recovery

Your illness does not define you. It's your resolve to recover that does.

My Mind at the Movies. Top Story - May 2018.
The first movie I can ever recall seeing was Free Willy. I was only 3-years-old and I have this memory of sitting on the carpet, neck craned, staring directly up at the television as the movie played out. I was completely in awe of everything I was looking at. That may have started my life long love of whales, but I believe it also started my stronger obsession with film. I used to watch that movie over and over again on repeat, sometimes getting up at 5 or 6 in the morning to sneak downstairs and put the tape in the VCR. Eventually, the sound became worn out on all three Free Willy VHS tapes I had.
By Sarah Franchi8 years ago in Psyche
My Story
This covers sensitive topics, so please read at your own discretion. My name is Erika, and I'm 19 years old. Over the course of my high school years, I had two decently large problems: self-harm and an eating disorder.
By Erika Marie8 years ago in Psyche
Wasting Away
Living afraid is not living at all. "What is my purpose in life?" "Why am I here?"... These are the questions I often find myself asking.
By Kayla Leah8 years ago in Psyche
Define Recovery
50 MG I spent the second week of my sophomore year of high school in a psychiatric hospital. What brought me there wasn't the point. Nothing outside of the barred windows mattered the second I was rolled through those doors with my limbs secured and my body exposed to what felt like the entire world.
By Rachel Marie8 years ago in Psyche
Art May Save Your Life
Imagine being underwater and you're swimming to the top and, just when you make it and catch that gasp of air, you're being pushed back down. Sometimes you're deeper. Sometimes the water is calm and quiet. Sometimes there are sharks around you. Sometimes you're completely alone. This is what Borderline Personality Disorder feels like. You're always feeling a different emotion from the last and they come crashing in like sea waves, leaving you breathless. Happy is ecstatic. Love is over joyful. Pain is gut-wrenching. Heartbreak is the end of you. Feelings weigh so much heavier on us than we can handle, so much that we sometimes give up trying to withstand it. Being normal and having normal reactions isn't an option and our coping mechanisms are greatly unhealthy. It's not a rollercoaster to me. It's an abyss. At least you can see where you're going on a rollercoaster ride.
By Jane Insane8 years ago in Psyche
Treating Mental Illnesses with Neuroscience
Approximately one in five adults in the United States experiences some aspect of mental illness in a given year, with one out of twenty-five of them reporting that the mental illness is “serious” and “substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities” (National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2018). In the past, mental health disorders and disabilities have been viewed in a negative light, and treatment for these afflictions has been lacking, if not entirely ineffective. Historically, patients were placed into isolation, often in insane asylums, where they were subjected to repetitive, reprehensible tests. Their skulls were drilled in the process of trephination, blood was drained from their bodies in bloodletting, and bodies were repeatedly purged of their “evil spirits” through ritual religious means. After this heinous poking and prodding came slight medical advances, and many patients were subjected to lobotomies, insulin coma therapy, or Metrazol therapy, in which individuals’ brains were cut, injected with compounds, or compromised in other ways in a vain attempt to “fix” their problems (Hussung, 2016). Despite these somewhat progressive medical treatments, mental illnesses were not cured, and researchers had to look further to discover the proper means of treatment.
By Emily Leister8 years ago in Psyche
My Own Unhappiness. Top Story - April 2018.
PMA Growing up, my father used to tell me that the only person making me unhappy was myself. It was infuriating. Some situation or another had me wallowing in self pity, and here comes dear ole dad telling me to get over myself. Getting over yourself is not an easy feat for a sullen teenager. So I shrugged off his advice and continued on my self destructive path, blaming everyone but myself for my discontent.
By Shelby Schulten8 years ago in Psyche
Mental Health, Alcohol, and Finding Yourself
"Who are you?" "What are your interests?" "What are you good at?" "Where do you see yourself in the future?" All of these questions. At age 23, still unanswered. How do you respond when you haven't known yourself in years, and are unsure if you ever did? My denial started 15 years ago. My diagnoses six years ago. I was always the quiet one. The girl who did not have many friends, and avoided relationships when I could. The girl who could not figure out why she lacked interest in activities. The girl who spent her days sleeping, and in online chat rooms, pretending to be someone else, avoiding actual human contact. At eight years old, all I wondered, is why I was so different than my peers. I spent many years wondering but eventually grew to think that, how I was feeling, was just who I was. I sat envious of the girls who seemed to have it together. The ones who were so popular and made friends easily. When people would try to talk with me, I gave short responses, if any at all. I spent all hour of the day and night locked away in my room, talking to strangers. "I am fine. I just did not sleep well," I would respond when people asked me what was wrong. I would burst into tears in the school counselors office, not knowing why I was crying. I could not control myself. Towards the end of high school, I was asked what I wanted to do in the future. But how could I respond to that question, when I did not see myself being alive after the age of 18. Two failed attempts at my life, and I was determined to get it right eventually.
By L8 years ago in Psyche
To the Girl Who Didn't Eat Today
To the girl who didn’t eat today, I know it’s hard. I’ve been there. I know how it feels. I know what it’s like to go to bed so hungry but so angry at yourself, because how dare you be hungry. You’ve had an apple today. That’s enough, right?
By hannah irelan8 years ago in Psyche
Emetophobia
For many people the title of this piece will be a foreign term. It ends with "phobia," so clearly it is about fear – but of what? A phobia is defined not just as a fear, but as an irrational fear of something. Common phobias include irrational fear linked to fire, spiders, snakes, heights, germs, etc... Emetophobia is a lesser well-known phobia, despite it being not all that uncommon. It is the fear of vomit, vomiting, people who are vomiting or who will potentially vomit. Vomit, vomit, vomit. Even writing that word several times is an exercise in exposure therapy. The mere word can trigger panic.
By Lauren Friesen8 years ago in Psyche
Battling Depression. I Chose to Be Here
12th of October 2009. That’s the date I was diagnosed with Depression, Anxiety and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. I was 15 at the time, in high school, and couldn’t explain or comprehend when I was drowning. I thought I was weak—strong people didn’t need help. I didn’t understand.
By Sophie Rose8 years ago in Psyche
Addiction and Rehab - Everything You Need to Know...
There is still some taboo about rehab, however, it is one of the most effective ways to counter an addiction and despite what you may think, addiction in America is a growing issue with the Surgeon General stating that one in seven Americans will be affected by drug or alcohol addiction, a problem costing the country over $442 billion each year.
By Wilf Voss8 years ago in Psyche