If my mental illness was my name, then I would have to be introduced: Bipolar Disorder, General Anxiety Disorder, Attention Deficit Disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and Short-term Auditory Memory Dysfunction. A mouthful to be sure, and not a name I’m too chummy with. Then there is one that I rarely tell anyone. It’s the reason [...]
The Mental Health System Has Failed Me...ALMOST!!! This essay is about the six million times I have been failed by the mental health system. If you have read my essay in the first Stigma Fighters Anthology, you know I have been in an out of psychiatric hospitals and have seen countless providers for medication management. [...]
I Have A Fabulous Life... And A Mental Illness I remember eating lunch in a bathroom stall in high school. That sucked. I think the bathroom might be the worst place ever to each lunch. It’s lonely and... it smells like poop. My heart breaks for that girl in the bathroom, quickly eating her ham [...]
I don't like needles. I don't like the idea of a permanent commitment. And I certainly don't like doing things that make me nervous. So why would I choose to get a tattoo? There has been a lot of news lately regarding the Semicolon Tattoo Project. People have shared that their tattoo is a commitment [...]
Should I Have Become A Mother? My greatest gift in this world is my daughter. She exudes so much love, and yes quite a bit of whininess, but she is a wise and kind being. And I probably never should have had her. I look back on my life and see the pain, the craziness, [...]
TURNING A FAMILY CURSE INTO A BLESSING My name is Tom and I was diagnosed on Good Friday 1993 with bipolar disorder. The diagnosis came too late to save my marriage and my career as a professor of broadcasting at a small Christian college in Arkansas. It could have saved my brother’s life, too, but [...]
Mommy Is Not Going To Kill Herself Recently my young daughter, Sophia, has forced me to listen to a popular local radio station. Normally, I enjoy what I call classic rock (or 80s rock which makes me feel old now that it's called 'classic'). I gave in to her request being that her recital songs [...]
The Darker Side of Synesthesia I consider myself a synesthete. Sight, sound, and touch are a single, unified sense for me. Input from one triggers immediate, involuntary input from the other two, brings immediate emotional and physiological changes. A window creaks: a flash of blue; parts of my body feel like they’re ballooning away; my [...]
When I was 14 I met my best friend at school. We became inseparable and I was closer to her than anyone else. She moved away in her early 20’s and our friendship remained as strong as ever. As we did not live close to each other we would text and call all the time. [...]
Saying Goodbye to Dark Sources “But love is not a transaction. Love is transcendent—it transcends language and material possessions and can be shown only by our thoughts, actions, and intentions.” -Joshua Fields Millburn This past winter, I found myself sitting in my car on the verge of ending it. I could go to the corner [...]
