Are you worth fighting for? There was a time when we were close. I looked to you as a mentor, a father figure. Now, the only thing you do is criticize me. I wish you could see the good in me. I wish you could support me. I know that you are a narcissist. But, [...]
No matter who we are, no matter the color of our skin, the religion we practice, the socioeconomic status we live in or our sexual preference, we are all living in a stigma. From the day each and every one of us are born we are signed up for a stigma that we never asked [...]
So, I was given the suggestion to write for Stigma Fighters from a contributor – who happens to be one of my closest friends. I have bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety and I happen to hallucinate because of an accident. I am medicated, but sometimes the meds do not work. My coping mechanisms, one of which [...]
The moment I was sat in my room on the bed and the only thing I could see was the stack of tablets in front of me. I overdosed on antidepressants and other household drugs such as paracetamol. Luckily for me the combination was not toxic enough to kill me before I was found by [...]
Have you ever had someone say something hurtful to you and it stick with you all day long? It's hard enough dealing with one person saying hurtful things to you, but to deal with yourself is a totally different matter. That's what my depression is. It's the voices of my two worst enemies berating me [...]
Anxiety Is My Super Power By Shari J. Ryan Sometimes, I care too much about silly things. Silly things like the weather, making mistakes, or whether or not someone likes the person I am or the books I write. I think the way I am may be considered unhealthy to some. However, telling me not [...]
Years of self-deprecation and chronic embitterment gave me pause, and I withheld my Stigma Fighters submission for a week, maybe two, before I finally sent it. Who are you to be glorious, loved, appreciated? You’re not important. You’re damaged goods. Then my ego, viciously overcompensating for my id, chimed in, Besides, who would gain anything [...]
WRITE POETRY, HE SAID At age 38, I was dancing and singing at the top of my lungs in my second-storey apartment, while my two young children slept peacefully in their bedrooms. The year was 1984 and I had no idea my brain was rattling and clanging inside as I experienced my first manic-psychotic episode. [...]
Mental Illness is my mother By A. When I was asked to write for Stigma Fighters by Sarah Fader, I was a bit baffled at first. I don’t suffer from mental illness myself. I thought about it though and decided that maybe, just maybe, there were other people like me. Others who were raised in [...]
What does an anxiety attack feel like? When Sarah Fader first asked me to write for Stigma Fighters a few weeks ago, I initially felt a sudden rush of pride and excitement. I pictured how liberating it would be to finally go public in discussing my anxiety attacks after having bottled it up inside for [...]
