I get asked a lot what it’s like to raise a child that has a severe mental illness. My son Tim has childhood onset schizophrenia, a rare disorder in that this mental illness usually manifests itself in late adolescence or early adulthood, and it is extremely hard to diagnose in children because the visual and [...]
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? A teacher, a doctor, a lawyer? Did it change as you got older? Once I thought I wanted to be a social worker because I thought that was the best way to help people, but I would become so emotional [...]
That ache in the stomach Your heart's pounding Your anxiety's taking over you You feel something's wrong with your body You know something is wrong but the doctors can't put a diagnosis on yours symptoms. No matter how many appointments, blood checks and many exams they put you through. Until one day, in a big [...]
Joy lives here by Christy Abram I won't go... They told me I have to... I dug my heels deep in the earth to escape his strength ... Stop...you can't take me..I won't go... Crooked smiles passed as he led the way... I resisted sprouting obscenities and pulling at his scratchy coat... I won't go, [...]
I have had anxiety for as long as I can remember when I think back about it. I just didn't realize I had it or what it was until I was a bit older. I remember when I was maybe preteen, I would have a bunch of Dr. check ups where I would try to [...]
Father's Day 2015 As emotions ran high, the pills slid down my throat, the world spinning around me, and suddenly I'm 9 years old again. The room is dark. Everyone else my age is at the movies, having sleepovers, But I am alone, too afraid to say a word, too afraid to make friends. My [...]
The holidays can be a stressful time for those of us living with mental illness. There is a lot of pressure to smile and be happy. We are seeing family members that we don't see often. Family can be a trigger for some of us. It's especially challenging to put on a smile or fake [...]
And Depression Is two hands squeezing strangling until you’re dry too dry so dry you wonder if desiccation only happens to corpses Depression is the fear that you’re immortal in a world of goodnight kisses painfully unlaced with cyanide staring into the void and letting it seep in until you are what is left a [...]
Stigma and The Arrest of A 1st Grader I can’t state it enough that stigma and stereotypes are at the root of so many unfortunate events such suicides. Stigma one of the biggest challenges to decreasing suicide can be eradicated. If we as a society want to bring an end to suicide and eliminate suffering [...]
Looking back, troubles followed me for most of my life.. That, or I follow it.. I was sexually abused at 8 on two separate occasions and violently gang raped at 12. These events have played a major role in who I came to be. The out of body experiences had started. We were like gypsies [...]
