The Wind. By Valarie Savage Kinney It didn’t happen right away. After my second daughter was born, I was elated. Absolutely over the moon. My baby was beautiful. My baby was perfect. My baby screamed. She screamed through the night, and kept my one year old daughter – and me – awake. She screamed after [...]
I Have Schizophrenia, But Schizophrenia Does Not Have Me by Jonathan Harnisch My name is Jonathan Harnisch. I have schizophrenia with psychotic features, but schizophrenia and psychosis do not have me. I cannot distinguish what is real and what is not real. My thoughts, mood and behavior are altered, and they change frequently. Sometimes I [...]
3 Things All Certified Peer Supporters Need to Know I have been an official peer supporter (completed course work, passed the test for the state of Ohio) for almost a year. Before that, I was trained to facilitate support groups and teach certain courses, and before that, I was a volunteer for a mental health [...]
August 24, 2006. Who knew that when I woke up that morning, it would change my life forever. We all have lots of dates that change our lives. Our birthday, date of marriage, date of divorce, date of graduation, date of children's births, date of deaths, and the list goes on. Having a mental illness, [...]
PTSD: The Illness I Couldn’t See I grew up thinking an “illness” was either fever or croup. Illness was a stuffy nose – a sick-day, an excuse to miss a day of school. At 18 years old, “illness” took on an entirely different meaning. Illness meant waking up from a coma, learning that my stomach [...]
Mania. Depression. Love. Hate. My children were born and my heart was full. My family was complete. The dreams of my husband and I were fulfilled. Snuggling with sweet baby smell. The house exuded hope and promise of new life. Nighttime came along with no sleep, confusing rage, tiny voices squalling in hunger and an [...]
Hello :) My name is David Alberto González. I am a psychologist from Bogotá-Colombia, 22 years old. As soon as I noticed your page on Twitter I felt the impulse to write this right away. Why? Because besides the fact that I'm a psychologist, I have also been a patient, a psychology patient, for a couple -just [...]
Is admitting being a victim of child sexual abuse courageous? There are times I doubt this power as I look at myself in the mirror. I am still remarkably human. The hair fades in color and quantity. The waist still expands as if my stomach had a mind of its own. I still have flaws, [...]
The world was spinning again. It was as though I could hear everything and nothing all at once. A constant buzzing of sound. A voice that I didn’t recognize was trying to explain something, but what was that voice trying to say? It was important, very important. Why didn’t they understand? Why was she looking [...]
This Is What Depression Looks Like Earlier this year, I came off of my antidepressant medication. It was a poorly thought out decision, (I have a pretty difficult history with depression and mental illness), and I did it cold turkey, even though I knew better. Still, I thought I’d be okay. I wasn’t okay. The [...]
