Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Psyche.
Let's Talk About Mental Health In Gamers and What the Video Game Industry Does About It
Gamers. We need to have a serious conversation. I'm not talking about the conversation you'd have with your mom, dad, cousin, uncle, sister, brother, or whoever about dating or sex. I'm talking about a topic that impacts tens of millions of Americans every day, and people right here in our very own diverse gaming community. I'm talking about mental health issues.
By Dustin Murphy8 years ago in Psyche
Find Your Battle Buddy
Before I begin let me start off by saying depression sucks! Anxiety sucks! "Invisible illnesses" SUCK!Ok I think you get my point now. So what the hell am I doing here? Simple. I want to help others who battle the ups and downs of daily life. Their struggles are not going to single them out. Everyone struggles. Even if you haven't officially been diagnosed with something. Struggle is everywhere; some are just better at hiding it than others.The past month and a half or so I was switched medications (again) for my anxiety, depression, and fibromyalgia. At first let me tell you, THEY SUCKED! I felt like a zombie. Almost drooling on myself and not talking to anyone. Zoning out. Just BLAH. The overall feeling of being numb from head to toe. But after about 3 weeks of taking my medications like I should, I began to feel so much better. I tell you this because I have been that person who hated meds and would not take them religiously. Thought they didn't work. Well the truth is that I didn't let them work. This time I have one of those medicine container things with the days and times. I refill it every Saturday night for the whole week. Sorry, off on a tangent. But I began to feel BETTER. Now, as someone who has struggled on and off with depression for 17 years, feeling "better" is not 100% - even 10% better is better than 2% and that's where I am at now. I am about 10% better than I was a month and a half ago.A month and a half ago I hated life. I wore a smile for my children and coworkers and boyfriend just to make sure they didn't feel the same way as me. And of course to mask my true feelings. I don't cry often but damn when I do, it pours out. There are times I would be driving home from grocery shopping and out of nowhere I'm bawling my eyes out. Just crying hysterically. Wondering what the hell I'm doing here...Hell I even took a picture and posted it on my Facebook.
By Ashley Bone8 years ago in Psyche
Living With Depression
I have depression. And no, I do not mean the "casual sadness" that tends to hit some of us during the holidays, or even that of which hits us whenever something saddening happens in our lives. I have depression, full blown, clinical depression. But what exactly then is depression, if not just being sad a bunch, you ask? Why can I not just go outside more, take some vitamins, exercise and socialize more, that would help, would it not? The best way I can explain it is that it is not that easy. Depression is the constant and severe feeling that you are not good enough and that you never will be good enough. In fact, it convinces you that you never really were good enough in the first place. Depression is a loss of hope, a loss of courage, a loss of a will to live. It is a festering, nagging feeling that cannot be shaken so easily. Sure, I could go outside more, take my vitamins, "get help." But those are all just temporary, short-term fixes to a prominent, long-term problem. Even after trying all of those things, I would still have those terrible thoughts in the back of my mind, I would still have depression.
By Arielle Adornetto8 years ago in Psyche
A Conundrum of Anxiety and Depression
There is so much that can be said about mental illnesses. I mean, I can go on and on about it, but there are two specific ones that I want to personally elaborate on. They are anxiety and depression. I feel like both affect people in different ways but have the same end result: sadness.
By Elysia Taylor 8 years ago in Psyche
How My Anxiety Ruined My Life
When I was in elementary school I have a distinct memory of sitting in my fifth grade class and out of nowhere I just felt...weird. My heart began to beat like crazy, I felt hot all over, almost like my body was becoming engulfed in flames. Though I was sitting still, I felt as though my body was vibrating. All around I felt an uneasy sense of something not being right. I was nine years old. I didn’t know what was happening to me.
By Jade Melling8 years ago in Psyche
Living with Borderline Personality Disorder - the Diagnosis
It took a lot out of me to muster up the courage to make it to my therapy appointment on time. By the time I had gotten dressed, the anxiety of leaving the house had set in. The lurking thoughts of my fear of driving —thanks to my car accident earlier in the year — caused my heart to race. It did not stop pounding on the trip across town, not even as I arrived, only intensified as I entered the behavioral health office. Step one, check, I told myself. I made it to the office. Without making eye contact with the receptionist, I checked in and flipped through our local newspaper (supplied by the office) to try to ease my anticipation. The therapist called my name, led me to her office, and closed the door behind me; not only ensuring my legally-required privacy, but sealing me inside her office to unleash my life story and traumas in what should have taken an hour… but dragged on well past two. She took a long time to think and write down my experiences.
By Jess Didway8 years ago in Psyche
