“Imagine if something in your brain was telling you to act a certain way, a way that you knew in hindsight was dangerous but you still didn’t know know what to do. Imagine being at your lowest, being seduced by this voice that sucks you in, makes you feel valued, takes all that pain away… [...]
Living As A Highly Sensitive Person & Learning To Manage Your Mind I've been a highly sensitive person with anxiety, and depressive moods my whole life. But I’ve never been officially diagnosed. It should have been obvious from the beginning. My parents moved house to send me to a safe junior school. My first school [...]
Fall in love with your future self By Tristan Miller A problem often faced by those who have mental health issues is that investing in your future. For those who have ADHD, PTSD, and depression, this is particularly difficult. When one has these issues, it is difficult to imagine a future, let alone a pleasant [...]
It started when I was 13, but I didn’t know what my problem was until college. In my early teenage years, I became the typical “moody teenager” and spent a lot of time alone. I understand now that I’m an introvert, but the way my mother talked about my lack of popularity made me feel [...]
Reflections on Depression Writing, like everything else in this complex web of life, must find a state of balance. While I do believe that it is important for me to document my experiences with depression, I also know the wonders that come from writing in the present tense and with the purpose of practicing gratitude. [...]
Depression and any other mental illness doesn't care about how old you are. Teenagers suffer from mental illness like adults do. Just because you’re a teenager doesn’t mean that your depression is a phase. Teenagers can have clinical depression and it is extremely real. It isn’t fair to judge them that way, to believe they can't have mental illness [...]
Counsel me. Tell me what to do. I want you to be present for me. I need you to tell me what to do because I can't figure it out. I'm lost, and you're my sheep, guiding me through the field. Here in this dark cave, there's no flashlight. Underneath the moon, I've never seen anything [...]
The hardest thing to do after being inpatient is to return to the real world. Everything is so different whether you are in there for months, weeks or just a few days. My first in-patient stay, in 2006 after the birth of my daughter, lasted 12 days within two bleak corridors designated for the mentally [...]
I recall sitting in her office. She was warm and had a lovely smile. My childhood therapist. I didn’t know her name and I had no idea why I was there but my parents took me to her every week after nursery school. I played with G.I. Joe’s small plastic figurines; they were always saving [...]
I’ve always been the quiet kid. I was always described as “shy” or “bashful.” I rarely volunteered to read to the class or present my project. I had to be strong-armed into doing a lot of social events. School. Church. Work. If there was going to be people there, then I was terrified to go. [...]
