Anxiety isn’t a four-letter word. It’s not something you should feel embarrassed to say in front of your friends and family. It’s an ugly reality for anyone that experiences it. I’m lucky to have had a support system while my anxiety reared its ugly head, but not everyone is and not everyone understands. The first [...]
When I was growing up, we had a clawfoot tub- no shower- and while it was inconvenient at times, it became very comfortable to relax in. After a long day of wrestling practice, or biking across town to play pickup football with my friends, a nice long hot soak was the perfect remedy for my [...]
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by abnormal social behavior and failure to understand reality. Common symptoms include false beliefs, unclear or confused thinking, hearing voices that others do not, reduced social engagement and emotional expression, and a lack of motivation. People with schizophrenia often have additional mental health problems such as anxiety, depressive, or [...]
I don’t want to be disabled but I am. I have multiple disabilities. I don’t even know if I like the word disability. Dis-ability – it’s so negative. In the 1990s when I was growing up, you insulted another person by “dissing” them. When I hear the word disability, I feel that I’m being dissed [...]
I’m a 27-year-old native New Yorker with the accent to boot. Yes, I’m that New Yorker that rolls my eyes at the vacation “zombies” that clog the sidewalk and I’m not afraid to tell them where they can put it as soon as they start getting full of themselves. Even when I moved to Massachusetts [...]
The Nature of the Beast BY: David. A. Katz July 7th 2018 We talking human nature here Remember the movie, ‘Dances with wolves? What I remember most, were two young male members of the tribe the soldier befriended. One is gay and accepted with disregard to his effeminate nature. The other is a non-neuro-typical warrior [...]
I once heard a great quote: The body is a museum of everything that ever happened to it. I once had a temporary exhibit that seemed permanent: Vaginismus, though it was years before I knew what it was called. It was the result of an attempted rape when I was 11, and growing up with [...]
I have been going to therapy for five years and I am not ashamed of it. However, if someone would have asked me about it... I would probably lie; or flat out change the subject. I was 20/21 when I first experienced a panic attack at college. To be honest, I sort of do not [...]
That Time My Therapist Told Me I Wasn’t Raped — And Other Ways People Dismissed My Body I can’t remember when it started. I remember looking up at my mother, perhaps age 4, and she was trying to get me to eat a cookie, saying I wouldn’t get fat, that it was OK. I [...]
“It’s Not Me, It’s My Brain” -- Sarah Comerford Recently I wrote the introduction to the fourth Stigma Fighters anthology. It was a proud moment for me. I’ve been with this organization since its inception, and I am thrilled how far we’ve come. I mention this in the introduction, but I also mention how far [...]
