Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Psyche.
Down the Rabbit Hole
Before we begin, let me tell you that this was written in a blog post format, and this was also written not in the intent to encourage the action in the blog post. But in order to vent some feelings from a FICTIONAL character. Depression is a very serious subject, and the things talked about in this post are serious. Please, do not take it lightly. Now, let's begin with the story of how one girl discovered something she thought was going to help her, but leads her down a dark, dark rabbit hole.
By Kittie Kat8 years ago in Psyche
My Anxieties Have Anxiety
On any given day, I wake up with half a dozen thoughts, concerns, fears, or ideas running through my head. These thoughts can range from my to-do list for the day to the argument my husband and I had before bed. Some mornings, it is the vague flashes of images from the endless dreams I experienced during the night due to my brain working endlessly to process my emotions and triggers.
By Erica Hale8 years ago in Psyche
Me and My Borderline
Nowadays, terms like psycho and depressed are an everyday part of life, just words that get thrown out by people that don't really understand their meaning. They are flippant about words that in the mental health system are terrifying. I am 35 years old, I am a mother to five kids and have a chronic illness, I am married and I have borderline personality disorder (BPD).
By Nadine Haigh8 years ago in Psyche
Suicidal Ideation
Alarm goes off, you hate the sound. You sink deeper into the bed. You didn’t even want to go to sleep last night and now you suddenly don’t want to get out.. you roll your eyes at yourself for this and get up. It’s cold, you hate the feeling. You go to the bathroom and turn on the light, it’s shockingly bright and you hate it. You dislike the very act of using the toilet. You hate the sound of the toilet paper and the feel of it against your skin between your legs. You pull up your underwear, it never seems to fit quite right. Then your pants. You turn and flush the toilet. You hate the noise. You hate that you don’t know where this goes and that piss is mostly ammonia so you probably just killed a fish. You turn on the sink, hating that even going to the bathroom is such a long to do list, you wash your hands and rinse. Turn off the sink and get a towel to dry your hands, they can never seem to get all the way dry before it’s uncomfortable you’ve been attempting long enough.
By Chris Alvis8 years ago in Psyche
An Open Letter to My Abuser
I'm scared. I'm scared of being happy, I'm scared of opening my mouth, I'm scared of crying, and most of all, I'm scared of you. I love you, but all you do is hurt me. Even when you don't mean too, it's like I don't matter anymore. I can't understand why.
By Marissa Dover8 years ago in Psyche
Never In the Cover of Night
Choices made will often appear temporary at first sight. We bog down our perceptions of our interactions with notions of grandeur or opposing feelings of dismay. Time continues to elude us and these temporary decisions become situations, situations then soon become prisons. I would often think about what had lead me to this place in time. The turmoil of our adolescence may generally leave little opportunity to succeed, but that doesn’t mean that our youth has to be wasted. In my case however, I fear it did. Every chance I had to take coal and make a diamond, I just took the coal at face value. Some of us choose to believe in things like fate or destiny. My path mostly felt, to such a degree, the best of a bad situation. My conscience was tormented by vague recollections of how and why I behaved the way I did. The option of sneaking away from danger was always something I could rely on. So as the years had passed, I came out virtually unscathed. The damage on the inside though, on the inside, it was a different story entirely.
By Sickboy Lecuyer8 years ago in Psyche
McDonald's: My Nightmare
When I was a small boy, I would see commercials for McDonalds. In fact, I would see them over three or four times a day, to the point where I would be craving the golden arches all day long. My parents were rather smart about this, though, because very rarely would we ever go to fast food, so I would always consider it a treat when we did. This was during the mid to late 90s, when the size of their food was that of a pickup truck and the prices were low. A Big Mac meal cost around $2.99 back then, now you couldn't get one for less than seven dollars, and the sandwich has shrunk considerably. I loved going, and when I would get a happy meal and get that cheap toy from the latest blockbuster that was kicking around in theaters at the time, I thought of it like Christmas. I would only ever get toys two times a year: My birthday and Christmas. The rest of the time, if I wanted something, I would get the same answer. "NO." As simple as that; a large, pulsating NO. My parents were stern, but they were fair. McDonald's was the same way—whenever I would ask to go, same thing. NO.
By Evan Filley8 years ago in Psyche
O.C.D. Is An Acronym
The acronym O.C.D. stands for obsessive compulsive disorder. It's characterized by unreasonable thoughts or fears and is usually accompanied with anxiety and feelings of guilt. Ritualistic behaviors, such as the meaningless repeating of words or actions, are symptoms of O.C.D. as well as, compulsive hoarding, hyper vigilance, social isolation, agitation and hyperactivity. It's a havoc wreaking and burdening disorder but is often written over as someone's desire for cleanliness or organization.
By Sarah Fennell8 years ago in Psyche
What Not to Say to Someone Who Is Depressed
I’ve struggled with depression my whole life, and every day it’s a new challenge seemingly more difficult than the last. Because mental illness is still greatly stigmatized, it can be unnerving to even think about opening up to others. When opening up to someone about depression, (on top of the feelings of crippling anxiety) is the usually crushing or straight-up insensitive responses. So here I have compiled some thoughts on things NOT to say to someone with depression.
By Ollie Greene8 years ago in Psyche
