coping
Life presents variables; learning how to cope in order to master, minimize, or tolerate what has come to pass.
ADHD Life. Top Story - January 2026.
I had to meet with psychiatrist they said. My appointment was at two pm. Okay, so I should go grocery before but my appointment is at two though. I don’t want to be late. So I should go after…? Right? Or will the store be closed by then? Or I could go tomorrow and order in today. Yeah, I will order in food that’s safe, I don’t need to leave my house. It’ll get done then. So then all I did was wait. It’s like being in a waiting room in your own house. I checked to make sure zoom was working so I can have this appointment. The appointment started and the psychiatrist looked at me and said “it sounds like you might have ADHD” and she noted something down. Wait. What? Then something started to make sense. Is that why I spent most of my days in the classroom daydreaming? Yes. Is that why I had to click my pen at work? Yes. Is that why I am consistently interrupting others? Probably. Do I overshare at work? 100% is that why I can never enter a grocery store and just get what I need? Yes. Literally, today I walked into Walmart “All I need is a stapler” I told myself before I walked in. All I need is a stapler okay? Oh what’s that the make-up aisle. I wonder if they have E.l.f. Oooo yes and it’s on sale score! Right. Stapler, new Nicholas Spark book? I’ll take that! That reminds me I need a library card. Wait. Stapler. I found the stapler and then I looked over the clothing aisle. I did lose that shirt, just a white tank top. Yes, okay I need to leave. And like that I spent 38$ ouch. The stapler cost me 5$.
By Adrianna M. Braun8 months ago in Psyche
Essence, Embodiment, and Relational Reality
The Failure of Reduction and the Need for Synthesis There is a persistent failure in many modern attempts to explain what a human being is. Some frameworks reduce the person entirely to matter, insisting that identity, consciousness, morality, and meaning are nothing more than emergent properties of physical processes. Other frameworks move in the opposite direction, detaching spirit from reason and grounding belief in intuition alone, often at the cost of coherence or accountability. Both approaches fail because both misunderstand essence. One denies that essence exists at all. The other treats it as something vague and undefinable.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast8 months ago in Psyche
Resistance Is Not the Enemy
Iron sharpens iron. Brakes save lives. Friction preserves form. Modern culture treats resistance as failure. Anything that slows momentum is framed as obstruction, anything that introduces friction is assumed to be opposition, and anything that interrupts progress is labeled a setback. But this instinct misunderstands how both physical systems and human growth actually work. Resistance is not inherently hostile. In many cases, it is the only thing preventing collapse.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast8 months ago in Psyche
The Refiner’s Fire Is Not the Whetstone
There is a difference between being sharpened and being transformed, and confusing the two leads to frustration when growth does not feel productive. Sharpening implies refinement of existing form. Fire implies change in composition. Both processes are uncomfortable, but they operate on different levels and for different purposes. When people expect sharpening and receive fire instead, they often assume something has gone wrong, when in reality something deeper is taking place.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast8 months ago in Psyche
You See From Where You Stand
"The room remains full whether you can see it or not." One of the most persistent misunderstandings about perception is the assumption that seeing is the same as knowing. People often believe that if something feels clear, it must be complete, and if something feels obscure, it must be absent. But awareness does not work that way. What you perceive at any moment is not a measure of what exists. It is a measure of what your current position allows to pass through.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast8 months ago in Psyche
You Are Not Empty, You Are Overloaded
You are not empty. You are not broken. You are not dull. - You are overloaded. - People often describe certain mental states as “having nothing in their head,” but that description is almost always inaccurate. What feels like emptiness is usually saturation. The mind has not stopped producing content. It has lost spare capacity. The system is busy allocating energy toward coping, regulating, or enduring, and there is little left over for reflection, synthesis, or creativity. This distinction matters, because mistaking overload for emptiness leads people to judge themselves harshly for conditions that are largely structural and biological.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast8 months ago in Psyche
Let Grief Be Loud.
When I first started writing about grief, I thought it would be too hard, but it turns out to be the easiest thing I’ve ever done. It has been so easy reaching into my soul and spilling my feelings. Whether people read the poems or I’m posting without results, writing about grief and putting it out into the world has been so healing. Though I’ll never heal, I’m thankful for that, because it means I’ll always have something to write about.
By April Kirby.9 months ago in Psyche
