Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Psyche.
Eternal Battle
Hi. My name is Serena, I’m eighteen years old and this is my story. Growing up in an average middle class American family, you could say I had my share of troubles. I went to a public high school, had my group of friends that my parents did not like, but the one thing I did not have, was whatever I wanted. I guess now that I look back on that, it was a good thing. I had to work for what I wanted. My parents would rarely let me do whatever I wanted to do. They were super strict and, in all honesty, I did not like it. I wanted to do what I thought was best for me. I would skip class and say I was doing something when I was really doing something else. I would tell my parents that I was studying with friends when I was really partying. I would do anything that would get me a popular reputation at school. I would steal, do drugs, party every night, you name it, I would do it. Yet, I was still an all star volleyball player. The coaches didn’t want to say anything because I was their best. I was the best at my job, I would help any customer in any way I could. I had the leading roles in any play I was in. I put my heart and soul into what I knew I was good at.
By Emily Karhoff8 years ago in Psyche
How Working as a Retail Assistant Saves My Life Every Day
I moved to the United Kingdom four years ago for study purposes. A year ago I fully came to the realization that I did not arrive by myself. Without previously noticing, I also took anxiety and depression with me as baggage. After one year, I still do not know when the feelings of unavoidable worry started or why I feel sometimes so low that crying seems like the best way to spend my days. However, what I know is that I push myself gently every day to wake up in the morning, to get up from the bed and to smile at people. What makes my situation much easier is a part-time job of R]retail assistant. Not only because I look forward to starting my shift every time, but also because it worked for me better than any therapy.
By Katka Krajcirovicova8 years ago in Psyche
My Dad Is Mentally Ill
Today while watching an episode of ER, a sub-story triggered a long held memory. A six-year-old boy had just found out his mother was a paranoid schizophrenic, and although just a show, I felt his sadness to my core...because I, too, have lived this life.
By Crystal Damato-Pineda8 years ago in Psyche
Suicide Survivor
So, my kids' dad and I split up almost a year ago. We were having issues for quite some time, he says that it was before I even got pregnant that they started. After I had the twins it became worse and worse. I was constantly home with the kids alone while he was out working or doing his kickboxing. My mother in law would come and help me as much as she could. When we split I pretty much went into a downward spiral. We had voluntarily signed custody over to his parents while we figure ourselves out because neither of us were financially or mentally capable of being full time single parents doing it all on our own.
By Brie Smalley-Melmore8 years ago in Psyche
Nervousness
The decision to see a therapist was not an easy one to make. It was a constant nudge in the back of my brain for months until a rough night of insomnia forced me to finally make the call, and wait anxiously. Once the day came for me to sit in front of this welcoming stranger, chosen for me by an in-take specialist, a tremendous amount of guilt pounded in my body. I began to shiver, like I was cold, though the Arizona temperature was a comfortable sixty degrees for January. This feeling I knew well. If you were ever sitting right next to me when this reaction appeared, you'd never know. It was a very internal environment. And it was ruining my life.
By Jacqueline Tomlinson8 years ago in Psyche
My Story of Violence
(Disclaimer: Sorry for the length, much was cut before the final version, i hope you see it through.) This is not a world history lesson or even a political narrative, this is a story about something I struggle with, an addiction which there is no rehab for, least not in the way I could have once used it. This is the story about my relationship and domination of violence.
By Shamus Roan8 years ago in Psyche
Anxiety Struggles - Day 1
Hello all, I used to write all the time and sort of fell out of it for no real reason why and lately, I have felt like I should get back into it and I figure it will also help me to make sense of all my anxiety struggles that have been happening for the last 4 weeks or so.
By Shannon Long8 years ago in Psyche
Mental Health & Gaming
I’m sat on a wooden bench in a misty seaside town on the south coast watching the lights shimmer out across the sea, pondering the journey that has led me to this spot again whilst the December air bites at my face. I used to come here as a young teen when my head was full of girls, confusion, football, video games, and American films from the 80s. Not much has changed apart from now it’s late at night and I’ve come here to smoke a cigar as I feel I can justify one every now and then, having quit smoking years ago. I have come to a local pub to write this article to get out of my dad's spare room where I reside at present due to various different circumstances. I am 37 and play video games.
By Andrew Foster8 years ago in Psyche
Identifying with the Monster
I knew I didn't fit from a very young age. Later, therapists would tell me I'd suffered from mental illness since childhood, that the way I left my body to live inside my own imagination was a clear sign of a hurting and unhappy child. Perhaps the other children (and even some adults) picked up on that, or perhaps they could smell the queerness on me like fresh blood, but whatever it was, the result was the same.
By C. B. Blanchard8 years ago in Psyche
Children and Mental Health
Mental health is something that in general is overlooked in many countries. In the UK there are approximately 1 in 4 people that will experience a mental health problem in each year, and in England alone 1 in 6 people report experiencing a common mental health problem in any given week (https://www.mind.org.uk/)
By Nadine Walkinshaw8 years ago in Psyche
