I don’t have the scars anymore and my parents think it was just a plot for attention but I remember running from the ambulance. My friend saw the “cat scratches” on my wrist at youth group, which I’d put there in the first attempt to externally express the internal world I’d known for the length [...]
From Suicidal To Sensational The first time anyone asked if I was out of my mind, I was six years old. With an old towel tied around my neck, I had climbed up to the garage roof and jumped off. If Superman could do it, so could I, right? Even at that tender age, I [...]
Most mornings are the same - I tell H.* to get dressed and he puts his pants on his head while wandering around asking me if I've seen them. I tell him it's time for breakfast and he yells, "You're not the boss of me!" When we leave the house he pretends to hit me [...]
My journey of depression and anxiety has been a family legacy. Family members have each handled it in different ways. Some through gritting their teeth and pushing through. Others handled it by denying that there was anything to address. It is a legacy that has been handed down. Cycle after cycle...one of anger and loss of control [...]
VA: VETERANS ABUSED Help wanted. Help needed. Help sought. None found. Child abuse, sexual abuse, alcohol abuse, domestic violence, military service, service-connected disabilities, high-stress jobs, debilitating injuries, chronic pain, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder…stuff. I’ve got issues. Who doesn’t? I earned mine the hard way, by that I mean as victim or observer or worse, but [...]
I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…but can I? By Buffy Close Once upon a time, I was going to do it all and have it all. I was going to be an actress, a dancer, a singer, a business owner, an author, a teacher, and a psychologist. It sounds [...]
adhd: it is not child's play anymore I’m an adult with a disorder most people think children grow out of. I have ADHD. For those that aren’t “in the know” ADHD is an acronym for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Usually it’s tossed around as a joke. “Oh, I got distracted while I was in the [...]
The funny thing about depression... First of all, let me say that I am in no way making light of any kind of depression... except that I have the less intense kind of depression.... depression light, as it were... I mean, I'm not crushed by overwhelming waves of despair or suicidal thoughts or anything. I [...]
THE DAY MY FATHER COMMITTED SUCIDE My father committed suicide on July 27, 2011. I was the first person to find him. It was a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. When I found him, he was outside, face down, with a .38 revolver in his hand, which I was unaware of him having. He had told me [...]
I like that you don't think I'm weird or crazy. Or think that anything I say doesn't make sense. And if you don't get it...you ask. I like that you make me laugh. I like that you make me cry...in a good way. You ask the right questions. You listen at the right times. I [...]
