Silus Bedlam – Taming Creativity: Art, Mania and Compartmentalizing the Artistic Process

    Art has an underlying sense of urgency. As an artist, you only have one lifetime to get as much out of your head and onto paper as possible. Unless you are one of a select few that can devote most of their day to creating art, you most likely have limits to your creative time [...]

    By |2019-01-24T22:09:21-08:00January 25th, 2019|Categories: Stigma Fighters|0 Comments

      Amanda Friesenhahn

      Help me understand why only the negative side of those individuals with a mental health disorder is seen. It’s not our fault. Yet we’re being discriminated against who we are, and some of us even punished. We are not crazy. We deserve better treatment than what’s been given to us. Society claims that too much [...]

      By |2019-01-23T19:18:49-08:00January 24th, 2019|Categories: Stigma Fighters|0 Comments

        Manjit Dhaliwal

        ‪I felt the heaviness ‬‪lift, and I stepped into my own skin. ‬ ‪As time went by, the feeling began to grow, one of despair, sadness, and hopelessness. I couldn’t understand why, as I had dropped the coat at the door with all its distastefulness. As I looked down I saw a single thread that [...]

        By |2019-01-22T11:53:49-08:00January 23rd, 2019|Categories: Stigma Fighters|0 Comments

          Janet Coburn – The Difference a Diagnosis Makes

            It has taken me over four decades to get a proper diagnosis and treatment. Here’s how the journey went.   I knew when I was a child that there was something wrong with me. That was all too clear. I was told I was “too sensitive,” which meant to me that there was something [...]

          By |2019-01-19T19:09:09-08:00January 22nd, 2019|Categories: Uncategorized|0 Comments

            Jennifer Lee Smith – My Life As A Mom With Depression

            I’m currently 43. My children are now 26, 18, 16, and 10. I didn’t receive my diagnosis of major depressive disorder until I was 41; therefore, I also received no treatment until that point. I had no idea that I had been suffering from a medical condition for years. I thought I was just pretty [...]

            By |2019-01-19T19:02:48-08:00January 21st, 2019|Categories: Stigma Fighters|0 Comments

              Kat – Consumption

              Consumption It is 2:32 a.m. I have to be up at 9 a.m. But I can’t stop thinking about that time I was in middle school, somewhere between twelve to fifteen, at my friend Monica’s birthday party. We were up late in her parent's basement. The walls were lined with trophies, awards, banners, and family [...]

              By |2019-01-17T19:04:20-08:00January 18th, 2019|Categories: Stigma Fighters|0 Comments

                Anonymous – Overcoming Oppositional Defiance Disorder

                  The past year has been quite a struggle and while we have made improvements, it is far from over yet. Raising a child with ODD brings stress and exhaustion as well as great disappointment in the mental health services that are being offered. The understanding and improvements that we have made so far were [...]

                By |2019-01-15T11:40:15-08:00January 17th, 2019|Categories: Uncategorized|0 Comments

                  Mollie Miller

                  “Another tattoo?”So far, this is the typical, somewhat predictable response I’ve received after people, especially the older generation – no unfair disrespect, just a fair observation – discover the not-so-secret truth that I have revealed a minimal rebellion, once again stealing from the world’s inkwell, stacking my impressive tattoo tally to a gasp-worthy eight. Can [...]

                  By |2019-01-13T20:09:43-08:00January 16th, 2019|Categories: Stigma Fighters|0 Comments

                    Katherine Elizabeth Walsh

                    My whole life, I have been an accident-prone, clumsy person. So much that I have been told often it would be a lot safer for me to go about life inside bubble wrap and a Tupperware container. While working in restaurants I always had a new cut, bruise, or burn. I had whopping cough, two [...]

                    By |2019-01-13T19:50:16-08:00January 15th, 2019|Categories: Stigma Fighters|0 Comments

                      Lauren Kocher – 6 Things I learned while in a Psych Center.

                      When you attempt to play chess with your own brain, you will without a doubt lose. I have been battling with mental illness most of my life. It is a tiring and arduous task. A task, up until this past year, I had managed to some degree. However, I made the mistake of getting cocky. [...]

                      By |2019-01-10T08:15:15-08:00January 14th, 2019|Categories: Stigma Fighters|0 Comments