community stories
Welcome to our community! Here you will find personal stories, articles, poems and other creative pieces by writers from all around the world.
Immerse yourself in these wonderful accounts of life and mental health, told from the point of view of caretakers, people who are going through it, people who are healing, and people just like you and me.
Because we all have a story, and we all have our own personal struggles and journeys. And we want you to know that it’s okay to.
A Psychotic Mind: My History of Schizophrenia, Self-Harm, and Suicide Attempts
*Trigger warning: Self-harm and suicide attempts As a child, I remember being happy, I remember feeling safe, but after my parent's divorce, I remember feeling so much anguish and pain. For me, self-injury was activated by my parent’s divorce. I was 11 years old when...
A Psychotic Mind: My History of Schizophrenia, Self-Harm, and Suicide Attempts
*Trigger warning: Self-harm and suicide attempts As a child, I remember being happy, I remember feeling safe, but after my parent's divorce, I remember feeling so much anguish and pain. For me,...
Navigating the Healthcare System
As a caregiver for a loved one with a mental health diagnosis, few roles are as important as helping figure out the morass of the healthcare system that tries to care for mental health patients. For the person in the throes of a mental health episode, there’s no way...
Helping Children
This is Part 4 of a series titled "Outside Looking In" Read Part 1 Read Part 2 Read Part 3 Every couple dealing with a mental health diagnosis has to wrestle with the question of children. Can the parent with the mental health diagnosis contribute to parenting? Can...
Happiness On Horseback, Simply Slowing Down
Whoa Nelly... slow down… Imagine yourself living on a horse ranch without any reception or internet. You’re surrounded by nothing but the sound of trees rustling, birds chirping, and maybe the distant moo of cattle or neigh of a horse. There are no TVs. There is no...
Stepping up when it counts
This is part 3 of a series titled "Outside Looking In" Read part 1 here Read part 2 here Every family has its routines. Someone washes the dishes. Someone takes out the trash. Someone cooks. You get the idea. But what happens when a family member has a mental health...
Caregivers must arm themselves with knowledge
This is part two of a series titled “Outside Looking In“. Read Part One here. One of the biggest challenges in dealing with a family member who has a mental health diagnosis is that no one has all the answers. No one. Unlike a broken leg, which can be fixed by...
1: “I Can’t Put Myself In Her Place”
In 1988, my wife, Becky, was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. Since 1994, when we got married, I’ve been her primary caregiver. Like many with Bipolar Disorder, she leads an ordinary life. She works. She’s given birth to, and helped raise, two children. She’s buried...