Hussein’s Story Hussein was born November 5, 1996. His parents were happy to have him. They had tried for years to get pregnant and his older brother was born just over 12 months prior to Hussein. His parents separated when he was three and he lived with his biological mother and grandmother until he was six. [...]
The Pendulum Even now I can hear the grandfather clock’s pendulum swinging. It is more difficult for me to pull up the other sounds that once made up a more detailed and rich soundtrack but this loss is what my therapist would call a gain. For a significant part of my life I would have [...]
Misunderstood Ever since I can remember I have always felt very different to the environment & surroundings that I was brought up in. I was always feeling like I didn’t ‘fit in’ or that people, family members & my peers accepted me. I had multiple bouts of depression, but the first experience I was still [...]
Confession I am not disabled. I do not have a mental illness. I have no addictions to speak of, other then burgers and matzo ball soup (especially when stressed), but I'm pretty sure I can stop whenever I want to. Maybe. I don't abuse my son or my dog or my spouse. I have never [...]
You will not find my picture in the dictionary next to ADHD. But, I have it. I am not a hyperactive eight-year old boy. I am a 40-year old woman. My diagnosis came at the age of 39, after a lifetime of anxiety, crushing self-expectation, even more crushing self-disappointment, and a healthy serving of feeling [...]
Borderline Personality Disorder – my experience This article was written by me in April 2011. So much has happened since then, and I have recovered from BPD and OCD (coping with anxiety and depression),but I do not stop fighting to beat the stigma surrounding mental health issues and am currently studying to be a counsellor [...]
Pressing the Button It was one of the hardest things I’ve done. Clicking the button that would say: “I’m one of you. Those thoughts you have, about the world, about yourself, those depressing, self-deprecating thoughts – I have them, too.” Did I really want to expose my private thoughts? Did I really want to link [...]
I am not a snowflake. Of late, this has been my mantra. Mainly it’s because I have been struggling to write a decent query for my novel, and every time I feel sorry for myself I remember that this is not my struggle alone, but that of every writer dreaming of publishing. However, when I [...]
I wrote an article for Psychology Today entitled I'm Taking Crazy Back. I have been called crazy too many times to count, and by the 100th time it gets old. Crazy is a derogatory word. It is discriminatory. I wrote this piece to clarify how offensive this word is. You can read that article here [...]
Depression has always run in my family. Before they talked about it, most people would just call it alcoholism or addiction. Depression is the cause and alcohol & drugs were just attempts to self medicate. The need to feel good out-ranked the after effects. My dad always had an addictive personality, whether it was Pepsi or [...]