CONTENT WARNING
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A Monster Under My Bed
There is a monster under my bed. It whispers to me. “You can’t,” it hisses, “you wouldn’t, you shouldn’t, you aren’t.” I am nine years old. My best friend is Gladys. We watch Clueless and make a pact. Tomorrow, we promise, we will each dress in a plaid matching outfit like Cher and Dionne. I uphold my promise. Gladys does not. Snickers fill the classroom. A kind teacher with curly blonde hair and warm, biting humor whispers to me, “I admire your bravery in expressing yourself.” I think that she thinks it helps, somehow. It doesn’t. That night, the monster whispers, too. “Idiot. Outcast. Weird. Why can’t you just act normal? Just blend in and things will stop being so hard. But you don’t know how to do that, do you? Freak.” I ask my mom if I can clean out my closet. “I’m too old for that stuff,” I meekly justify.
K. StocktonPublished 3 months ago in Psyche - Content Warning
The Dark Truth
I want to start with something that is hopefully obvious... Eating disorders should NOT be glamorized. Some of the stuff in here is well known but other stuff isn't as obvious unless you deal with or have dealt with them in the past.
Rene PetersPublished 3 months ago in Psyche - Content Warning
Against My Will
I have never shied away from writing about my life with bipolar disorder. I firmly believe mental health is something that should be talked about, not hidden away like some dirty little secret. That is how we remove the stigma of mental health disorders.
J. Delaney-HowePublished 3 months ago in Psyche - Content Warning
A Life for a Life
My mother planted her voice deep inside my mind. A voice so obnoxious and strident that my autonomy collapsed into a dark corner. She taught me that love was synonymous with abusive control. She mentally imprisoned me to behave only in ways that appeased her. Her love, kindness, and care would vanish when I stepped out of line. Poof! Gone in a cloud of her cigarette smoke. For thirty years, I was chained to her every desire. Each decision I made, person I dated, or friend I had was all for her approval, her favor, her love. In her eyes, if I truly loved her, I would live my life for her. A life that she never got to live. A life that was stolen from her.
Kaneene PinedaPublished 3 months ago in Psyche - Content Warning
Addiction
Introduction Addiction has a huge impact on society in ways we are just beginning to understand, it's affecting individuals and communities in diverse ways. Traditionally it's associated with substance abuse, addiction manifests in various forms, ranging from compulsive shopping to disordered eating and problematic online pornography use (POPU). These addictive behaviors can disrupt lives, strain relationships, and undermine well-being, posing significant challenges to both individuals and the world at large.
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Why Troubled Children Have an Increased Trauma In Society
As a former "troubled child" I learned two things normal communication even in the 90s was difficult for me. One, I learned no one listens. Two, if I have a meltdown I will be restrained. Most troubled children like myself when restrained by professionals who wouldn't listen to me traumatized me enough but being able to not move embraced with a professional gripping my hands. That was beyond traumatizing. I didn't know this was still a common practice until I overheard one of my peers who is a major in Psychology interning at some nonprofit agency that's similar to the 90s verse of Latch Key.
Louise Blake-Michael (Risen Phoenix)Published 3 months ago in Psyche - Content Warning
Little Blue Pills
The bottle is filled to the brim - 90 pills for 90 days. The capsules crowd together like a field of tiny blue flowers, overlapping, blending together. “So it’s finally come to this,” I think, extracting a single capsule and letting out a deep exhalation before swallowing it down. It strikes me as fitting that the oldest SSRI is a lovely shade of bright blue. Taking blue pills to kill my blues. It oughta be a country song.
Kerry KehoePublished 3 months ago in Psyche - Content Warning
Vanishing Trails: Mysterious Disappearances in National Parks
Is it possible for someone to completely disappear off the face of the Earth, leaving no clue to their fate? Or go missing for days, unable to remember what has happened to them? Worse still, meet their death in bizarre circumstances with no plausible explanation? In this exploration, we delve into 10 cases where individuals ventured into national parks and never returned, echoing David Paulides' belief that these cases and hundreds like them are unusual and mysterious. With the lack of any other explanation, one must ponder: Is there something about national parks and other forested areas around the world that pose an unknown but sinister danger to us all?
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I don't want to kill you
There's an unknown hand in the darkness. That's it, I can't describe it to you. It's just a hand, that's unknown and it's in darkness. All I can really tell you about this hand is that it seems very passionate about my stomach. As if there's a surprise hiding beneath me like it's ready to open a jack in a box. I wonder why this unknown hand likes my stomach so much. I like that name, unknown hand.
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My Mother's Secret
I want to make it clear that I do not consent to this story being shared anywhere else. However, I will share my personal experience. When I was 17 years old, I became pregnant with my son. At that time, my family was going through a difficult period. My mother was struggling with depression and disconnected from her husband and our family. She became addicted to the computer, leaving me, as a pregnant teenager, to take care of my younger brother.
RealRedFoxPublished 4 months ago in Psyche - Content Warning
Pharmaceutical and supplement journey
Get on those antidepressants, kid! I started pharmaceutical medications in 2020 (and no, not COVID-19 related) to ease some delirious symptoms churning inside my head. My biggest regret was research - specifically, a lack of it on my end.
Kalina BethanyPublished 4 months ago in Psyche - Content Warning
I Feel Powerless
Rough morning, already wake up to my husband calling me I was happy about that. I know it has nothing to do with me per say. I wish there were laws with countries that protected others. Unfortunately, that's not how the world works. My toxic mother-in-law has crossed the line many times. Involving me and my husband, I never had a choice the way she fights is like a cobra with psychological warfare. I never know when she will strike, I wish I had a cigarette this morning. She has stolen my husband's money, she has stole what little found he has to find my nephew instead of walking her fucking lazy ass to the story because taking my husband's food is more I don't know demented. I don't have a choice it's not like my mother no Petra Aurelien is relentless. There are rats in the house, garbage around the outside and food set in the open. I wish my husband would just report her to the cops and she would be sent to Jail and my father in law walks around the house in front of my husband traumatizing him further he is naked. When I was there thankfully, he never did that, but there attitudes have changed to show there true colours. What's worse is I've not seen my husband in a year and I get to witness all this shit and not have a say on my husband's safety. Do you know how it feels I can't do anything about this. I'm tired of seeing him suffer no one deserves this. With each passing day, my husband sinks deeper into depression and the only thing protecting him is God. My worst fear is what if these people take things to far and he can't take it no more and tries to take his own life. I want justice for everything they did to him thus far I want justice so bad I crave it. I will not lose my husband anymore; I wish there was a way to report these crimes even though I'm all the way here.
Louise Blake-Michael (Risen Phoenix)Published 4 months ago in Psyche