community stories

When most people think about the holiday season, they think of positive things like quality timewith family, traditions, and good memories. They’ll say “Happy Holidays!” to friends andstrangers alike, and while the intention is usually good, they fail to realize...

A few years ago I tried taking my own life. I jumped 35 feet onto concrete. My brother took his own life when I was 21 so I already felt genetically dispositioned. Right before I jumped I remember thinking all this was too much. I felt I had the weight of the world on...

Talk about Breaking Taboo, right? Perhaps it’s the case that most parents don’t quite understand therapy and all that it has to offer, but immigrant parents are particularly averse to the concept of talk therapy. Maybe it’s tradition, maybe it’s misconceptions, or...

drip drip drip drip The sound of my single serve coffee maker pours out a fresh cup this Monday morning. I start to write in my journal— a scale from 1 to 5. My therapist had me do this exercise ranking how I feel on any particular day; 1 being awful, 5 feeling like I...

I write stories that come from personal truths through authentic life experiences to voice the realities of the human condition to shed light in areas of our darkness. My perception of our world has been shaped and forged by a plethora of experiences; some filled with...

The You Who are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies is a permanent exhibit in the Phoenix Art Museum, also known as The Firefly Room. Thousands of LED lights hang from the ceiling, with mirrors on all four of its surfaces. Though it is a small room,...

I haven’t ticked any goals on my checklist for this year; those bumps along the roads, the failures, the doubting, self-sabotaging, things didn’t turn out the way I planned, the harsh reality that not all people around you weren’t meant to stay, and the unresolved...

Tracy Snyder is a former high school English teacher turned full-time writer, and she is the mother of two wonderful children. She has been a life-long sufferer of mental health issues, and she credits a great part of her success as an educator to a student body of...

My mental health journey begun when I was 16 years old. At nearly 24 a harsh reality I've faced is that the journey is nowhere near complete, but I've learnt so much along the way so far that I know I can use to help myself in times of need. I had a very normal...

How many people have you met that were very comfortable but unpeaceful? Probably a few. How many have you met that were peaceful but uncomfortable? The latter is probably a harder image to conjure up. Most of us live as if the unpredictable nature of life was a...

This is Part 6, the final article in a series of personal articles detailing what it is like to be a caretaker for Bipolar disorder, titled "Outside Looking In" Read Part 1 here Caring for a loved one with a mental health diagnosis is more than a full-time job. It’s a...