one which I’ll never forget.
By Johnny Vedmore7 years ago in Psyche
