Latest Stories

Most recently published stories in Psyche.

Shadows and Ghosts
You feel it when you leave. There is an inner burning sensation, its location is random or maybe not. The sensation starts off numb but soon it’s aflame.
By Freddy Zalta8 years ago in Psyche
The Shower
It's not even 9 AM and I'm sitting here on the cold tile of my bathroom floor, completely naked, bawling my eyes out. The sound of the water and steam from the shower I started but can't bring myself to take are somewhat soothing. The thoughts that are running a marathon through my mind are almost paralyzing. I don't know how to process all of this. We knew this day would someday come, but as it approaches, it's still so hard to believe. "He's really going to die." I say out loud.
By Ginny Dorsey8 years ago in Psyche
My Mental Ill Health Was Rejected - How It Made Me Feel
Since the age of 8 years old I have suffered with two well known mental illnesses - C-PTSD and depression. Not only have I been suffering for 12 whole years now, I thought my behaviour was 'normal behaviour' until I turned 16 and was told that it wasn't normal at all.. which led to the diagnosis by 3 school counsellors, 1 college counsellors, 3 hospital counsellors, my GP and a psychiatrist.
By Hannah Louise8 years ago in Psyche
Can I Get a Definition?
Has OCD become an adjective? “I’m so OCD about cleaning my apartment these days,” a young mother exclaims to her friend in the supermarket.
By Dani Jade8 years ago in Psyche
Fear
I AM TIMID. I am a child. Wrapped up in nothing more than my dreams and fears. I AM SMALL. I am an insect. Little to those who pay no attention, but a burden to those I’m near.
By Angel Woolsey8 years ago in Psyche
Happiness
There comes a point where you just don’t care anymore. Care about what everyone says about you. Care what everyone thinks about you. Society gives us a whole list of things that we “have to do.” Just simple things that I, as a person, must do to comply with everyone else and be deemed socially accepted. When I was growing up, my mom was a major influence on me. I wasn’t a very confident or socially outgoing child. I kept to myself. I didn’t have many friends. I didn’t really have the urge or want to do what everyone told me I had to do in life. But why? Why can’t we all make our own way in life without having to give in to what everyone expects us to do and behave. More importantly, why can’t we all make our own decisions in life without being attacked or marginalized for doing what makes ourselves comfortable.
By James Roller8 years ago in Psyche
New Friends
Having 2 new friends sitting on each shoulder is not a weakness. Meet anxiety and depression. The ones that I never knew that had my back until last year, when they finally showed their face.
By Leaha Clarke8 years ago in Psyche
Mental Illness: The Demons Within
This illness is probably the least severe out of all the ones I have and has the least similarities to anything paranormal and will most likely be the shortest chapter of the book but because it is still a mental illness and one I do deal with, I will still write about it. I can become fixated on a specific person or object or topic for a long time and it will be all I can talk about.
By Alyssa Lactin8 years ago in Psyche
We're All in the Gutter
"We're all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." Oscar Wilde said that. Lately, this infamous poet and playwright has been popping up in a lot of conversations I have been having. This is the quote that plays on repeat in my head while I’m sitting on a park bench or in a café, watching the world go by. Countless faces going about their daily existence; strangers, the lot of them. But you can’t help but feel drawn to them, knowing we are all trying to do the same thing on this planet: live.
By Raven DaSilva8 years ago in Psyche
Making the Climb
All my life I have struggled with this sensation in my chest, well sort of in my chest. It was really centered right above my stomach and right below my sternum. For my whole life I walked around with this little black ball inside of me, I could feel it there, right underneath the surface of my skin. It always made me feel out of place somehow.
By Brittany Dolliver8 years ago in Psyche
Learning to Breathe
"Just breathe, Baby." I try to focus on those three words. Just three words which sound farther to me than the atmosphere. Still, for the moment I am desperately trying to cling to them. To find solace in those words.
By B.C8 years ago in Psyche
Hiding Behind a Smile
Holding onto hope. Depression does not define you. For too long I lived my life hating who I was. It was a constant battle inside my head between who I wanted to be versus what depression would permit me to become. I allowed it to define me because of my lack of self- worth and because at the time, people had labeled me as who they saw. I was the “freak,” “miserable,” “pathetic” and “self- absorbed.” Instead of trying to understand my problem, I became the problem. Therapy and medications defined me as damaged. People withdrew from my company. I became isolated to the point that suicide seemed ideal. After all, who could possibly miss me when I was gone?
By Jess8 years ago in Psyche