Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Psyche.
Quit "Mething" Around, Man
There is no good place to start when revisiting my personal battle with meth addiction. It all started, perhaps, because the drugs were missing from my sex and rock and roll. Really they weren't; being a drummer in a rock and roll band obviously came with the cliché. Living in a town with a population under 1000 didn't make much of a difference either when it came to access. A college chemistry student coming home for spring break would "guinea pig" their home mixes of salts. Online dark web markets can send it directly to your mailbox, and they accept cash, credit, and crypto. In a pinch, the head cook at a local restaurant would even toss a bindle into a to-go box; the food may or may not have been eaten. As my tolerance and usage of this soluble substance increased, the more soluble everything else became.
By Eli Fredericks8 years ago in Psyche
Anxiety, the Good, the Bad, and How We Don’t Talk About It Enough
Awareness of the symptoms of anxiety mean that you can control or outright mitigate them if only because you learn how to redirect the way you are thinking to something more positive. But positive thinking isn’t everything. Anxiety causes pain. Extreme pain. On airplanes, I throw up from my anxiety, also other people’s anxiety I’m picking up on and focusing on, and the throwing up happens if I eat. I have since determined I need to eat at the airport, chug meds with that meal, and then get on the plane. My last traveling experience in 2014 made me realize this. There should be no eating on planes, I would have to put away the food in a bag for later consumption. My medication demands I have food with it though. I always isolate two snacks to eat with my meds when I take them at night.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez8 years ago in Psyche
I Am an Addiction Survivor, but I Am Not an Addict
I Am an Addiction Survivor, but I Am Not an Addict Addiction is a disease. You hear this phrase all of the time. I have no qualms about this phrase, of course, it’s a disease. It ransacks your body, takes what was once yours, and turns it into something barely recognizable to you or your family. Addiction is a painful, impossible, back-breaking kind of disease. But those afflicted with this disease are not the only ones who feel like “survivors.”
By Renee' Forrester8 years ago in Psyche
The Mind, Identity, and What It All Means
The human mind, a puzzling and daunting thing often dazzled in its own complexity. Often losing a sense of "self" in a world placing a great deal of pressure on the necessity of identity and function in our systematic society. Our thought processes seem to rotate cyclically through religious beliefs or other belief systems, to complete segregation from the rest of the world, leaving feelings of isolation and loneliness to often arise. Of course in the midst of all these things, we have seen and some possibly experienced a vast array of mental illnesses, so I think the fundamental question we must ask ourselves is not only why, but how are these "faults" in our mind so common in today's times?
By Samuel Lowe8 years ago in Psyche
Working with Depression and Anxiety
Do you ever feel like you don't fit in? Like you want to be anyone but yourself. Fall in to a crack never to be seen again. I live with it daily, some days it's not so bad other days I want to be anywhere but in my own skin. It happens to a lot of us.
By Denilia Blue8 years ago in Psyche
Cyber Bullying is Killing People…. Top Story - January 2018.
When I was younger, I was bullied. Sometimes I think that it wasn’t that bad, largely because no adult seemed to care that much. But since the memory of being punched in the face till I was knocked on the floor, by a boy in my class, and the memory of having leaves stuffed into my mouth in the bushes of my school playground by girls older than me, stand out above most of my other memories from school… I’m going to assume it was kind of bad. It maybe fucked with my head a bit.
By Samantha Bentley8 years ago in Psyche
Depression
Does anyone really know the meaning of depression? Sure, the definition of depression is a state of being sad or a mood disorder. A mood disorder is described by sadness, not being able to concentrate, decrease in appetite and sleep, feeling hopeless and suicidal. However, no one truly knows what's going on inside their head. Being depressed may mean all of those things, but it doesn't describe what's wrong with the person.
By Janis Elisabeth8 years ago in Psyche
Borderline Personality Disorder
When I found out that I had Borderline Personality Disorder, it was like everything finally made sense. My doctor handed me a book to skim through and I started laughing at how textbook I was. It felt like they wrote a book on my life—I no longer felt alone or, for that matter, unique. After I found out, I went home and read as many articles and books on the disorder as I could get (for free online obviously).
By Cat Dempsey8 years ago in Psyche
