My story is like any other book in an enormous library. Kept for records, collecting dust, sitting in an isolated nook in a forgotten corner. I'm not trying to downplay my struggles. I know that every story has its purpose. It's measure of influence on lives and society. But I also don't want to come [...]
I have struggled with depression for many years. Growing up, I was always bullied and abused by people in and out of my family. I had low self esteem and always thought the worst. I had really bad anxiety, depression, etc. Freshman year, I moved to South Carolina where I thought things would get better. [...]
When you're a teenager one of the last places you expect to end up is on the psychiatric unit of a hospital. Yet that's where I found myself one day when I was 15. My Mother and I had gotten to the emergency department at the city hospital pretty late at night from what I [...]
“How did I get here?” It’s a question I used to obsess over, feeling distraught over what I felt were the world’s standards for my age versus what I had actually accomplished at that point in time. I grieved how much I felt was stolen from me because of my mental illness and wondered if [...]
“I Wanted To Kill Myself” My brain injury changed me and took away my hope, my smile, my laughter, and the life I knew The heaviness of that burden made me want to GO The life I knew had changed so much that a darkness came over me that I could not shake All I [...]
Wounded healers: from clinical psychology to fiction There’s a vivid and visceral description of self-harm in the opening chapter of my novel, Sugar and Snails. When I read it to people who know I’m a former clinical psychologist, I’m often asked if this scene stems from my work. While it’s true that past patients and [...]
I took a bottle of pills when I was fifteen. It wasn’t the right kind, or maybe it was, depending on the desired result. But I was trying to die and I didn’t, so I guess it was the wrong or right kind of pills. I took them to drown out the guilt, the anger. [...]
“The person who completes suicide, dies once. Those left behind die a thousand deaths, trying to relive those terrible moments and understand … Why?” – Clark (2001) I cry every time I speak in public about Jerry’s suicide. Jerry was my little brother. He was 35 and left behind his wife and two little boys. [...]
I have Trichotillomania. Trichotillomania (Trich for short; also known as TTM or hair pulling disorder) is an impulse control disorder characterized by the compulsive urge to pull out one's hair. I've had Trich ever since I was either 16 or just turned 17, my junior year of high school. I'm not sure why or when [...]
No-No’s Things NOT to say to someone who is Bipolar There is a list of things that you should NOT say to someone who is Bipolar. There are so many that to name them all would turn this book into a series. There are some that should be no brainers and considering all the people [...]
