America’s history with alcohol and drugs has been a complicated one. We are one of only a handful of Western countries that has at one pointed banned liquor and when compared with other parts of the world our drug laws seem arcane. Yet we also have a culture that is all but centered on the [...]
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 [...]
Hunger: A Poem in Two Parts Part One: Far Too Long She was gone too long, my daughter. Wrapped in Calvin Kleins that showed how flat her stomach really was. I watched her eat all the fettuccine, even slurping the noodles, nodding approval at me, letting me know I could cook this supper one more [...]
I have bipolar I/manic phase disorder. The psychotic symptoms and/or tendencies I get during mania episodes include schizophrenia, paranoia, and delusions (which are different from hallucinations). I was first hospitalized when I was a little over seventeen and a half, and off and on for over thirty years. There was no such diagnosis for Bipolar [...]
I am Lilly Hope Lucario. I am a survivor of considerable, severe, multiple complex trauma. I am a survivor of decades of sexual, physical, emotional, mental, psychological, verbal and spiritual abuse. This started in early childhood. And continued on in my adulthood. I am a writer, blogger, advocate and I am currently writing my first [...]
Wake up, have a cup of coffee, have four medicines with it. Feel bad about yourself, look into the mirror, feel guilty. Lie down on your bed, get paralysed, think of everything you could accomplish but you can't move enough to do it. Silently you somehow slip into sleep again till a panic attack wakes [...]
I'm writing this article in light of the news that I read by the woman found hanged at Hull Mental Health Unit . I wasn't a close friend as such , but we was both patients at the unit at the same time, consequently forming some sort of bond during our stays. I too am [...]
By: Keisha K. Page I don’t know exactly when I developed anxiety. I’ve always been the type of woman who would trust that gut feeling; for me, the gut feeling was literal. If something were bothering me, I would feel a tightening in my lower belly. Some days, it would be so intense that my [...]
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 [...]
