My name is Stefanie, 32 from Oregon. I live with Bipolar, Depression and Acute Stress Reaction Disorder. I have struggled with Bipolar since I was in the 6th grade. It has been a roller coaster ride of trials of medications for me over the years. I got to the point I gave up because nothing [...]
What my mental health failure did and is doing for my future success, Failure is what teaches us valuable lessons. Growing up, my parents encouraged me to go for things I wanted, good or bad and either gain the success or learn from the failure. But one event in my life that I considered an [...]
#WorldSuicidePreventionDay reminded him that it's only the choice of the individual that truly matters. “I know, too, that death is the only god who comes when you call.” (Roger Zelazny, Frost & Fire) Since a young age I’ve thought about death, dying, or suicide almost every day—through adolescence when I had my depressive and “serious [...]
Ceremony It began with miniature bruises, really. An index finger pressed hard onto the septum of the nose. Determined pressure to rid the face of one bony protrusion. Counting to one hundred ten times. A perverted rosary prayer nightly without benefit of bead or crucifix before disappearing into sleep. Cuts followed later. Innocuous little incisions, [...]
I live with: ADHD, depression and anxiety disorder. I have suffered with depression for 5 years and my anxiety for 1–2 years. I also have sensitivity which I get from my mom and I'm still working on coping with better, handling/managing my symptoms, thoughts and actions from the sensitivity. I have fully recovered from my [...]
I Am Your Self Hate I do not want to get better, and I hate these therapy groups you go to. I will not let you feel anything but the suffering I believe you deserve. I will drive everyone who is close to you away with my wicked ways. I don’t want to have fun. [...]
Trigger warning: I go into a bit of backstory regarding how my super religious homeschooled upbringing changed how my mental health as a teenager was/wasn’t treated. Some of this content could be triggering. In the deep South, you go to church every Sunday, say “y’all”, and always properly address your elders. You drink sweet tea [...]
Mervyn Kaufman gives voice and color to the full range of emotions he experienced while seeking help to treat his depression. Who knew that this wimpy guy with a wispy beard was actually tough enough to help me turn my life around? He was of medium height with sloping shoulders and a slightly thick gut. [...]
My dear old friend depression used to visit me a couple times a year, then she started coming around once a month, eventually she just moved in. Now I can't imagine not living with her by my side. She sleeps in my bed, she eats my food, she goes out with my friends. At first [...]
It was rare that my sister, Sandi, and I visited my father at the same time, but that summer things had fallen into place, and we spent the last weeks of July crammed into a trailer five miles outside Belton. The trailer was half a century old, eight feet wide and forty feet long, but [...]
