"Normalcy" can be a little deceiving. No one expects you to be Mary fucking Poppins, okay?
Tag: GAD
A Psychiatrist Endangered My Life and I Was Afraid to Speak Out
Folks who have never struggled with their mental health seem to think of psychiatry as a quick and easy fix. Pop some happy pills and ta-daaaa! Your struggles will magically dissolve. What these folks fail to understand (other than, like, how psychiatric medications actually work) is that, for many of us who are in the [...]
Why I’m “Out” as a Person with Mental Illness
Content notice: suicide. This piece was originally published at The Body Is Not An Apology. Far and away, the most frequently asked question I receive as a writer with bipolar and anxiety is, “How did you get to a place where you could be this open about your struggles?” It’s usually followed with a question [...]
You Are Not a Burden, and 4 Other Things I Wish I’d Known About Mental Illness
Illustration by Jessica Krcmarik. This might as well be part two, because quite a while back, I wrote a pretty exhaustive list of things that newly-diagnosed folks with bipolar might want to know. This might just be an ongoing series where readers have the privilege of learning from my mistakes, because I’ve made more than [...]
A Guide to Self-Care for People with Anxiety
[The image features a metal case, presumably a first aid kit, with the words "SELF CARE" on top.] Holy anxiety, batman. If there's one thing readers want to hear more about, it's my experiences with anxiety -- namely, how I cope with it. It seems like a lot of us are still trying to [...]
I Take “Crazy Pills” and I Am Not Ashamed
[The illustration features a place mat with an array of breakfast foods and coffee. A pair of arms rests on the mat. One hand is holding a spoon; the other hand is clutching onto a pill bottle.] I remember the first "crazy pill" that I ever took. I was on vacation in Tennessee, sitting on [...]
If It’s Not Accessible, Who Is It For?
Since going viral last October, the invitations to speak at conferences and other events have slowly but surely started trickling in. At first, it was thrilling. I’ve always wanted to travel and talk about my experiences, because I still believe that face-to-face interaction does something that my words on the screen simply can’t. I wanted [...]
