There may be people in your life who do not understand that you have a mental illness. Well, let's rephrase that: they might not know how to relate to you because they can't conceptualize what mental illness is, and how it impacts your life. These folks can include your family members, which makes matters more [...]
Every time a feeling pops up, I crush it down. I don't have a license to feel. I'm not equipped with the capacity to process what these things are. I'm not sure where they came from or what their purpose is but I don't have tools to handle all these emotions. The worst part is [...]
Hiding my depression as a teenager, in some ways, was easy. I was an actress, so I became adept at acting "normal." I was great pretending not to be depressed. Holding my emotions inside became habitual. It was something that I believed was necessary so that people weren't worried about me or worse, judgmental of my stability. In the [...]
Many of us have an addict in our lives, whether that person's addiction is alcohol, drugs, food, gambling, compulsive spending or sex it's still an addiction. People associate getting sober as something we do from drugs and alcohol, but it can be a variety of things. Regardless of what the "drug" of choice is, it's difficult [...]
For years I thought I was not worthy of love. He told me all the things I was doing wrong and how I had failed my family. I believed him because he seemed like he knew everything and I wanted him to love me. It was difficult to accept that he did love me and this [...]
As a child I was introverted. I lived in my own small world where I imagined different scenarios. I thought about safe imaginary places where my brain was calm instead of what was actually happening inside. There is much of being a small child that I can't actually remember. I recall bits and pieces of [...]
To our valued readers, contributors, and community members: Today I write to you on behalf of Stigma Fighters’ Board of Directors and our CEO, Sarah Fader, to express our most deeply felt apology for any offense that was caused by a recent article published to our blog, “MeToo? Probably Not.” Your feedback is valuable and [...]
We've heard people talk about others having "anger issues," but that could mean a lot of things. There are specific mental illnesses that have anger as the primary symptom. For example, Intermittent explosive disorder (IED) is an illness that is characterized primarily by the person being extremely angry. Someone with IED has severe impulse control. [...]
My feelings are real no matter what you say. My emotions have power no matter if you acknowledge them or not. I've realized that you aren't healthy for me. I step into the fire when I pay attention to the words that you spew at me. I don't know how to leave what we have. [...]
What the hell are all these feelings? By Aaron Smith What are these things in our chest, derived from somewhere deep in our psyche? We call them happiness, anger, sadness, joy. We feel these things as the days go by, but what are they exactly? Are they just arbitrary spasms of brain chemistry? Are they [...]
