Hi! My name is Rich and I live a happy life. I live with schizophrenia and depression daily, but enjoy my life to the fullest extent I can. It's been a long road to get to this point, but I'd like to share my journey with you. Back in 2001, I was working in a [...]
I follow Stigma Fighters and admire the courage of those who have "come out" before me and shared their stories. This is the first time I've gone public with this and in all honesty I am feeling levels of increased anxiety and vulnerability with literally every letter I type. A firm believer in the idea [...]
I didn't want to have something "wrong" with me. Certainly not a mental disorder. March 1984, The night I opened the doors into a big hotel lounge in Dallas, filled with friends, mostly strangers. All just having a good time. My heart started racing. My hands were sweaty. The walls of the room seemed to [...]
I was at work when I found out Jason had died. Everything else in the world went blurry. Jason is dead. Shit. I looked around my little window-less office, “I think I think I have to go home now.” Fuzzy thoughts wondered if I needed special permission to go home early from work. He wasn’t [...]
My flesh is raw, open, sore, red. It hurts. I want the pain to stop, but it's new. I can feel the place where it struck me... HARD. FAST. The words they burn my skin. I want to turn away. I want to let it heal. I want it to all be over and done [...]
I don’t really remember a time when I wasn’t experiencing some type of turmoil in my life, however small. I grew up with 4 older brothers and an older sister. They all took their fair share of recreational drugs or drank alcohol. They caused my parents many sleepless nights. Unfortunately, at an early age I [...]
I am a Survivor of Suicide By Kurt Cunningham I tried to end my life one night after having a wonderful fun-filled evening with friends. It was in November 2012 — I had a plan in place for months. Not one person had any idea what I was planning to do. After a series of [...]
I was born in 1980 into a family that had a long history of mental illness and disability, most notably severe Bi-Polar Disorders, clinical depression, and GAD. Two relatives committed suicide in the last 80 years, one to a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the other by throwing himself under a train (my grandmother has been in [...]
I've always thought of it as having a skin too few. The stupidest things upset me. I can be happy and content but one prick and I deflate with a sick feeling of futility and inadequacy acidic in my stomach. As a child I never seemed to get it right. I would greet beloved relatives [...]
She was weak. He didn't try hard enough. She was lazy. He didn't appreciate his life. She's not sick. She doesn't look sick. He gave up. She gave up. He wasn't thinking about his family. She was only thinking of herself. He had a choice, he chose to be depressed. Smile. Fake it. Act happy [...]