Latest Stories

Most recently published stories in Psyche.

The Truth of What Makes Anorexia and Bulimia so Difficult to Recover From
"Just eat, it’s really not that hard." It’s the proverbial statement many Americans use to shame people with anorexia nervosa. Simply eat and you’ll cure the eating disorder. They have no idea. It saddens me to think people really believe eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia are about vanity, attention seeking, and simple to overcome. But I can’t be bitter; we can only see the exterior of things until we’re in it. I’m here, to dispel the fact from the fiction, because the stigma has been carried out for too long, and it's time to reveal what's underneath. I’ve had an anorexia for five years, and I’d say looks play about 20 percent or less of the total equation. I want to add, it’s total and utter hell.
By Ana Navarro7 years ago in Psyche
How Do You Do It?
Recently I attended my local community's monthly soup night to show support not only for our towns vets but for a new organization called Alliance for Hope. If your not familiar with Alliance for Hope it's an organization that helps family and communities find helpful resources to understand, cope, prevent and heal after a loss of a suicide and provide support to survivors. For a small town of not much more than 300 people a loss of our youth and older members of the community is devastating.
By Wendy Niffenegger7 years ago in Psyche
Depression
I was first diagnosed with depression in 1997, after the birth of my second child. Postpartum depression, they called it. And I was only diagnosed with that after attempting to step out into traffic. That was the first time my best friend saved my life.
By Michelle Frank7 years ago in Psyche
Addiction + Depression
I am an Addict. I have been clean five years. I have been to the depths of hell, I have been a slave to addiction and depression, but I am here to tell you that it is possible to take your life back and not just survive but live again. My journey to peace and freedom didn't happen over night and neither will yours. It wasn't easy and life still isn't perfect but I don't spend the majority of my days sick, crying, worrying, laying in bed, contemplating suicide, or in physical and emotional pain anymore.
By Breeanna Blalock7 years ago in Psyche
What I Wish I'd Known About Diagnosis
Like so many things in life, there’s no handbook for how to receive a mental health diagnosis. Some may be fortunate and have mental health providers who are excellent guides. Others may find themselves sitting at home after an unexpected stint in a hospital rifling through discharge papers looking for an understanding that sterile hospital notes won't provide.
By S H7 years ago in Psyche
Drowning
It’s a bit like drowning. At first, you're at the surface and you think you're doing great but suddenly, with one shift movement, your head is under water and you can’t guide air to your lungs. Panic gets to you and before your brain can comprehend the situation and get you out of it, you've lost too much air. The alarm goes off in your head and without even thinking, you take a breath. But instead of air, water fills your lungs, making every single part of them radiate, the intense pain tearing thyself apart right before you drown.
By E L U S I V E7 years ago in Psyche
Self Care When You're Poor Af
If I had a pound for every time I saw an article on self care that involved purchasing products that are so expensive their total could probably pay my rent for the month, well, let’s just say I wouldn’t be writing this post.
By Adventures of an Agoraphobe .7 years ago in Psyche
Your Mental Health Matters Too
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Time keeps going even when you want it to stop. You can't take a pause in life even when you're down. How do I know that? Well, I've been there.
By Makenzie Rosol7 years ago in Psyche
End the Stigma
Living with a mental illness is fucking rough. It's even harder when you constantly have people telling you that you're faking, or to get over it, or that you're just being dramatic. I have bipolar mixed affective disorder and severe PTSD. From it, I get intense anxiety about EVERYTHING, depression, self harming thoughts, suicidal ideations, horrible night terrors, and mood swings from hell. I also get dissociation, something my therapist calls catastrophizing, and numbness.
By Becca M7 years ago in Psyche
Emptiness
Do you ever have one of those days where you just sit and relax and let all your feelings or lack there of, consume you? I've been doing a lot of that lately. My feelings are jumbled and mixed and it feels like any emotion that I feel just gets sucked up into this void of emptiness and gets lost and locked up in this vacuum of space in my mind. It's maddening; not knowing how to feel or what I'm feeling fully. I've never felt like this before.
By Elijah Taylor7 years ago in Psyche
Truth
I used to think that time would sort me out. I used to think that in time everything would smooth itself over and soon enough I would be happy (whatever the hell "happy" even is). I used to think that by talking the words I needed to talk, or crying the years I needed to cry, I would be OK... I would be sorted out... I would be "happy". But it seems like these goals I set myself are no longer achievable, or at least they may be but just aren't in my current mindset.
By Alex Mustard7 years ago in Psyche
Weights and Worries in the World of Social Media
Yesterday, I posted on my Instagram account (as I often do when a little thought pops into my head) regarding my current feelings when it comes to sharing information about mental health online. When I first started to be open about my own health in the format of videos and Instagram posts, I found the experience so immensely reinvigorating and refreshing! I had so much support and encouragement from friends, family and even from people I didn't know too well at the time. I found that I was simultaneously facing my own demons as well as helping others—what's not to love, right?
By Laura .7 years ago in Psyche