I Am Surely Dying... It truly amazes me how in the matter of just a few days, my body and my brain, can completely double cross me... A friend of mine recently posted how we are less than 200 days away from Christmas. This had me thinking about last Christmas and my immediate family that [...]
ME: Mental illness roared into our family like a freight train in the winter of 2002, when he was seven years old. It was probably always there, like a whisper in the distant woods and even though we knew it was eventually going to find us, there was nothing that could be done to prepare [...]
Have you ever completely lost control? I am not talking about a bad frat party in college, I am talking about when your body and mind don't match up. This can happen in so many ways injuries, illness, today for me it was a massive anxiety attack. I'd suffered from postpartum anxiety after the birth [...]
When you have a mental illness, it’s customary to look back on your life and try to decipher when it all started. I’ll start with this: I’ve always felt different. That might sound cliché, but it’s true. As a teenager, I was quiet. I spent a lot of time locked in my room reading books. [...]
Finding Ways to Control and Cope with Anxiety When I was in high school, my friends and I used to tease my dad mercilessly. Whenever one of my siblings or I wanted to go out, he would ask the same set of questions: “Where are you going? Who’s going to be there? What are you [...]
Dear all, First and foremost my love to you all. My name is Jonny Ward, or the ‘Anxious Fireman’ on Twitter. I am 5’11”, I’m strongly built, a fire-fighter. I enjoy strongman training, travel, adventure, the outdoors and working with my hands. I wear jeans and white t shirts, boots, I sweat! Oh and I [...]
It begins as a slight dizziness, and when I recognize that I’m dizzy, it gets worse and is followed by a tingling sensation in my stomach—almost like butterflies, but much more pronounced. Breathing becomes difficult, black dots dance in front of my eyes. Adrenalin shoots through my body, my skin gets hot and prickly. I’m [...]
So they say life’s a ride – a roller-coaster even. And the people saying that are – quote unquote – normal. If my colleagues, friends and family think this is something akin to the Big Dipper, where does that leave me? Three years ago I fell dangerously ill. A life threatening health issue brought me [...]
The weight on my chest is suffocating. I try to inhale deeply despite knowing what is coming. As my lungs fill, I am forced to stop short. A hand is gripping a balloon in my chest. The deeper I breathe the tighter it squeezes. It's going to pop unless I stop breathing. Sip, sip, sip [...]
It hurts, Ya’ Know by Jacqueline Cioffa The earliest picture I have of me lives in the stories I’ve been told. The image of a sweet, loveable, desired baby girl with sparkly hazel eyes and an infectious, bubbly grin. Can you picture her? In her white crib with pastel yellow and blue painted sheep, beaming [...]
