ptsd
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; The storm after the storm.
The Brew's Bitter Gift: . Content Warning.
By my early fifties, grief and trauma had stacked so high I could barely hold myself up anymore — just numbness, barely existing and fake smiles along with small talk raised as armor when I had no choice but to be social. It felt like my life was already over and I was just waiting for time to pass.
By Thaidal Zoner13 days ago in Psyche
Lifelines
I’m not afraid of the darkness. It’s been home for so much of my lifetime. I’ve known the darkness for far longer than I’ve known the light. But you, my friend, were the light. It’s why we all had you on a pedestal. You were someone, something none of us had thought we could ever be. Your death marks, not the end, but in fact a new beginning. That singular light in one individual is gone but you shared your light with so many of us that it will never truly be gone. You were a lifeline that kept me hanging on desperately when all seemed without hope. In a dark place, you reached out to me and offered friendship, a hand. I was standing there on the brink of oblivion, apathy dripping from my fingertips and you approached in quiet confidence and struck a note that awakened my soul, and every time over the next 16 years that I found myself ready to dive into the darkness and disappear—that same note would reverberate in the depths resonating me back into this sphere we call “reality” and would hand me that lifeline all over again. Their presence may be fleeting at times but lifelines leave ripples which will ever remain true. When you reached out a hand to me as I began to collapse into the oblivion, you stopped me and without even knowing it, you provided me with a safe place. That memory has been a companion through some very dark times in my life. The vibrations in my soul gave me purpose and helped keep me from letting go.
By Sarah Lynn Jones15 days ago in Psyche
Tragedy in Rhode Island: When Violence Shattered an Ordinary Day
The gunshots in Rhode Island did not begin when the weapon fired. They began much earlier, in a mind that slowly shifted from frustration to fixation, from anger to action. By the time the trigger was pulled, something inside the shooter had already hardened.
By Aarsh Malik15 days ago in Psyche
Trying to Take a Left Off the Roundabout
I won't keep anyone long. An introductory post that may never be followed up on. I'm not in a great place. I can't see many opportunities in my future, that excite me at any rate. My romantic relationship is far from ideal. No kids and mostly estranged from my family. I have so few friends I can't volunteer. I've witnessed corruption in the worst way - repeated institutional failures and no, I'm not a conspiracy nut! Just shit luck and a defiant, diogenic personality that's not exactly helped me or anybody else much.
By Victoria Millinship16 days ago in Psyche
How I Saved My Sleeping Family from Suffocating to Death
It was late September, and I had moved up to senior school. I was only just eleven and wouldn’t be twelve until the far end of June. I had spent the summer holidays carefree, happy, and getting prepared for my new ‘big’ school, and my twin and I were both ecstatic to leave junior school far behind us.
By Chantal Christie Weiss17 days ago in Psyche
This is How IT Feels. Content Warning.
Do you ever feel like the blue duck in the picture? Trauma survivors often feel alone in a crowd of people. We see life in many more layers than people who haven't lived through trauma. We see everything all at once, and it can be exhausting.
By Elizabeth Woods21 days ago in Psyche
Drugged, Assaulted, and Filmed by My Predator “Friends”. Content Warning.
“You’re not a victim for sharing your story. You are a survivor setting the world on fire with your truth. And you never know who needs your light, your warmth, and raging courage.” — Alex Elle
By Chantal Christie Weiss22 days ago in Psyche
Scrapbooking as a Tool for Mental Health
In my early twenties, I started keeping a daily journal. I enjoyed doodling, gluing in receipts, and writing down my thoughts. I started journaling with the intention of capturing memories, since my mental illness greatly affects my long-term memory.
By Kera Hollow22 days ago in Psyche
The Fragile Nature of Memory: How the Mind Rewrites the Past
We often view memory as a recording device. Something happens, and the brain stores it. Later, we recall it unchanged, like opening a file. Psychology presents a different picture. Memory is not fixed; it is fluid, reconstructive, and surprisingly fragile. One interesting aspect of cognitive psychology is memory reconsolidation, which is the process that alters our memories every time we recall them. This instability is not a flaw; it shows how our minds adapt, protect themselves, and reshape our identity over time.
By Kyle Butler23 days ago in Psyche
When Thinking Feels Like Action
There is a particular satisfaction that comes from understanding something clearly after wrestling with it for a long time. The mind settles. Tension releases. Pieces line up. In that moment, it can feel as though real movement has occurred, as though something meaningful has been accomplished. That feeling is not imagined. Cognitive resolution is a real event. The danger appears when that internal resolution is quietly mistaken for external change, and thinking begins to substitute for action rather than prepare the way for it.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast23 days ago in Psyche
