Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Psyche.
Coping With Panic Disorder
You know that feeling all too well, am I right? The one that makes your heart beat a-million-miles-a-minute, and your chest cave in. The chills, trying to remember how to breathe, the tingling—the list goes on and on. Panic attacks are no joke. You can be laughing with friends one minute and inconsolable the next. Thankfully, after much trial and error, I have created a list of tips that work to help me get through those horrid attacks.
By Destinee Howard8 years ago in Psyche
Find Your High
About one in six young adults in America are battling an addiction to a substance. I recently realized that I’d been building my life around several micro-addictions, and that these addictions were keeping me from experiencing life at its highest frequency. I began to notice that I wasn't alone in this experience, that a lot of the people in my life were exchanging amazing opportunities in life for a convenient six-pack at the end of each day. After continuing to notice this trend in many of my close friends and family, I knew that there was a larger issue to tackle in the US.
By Renner Winston8 years ago in Psyche
Work Related Stress
We all have stress at our jobs. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that my job is more stressful than say a soldier or fireman, but some days, I try to work with everyone around me and be reasonably agreeable, but it seems that I always meet some kind of resistance, no matter how I approach the problem.
By James Howell8 years ago in Psyche
My Struggle
This is something I’m so scared to write. But some of you reading may need to see this. This is why I chose to share with all of you, my readers. It’ll be an emotional roller-coaster for not just you. It’ll be one for me too. Keep in mind that I’m the one who went through all of this shit the past five or six years of my life. Yes, I am aware that there are other people who went through similar experiences that are too scared to share their story with others. But I am not too scared. This is because I like sharing my story and helping others overcome their own problems, just like I did. So read on and dive in to the story I never should have lived.
By Serena Fix8 years ago in Psyche
Stress Management
I get anxious and stressed over little things. My whole life is about keeping the anxiety at bay, since it is stuffed into a dark cloud picking at my consciousness, bubbling below the surface. It lurks. My medication helps a lot but I need money to pay for therapy, which can cure me of the feelings. As in, I need really intensive OCD-generalized anxiety therapy. My anxiety pretty much runs my life. Yes, this is bad for me. When my blood sugar is high, I have anxiety. When my blood sugar is low, I have anxiety.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez8 years ago in Psyche
Two Words You Should Never Say to Someone with Anxiety
The two most useless words in the English language to someone with anxiety. "Calm down" Someone says. We can't see them through the floods of tears, and we're ashamed to be crying at work/ in the street/ in front of them.
By Laura Alexa8 years ago in Psyche
Eternal Battle
Hi. My name is Serena, I’m eighteen years old and this is my story. Growing up in an average middle class American family, you could say I had my share of troubles. I went to a public high school, had my group of friends that my parents did not like, but the one thing I did not have, was whatever I wanted. I guess now that I look back on that, it was a good thing. I had to work for what I wanted. My parents would rarely let me do whatever I wanted to do. They were super strict and, in all honesty, I did not like it. I wanted to do what I thought was best for me. I would skip class and say I was doing something when I was really doing something else. I would tell my parents that I was studying with friends when I was really partying. I would do anything that would get me a popular reputation at school. I would steal, do drugs, party every night, you name it, I would do it. Yet, I was still an all star volleyball player. The coaches didn’t want to say anything because I was their best. I was the best at my job, I would help any customer in any way I could. I had the leading roles in any play I was in. I put my heart and soul into what I knew I was good at.
By Emily Karhoff8 years ago in Psyche
How Working as a Retail Assistant Saves My Life Every Day
I moved to the United Kingdom four years ago for study purposes. A year ago I fully came to the realization that I did not arrive by myself. Without previously noticing, I also took anxiety and depression with me as baggage. After one year, I still do not know when the feelings of unavoidable worry started or why I feel sometimes so low that crying seems like the best way to spend my days. However, what I know is that I push myself gently every day to wake up in the morning, to get up from the bed and to smile at people. What makes my situation much easier is a part-time job of R]retail assistant. Not only because I look forward to starting my shift every time, but also because it worked for me better than any therapy.
By Katka Krajcirovicova8 years ago in Psyche
My Dad Is Mentally Ill
Today while watching an episode of ER, a sub-story triggered a long held memory. A six-year-old boy had just found out his mother was a paranoid schizophrenic, and although just a show, I felt his sadness to my core...because I, too, have lived this life.
By Crystal Damato-Pineda8 years ago in Psyche
Suicide Survivor
So, my kids' dad and I split up almost a year ago. We were having issues for quite some time, he says that it was before I even got pregnant that they started. After I had the twins it became worse and worse. I was constantly home with the kids alone while he was out working or doing his kickboxing. My mother in law would come and help me as much as she could. When we split I pretty much went into a downward spiral. We had voluntarily signed custody over to his parents while we figure ourselves out because neither of us were financially or mentally capable of being full time single parents doing it all on our own.
By Brie Smalley-Melmore8 years ago in Psyche
Nervousness
The decision to see a therapist was not an easy one to make. It was a constant nudge in the back of my brain for months until a rough night of insomnia forced me to finally make the call, and wait anxiously. Once the day came for me to sit in front of this welcoming stranger, chosen for me by an in-take specialist, a tremendous amount of guilt pounded in my body. I began to shiver, like I was cold, though the Arizona temperature was a comfortable sixty degrees for January. This feeling I knew well. If you were ever sitting right next to me when this reaction appeared, you'd never know. It was a very internal environment. And it was ruining my life.
By Jacqueline Tomlinson8 years ago in Psyche
