coping
Life presents variables; learning how to cope in order to master, minimize, or tolerate what has come to pass.
The Shackled Monster
I remember the first time I was made aware of my own insecurities. I was 12 years old—young, quirky, frizzy-haired and eager. I was no beauty queen, but I told good stories and made people laugh. Middle school was never friendly toward me, to say the least. More than anything, I wanted to be liked. So, naturally, I tried out for the cheerleading squad. After all, those girls with their straight blonde hair and thin legs squeezed into elastic uniforms were the true stars of the show. I wanted in.
By Carly Norman7 years ago in Psyche
Good Enough? - The Metaphorical Mountain
I. The Metaphorical Mountain When we are young, we lack the life experiences we will later acquire. As teenagers we have only lived less than a quarter of our lives. Therefore we do not have much to hold in comparison, and it is difficult to gain perspective. So as teenagers all problems and all joys seem to be—and feel to us—a very big deal. I think this is why as youngsters we always have big reactions, where everything is part of this huge drama called life. We don’t yet have the life experience to compare our current circumstances against anything and say, "Well at least it’s not as bad as that one time when…." Or "This is up there with the best days of my life, along with …. and …."
By Ruth Esca Bowmer7 years ago in Psyche
Personal Essay: Brain on Repeat
“Our ability to handle life's challenges is a measure of our strength of character”—Les Brown. I can barely remember my life without the number nine coming up on a daily basis like there was a tape recorder on repeat in my brain. I was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder early in 2014. I would wash my hands nine times and a nightly and morning routine that needed to be repeated nine times. It wasn’t until the Christmas holidays in late December, however, when things really became unbearable. That was when I started having the disconcerting feeling that nothing was real. Everything was in my head. I felt like I could reach through my stomach and feel my intestines through my skin. In my head, my parents, my friends, my life wasn’t real. I thought that strange occurrence was just a one-time thing, but it wasn’t the end; it was merely just the beginning. Months later, I would be diagnosed with a “derealization disorder.” It was bearable until it wasn’t. Once I felt I had completely lost control, I realized the longest journey I would ever travel would be within myself. So the journey began.
By Nikola Roumeliotis7 years ago in Psyche
Tourette's: Growing up with the Disorder I Never Knew I Had
In the third grade, my class and I were eating lunch in the cafeteria. One of my classmates, John, sat at the table and brought out a large bag of Airheads: The holy grail of candies to a bunch of nine-year-olds. The craziest part is that he was giving pieces of them away to everyone at the table.
By Jonathan Miciano7 years ago in Psyche
I'm Done With My Shame Complex
I realize that I’m done with my shame issues. Here I have felt like I need to hide still, away from average people, hiding out my whole life. While because of 22q I have minor anatomical differences, I realize I’m good-looking. Feeling shame leads to feeling angry. Source. I’ve decided not to be as self-destructive anymore as I used to be with my alcoholism and caffeine addiction. I’m done feeling ashamed of myself, just because I think I need a therapist, which I have found, so don’t worry about that.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez7 years ago in Psyche
Singing the Pain Away
Although I only started learning how to play an instrument less than a year ago, I’ve been trying to write songs for years. It was something that I aspired to. Musicians don’t make much, lonely musicians make even less. But poetry and tune came naturally even when I didn’t know how to make them sound quite good. I still struggle with this, but I’m improving slowly.
By Will Jackson7 years ago in Psyche
Secrets Your Mind Keeps From You
Do you know what I find terrifying? I find it terrifying that I have gone through something so horrific that my mind and memory won't let me remember what happened. All I have been left with is this deep aching feeling in the pit of my stomach with hazing feelings of discomfort. If I close my eyes it is as if I were swimming in an ocean made up of clouds, unable to see the surface and quickly running out of breath. Wanting so badly to break through the surface. Please! Someone help me! I am drowning... please... No one can hear me. Nobody can see me drowning. It is all in my head, but it was happening.. I felt it, why won't anyone believe me? I am alone to figure out what happened to me.
By Kameron McLain7 years ago in Psyche
Casually Suicidal
Most people, if asked their biggest fear, will list off things like spiders, heights, or drowning. But It's hard to fear things like drowning, when you feel like your drowning every single day of your life. I can't really remember a time when I didn't feel this way. I can almost pinpoint the moment I first thought about killing myself, yet it's almost like my consciousness didn't exist before then. Or maybe my mind has boxed up all of those memories. Wrapped them carefully. Stored them safely under the folds of my mind, so no one could corrupt them. I like to think the second one is the truth. But since the age of 10 suicide seems like the only thing that’s consistently on my mind. The only thing that has stuck by me, through thick and thin. For better and for worse.
By K. L. Champitto7 years ago in Psyche
The 'Troubled' Artist. Top Story - August 2018.
Through the years, art has had a tendancy to connect itself to mental health. There is a cliche concept of the 'troubled artist.' Hearing of Van Gogh slicing off his own ear, such stories can stick like glue to the whole profession. In general, there can be assumptions of art linking to mental illness. Though, searching for evidence, there honestly is little to no concrete proof of art being a source mental illness. With that being said, I'd like to address how mental health can be intertwined with art, from my experience.
By 'Toto' (Aleksina Teto)7 years ago in Psyche
Grief
Sitting around a bed with close family quite literally watching a loved one take their last breath is indelible. Long fights with cancer are more common than ever and yet nothing can prepare you for that final breathe, no matter how long you've known it's in the cards.
By Daniel Noble7 years ago in Psyche
