Latest Stories

Most recently published stories in Psyche.

Mental Illness Isn't Going Away
I have anxiety, and like many people with any sort of chronic ailment, I have good days and bad ones. However, something I've discovered over the years is that the tolerance, for lack of a better term, for a mental illness is sometimes just not there in the way that it can be for a physical condition. Sometimes, the desire to simply understand what a person with mental illness might be going through on the daily isn't there either.
By Christina St-Jean8 years ago in Psyche
I Died That Day
Imagine a warm blanket wrapping around your body. At first, everything is fine and you barely even notice that your very being is slowly being swallowed. As time passes, you try to wiggle out of the blanket — what you once thought was warm and cozy is actually full of holes and so very cold. Struggle as hard as desired, but the blanket only wraps tighter around you. Soon, you are so very cold, your skin screams and begs for freedom and you cry and scream out, but no one comes for you. To the outside world, it looks as if a person is just lying there with a blanket, nothing more. Only you are aware of the battle you're facing and, before you know it, the blanket has encased your entire body. You cannot breathe, you cannot cry for help, you cannot run. You lay drowning in the darkness as a seemingly simple piece of material digs into your skin and forces its way into your mouth and nostrils. There is no point in coming for your eyes, for when you try to look, all you see is darkness.
By Kisha Holler8 years ago in Psyche
Reaching Out for Help with Your Mental Health
Psychological difficulties are far from rare. In fact, it is estimated that approximately 1 in 4 people in the U.K. will experience a mental health issue each year. However, whilst the majority of us would seek medical attention for a broken leg, if and when we start struggling mentally, it's all too often a different story. Afraid of negative judgement and stigmatisation, we tend to suppress our problems in the hope that they'll eventually vanish. Up to the age of 15, I too was guilty of this. I had been suffering from distressing intrusive thoughts since the age of 8, but had never reached out for support, not knowing that around 94% of people experience a similar thing at least once in their lifetime, and petrified that I was simply evil and abnormal. Sometimes it seems easier to put on a brave face and carry on like nothing’s wrong rather than address the problem head on, and that’s exactly what I decided to do. Instead of telling someone what I was going through, I bottled up my painful emotions and damaging self-beliefs for years on end and fought my mind alone before finally reaching breaking point during the summer of 2014.
By Esther 💫8 years ago in Psyche
Self-Harm: The Silent Addiction
What comes to your mind when you think about Self-Harm (SH)? Do you know someone that self-harms, or knew someone that did, or have you yourself battled through the hell that is Self-Injury?
By Katie Roles8 years ago in Psyche
Two Important Lessons That Can Be Learned in Psychotherapy
Two of the purposes for which clients enter psychotherapy are recovery after a traumatic event has plunged them into an abyss of negative emotions, and the human capacity for misconceptions about others with whom we have associations. These two problems often fog human ability to get and maintain relationships and function well in the world. Learning the following two lessons in psychotherapy can aid anyone in finding their way out of the self-imposed prison many find they have fallen into of self-pity and resentment.
By Shirley J. Davis8 years ago in Psyche
The Cocoon
The most vivid memories I have from grade school all have two things in common: shame, and the desperate, seizing feeling of not belonging. At this point in my life, those memories are all stills. All of the characters’ voices are mine; faces are only a flash of color. But the accompanying emotions, and how I internalized them, have not left my side.
By Elizabeth Olson8 years ago in Psyche
Magnesium: Nature’s Anti-Depressant
If you’re like millions of other North Americans, chances are you suffer from depression or anxiety. Many of us resort to taking prescription medication. It is incredibly easy to get prescription medication for anxiety or depression. I’ve been told by general practitioners that taking medication for it is as “common as mud.” Is this a testament to our society? A lack of resiliency or an over dependence on pharmaceuticals? Perhaps a combination. But, what can be done about it?
By Michelle Glavic8 years ago in Psyche
Sleep Paralysis
If you have experienced sleep paralysis in your life, you'll know that it can be very confusing and scary. I want to explain what you are experiencing.
By bambiekisses8 years ago in Psyche
The Rambling Thoughts of an Insomniac
It's two o'clock in the morning and I'm still awake. The ghosts of the past as well as the stress of the present play hell with my mind, and so I don't sleep. Sleep has always been illusive to me, always just out of my reach. Every day I tell myself, "I'll sleep tonight because I'm really tired," but I rarely do. Mr. Insomnia is my best friend. I've been a pal of his all my life. You see when you are a child of abuse, in bed is a precarious place to be. You are never more helpless than when you are asleep. It ranks right up there with being naked in the tub. I need to relieve the tremendous emotional energy that is building up and spilling over robbing me of sleep and carrying me to the edge. I've been taking notes on every piece of paper I can find to get the feelings and thoughts out in some semblance of order. It’s my way of downloading, if you will, all the thoughts in my head.
By Shirley J. Davis8 years ago in Psyche
How Music Helps Me Stay Mentally Stable
I love music. In fact there is not one genre of music I don't like. I can listen to anything, party, dance, rock, pop, blues, country, and the list goes on... Music has a good impact on my mental health; however, what I choose to listen to depends on the mood I am in during the day, and if my mood changes, what I listen to does too. For example, if I am in an angry mood, then I usually listen to heavy rock. The reason why is because much of it is explosive (like my anger) and as a result, it helps me to get those angry emotions out without harming myself or others. If I am in a good mood, then it's dance and this is brilliant, because I tend to do a lot of housework, and I often end up dancing to it.
By Carol Ann Townend8 years ago in Psyche
Anxiety Epidemic
I read a news headline the other morning as I swiped rapidly through social media on my phone. It's part of my routine; wake up, check for messages, scan the day's headlines, sigh heavily, sit on end of bed for ten minutes and then face the day. This headline told me that we are apparently facing an "anxiety epidemic" in western society. Now, I didn't read the whole article (who has time for that these days), but it resonated with me for a couple of reasons. Firstly, because it made "anxiety" sound like an ominous and deadly disease that was sweeping the nations. Not a great vision. But secondly, because like whenever I see a news story of any kind about "anxiety," "stress," or "mental health struggles," it reminds me that I am not alone.
By Naomi Stewart8 years ago in Psyche
Living Psychogenic
Psychogenic pain disorder; something most of will go our entire lives without hearing about. Even fewer of us will ever have the opportunity to learn about it, quite possibly because most of us will never experience, nor will we know anyone who experiences, this pain firsthand.
By Kamryn Davis8 years ago in Psyche