Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Psyche.
Am I Addicted?
We are often unaware of our habits. Getting up three minutes before the alarm goes off, leaving tiny bits of food on our plate at every meal, saying "this is based off of that" instead of "this is based on that," taking in a heady eyeful when someone of the attracted sex walks past...these are habits. We would probably never say they are addictions.
By Aulos.Media8 years ago in Psyche
It's All in Your Head
For years, I heard, “it’s all in your head,” and “mind over matter,” or even worse, “just get over it.” While there is a grain of truth to that, I am sick of “all in your head” being used as a derogatory term for a real, valid health condition. It is time to break the stigma on mental health issues.
By Harlie Wood8 years ago in Psyche
Breaking the Stigma
Stigma, defined as “a mark of disgrace associated with a quality, circumstance, or person,” is a word that I have heard almost every day of my life. By being a part of the LGBTQ+ community, I am seen by many people as someone who is “lesser” than others, someone who has chosen the life of attraction to not only males but females, as well. But it doesn’t stop there for me. Ever since I was fourteen years old, I have been defined by something that is out of my control. I have been seen as someone who is unworthy of many things and someone who is seeking attention, all because of the mental illness that I did not choose to have. Depression and anxiety, two serious mental illnesses that have unfortunately become more common, are now seen as just another thing that defines people, another part of someone’s personality. It is often seen as only a negative thing; however, through first-hand experience I have noticed that there are positives to these illnesses as well. I believe that every negative comes with a positive, and although it takes a lot of work to notice both sides, it is definitely worth it in the end.
By Allison MacInnis8 years ago in Psyche
The Little Girl That Couldn't Until She Could
There once was a girl, always happy and smiling. People would comment on her little smile and adorable dimples. She had a huge laugh for a tiny person. But nothing can last forever, right? Her little smile and adorable dimples faded, and her big laugh was silenced.
By Julia Rivard8 years ago in Psyche
Lowering Your Anxiety
I’m on a train as I write this. On my way back from Sheffield, to my current place of residence, Salisbury. The sun is shining and we’ve just come out of the Bank Holiday weekend. Everything seems fine. Or does it? Well, I thought it was time I aired some of my feelings to VOCAL’S PYSCHE subsection, it always feels just as good to write as it does to talk.
By Richard Brind8 years ago in Psyche
Working in Retail Helped Me Get Over My Social Anxiety
Social anxiety is a disorder that affects over 200,000 Americans every year, and living with it can be very difficult and hindering to every day actions like ordering food, driving, and even being in public at all. While it can go hand in hand with agoraphobia (a fear of the dangers of the world outside of a safe space/your home), they are not the same. Social anxiety is most common in adolescents. It can be seen in adults as well, and in a world where communication is key to our everyday lives, social anxiety can get in the way of having a job and supporting yourself. Solutions to social anxiety and tools that help you overcome your insecurities with social interactions and situations work differently for everyone, but I've found the most success with working in retail.
By Elise Garrett8 years ago in Psyche
My Secret Compulsion and the Journey to Overcome It
The vast majority of people will never come across the term 'maladaptive daydreaming'. Indeed, until recently, neither had I. By chance, I stumbled across an article online which looked vaguely interesting, so naturally I read on. In short, it changed my life.
By Maladaptive Daydreamer8 years ago in Psyche
Depression and Dissociation; A Story of a Cruel Coalition
We’ve all heard the sayings, the motivational quotes, the words that guide you to look at the positive. Time is a magnificent creature, they tell me, and in its passing, you may heal. What if you no longer possessed the power to look at the glass half full; Susie! your own mind is working against you. Neither does it give you enough serotonin nor the strength to overcome the replenishment of the very resource. What if your mind made you forget what it's like to feel joy? True joy, not the high you feel from a fake laugh or dancing in the dark. What if it made you forget you ever experienced the feeling too? Like it turned the pictures of all the memories you stored in your heart to black and white. So you see the young version of yourself laughing as your dad tickles you utnil you cry but you no longer remember how that must have felt like. Oh! How the weary find their way to worsen the state they are in, without intention or action. What if the weight of each day became too great? Your lungs couldn’t even handle the weight that dispersed to your chest from your shoulders. Blame the mind that’s been placed upon the two, if you may. Every breath became a conscious effort. To have to think and schedule every inhale and exhale, now that’s what I call true exhaustion. Did your legs too ever stake claim to your burdens and lose the will to carry your body? It seems like you’ll have to learn how to walk again. My words, you read, but do you feel my pain. Do you feel it yet?
By Ayesha Javed8 years ago in Psyche
The Bridge
The ebbing and flowing of the river below has always succeeded, in harmonising with the speeding cars on the bridge above, to clear my mind. There is nothing like walking with your own thoughts along the river's edge, stopping and staring out; searching for answers. Though the questions are never words, but emptiness, the kind of emptiness you feel as a kid when you realised that something you once believed was no longer true, like when you found out that Santa wasn’t real. It’s not that you didn’t know already but that that little possibility, that one percent, has vanished never to return, that little part of your consciousness died. I think that’s why I stare out at the water, hoping that in its unfathomable depth or within the vastness of its oceans, it may return something to me that has been long lost. Like a sailor’s family hoping against hope to see them on the horizon, but they never do.
By Duncan Vickers8 years ago in Psyche
Living with BPD
I’ve struggled with my mental health for as long as I can remember. I have always realised that I was “different” from everyone else but couldn’t quite work out why. As a child, I didn’t follow the crowd, I did my own thing, and that suited me just fine. I was bullied severely throughout primary school which damaged me more than I originally thought. I had a “Day Dreamer Chart” at school because I was never able to keep focused.
By Leia Waller8 years ago in Psyche
