Anxiety & Trauma Poems
Faced with trauma and grief, writer Laura Farrell turned to poetry to process her experiences.
Category: Mental Health Aloud
Done Running: a Budding Pharmacist Confronts Her Eating Disorder & Sexuality
Jules Aukerman, a budding pharmacist, confronts her sexuality and her eating disorder in this genuine, compassionate essay.
Misunderstood, Misdiagnosed, Misled: My Story of Illness and Addiction
Christina faced issues with addiction and the law, due to underlying mental issues, eventually with the proper help and diagnosis she learned to tackle these issues.
Knock, Knock. Who’s There? OCD.
by Megan Fisher
Megan Fisher tried in vain to conceal her OCD behaviors from those closest to her, and therapy wasn’t the magic cure-all, until she found hope and help, compassion and change.
Mind Games: Depression & Anxiety Gripped My Father; COVID Nearly Took Him Away
Khadija grew up with two hard-working, loving parents, it was later in life that she experienced the impact of her father’s depression.
When Running From The Voices In Your Head Takes You Someplace New
Avis Yarbrough considers herself “shy” and “timid,” someone who stays at home. But when she first started hearing voices in her late twenties, she was catapulted on a trip she would have never taken otherwise.
Depression and Mental Illness: Disease or Condition?
by John Callas
A man wrestles with whether his depression and suicidality are diseases or conditions in this introspective and far-reaching essay.
Forgiving the Hurt: What Does it Mean to Forgive Our Abusers?
Alicia McClendon has been parsing out the word “forgiveness” for some time now. Can you forgive your own mother for causing you childhood trauma? And what does it mean to forgive while still holding on to your truth?
Melancholy & Cinnamon; A Journey through Mental Hell, and How Poetry Saved my Life
Gabrielle Guillon has come a long way from growing up with depression and abuse as her constant companions; poetry has helped her heal.
How Living With Depression Influences My Personal Growth
Onome felt a lack of support in her childhood, which quickly spiraled into depression, although it was hard to find treatment in Nigeria and Ghan, she eventually got the help she needed.
Deciding to Get Better: The Choice to Fight Schizoaffective Disorder
Cheyenne Ruiz spent much of her adolescence fighting panic attacks, working through depression, and pretending hallucinations weren’t happening. One hallucination pushed her to take recovery into her own hands.
A Goodbye Call in a Summer Afternoon: Noticing Suicide Warning Signs May Be the Difference Between Life and Death
When her uncle called trying to give a cryptic goodbye, Thaís Freita noticed suicide warning signs and saved a life.
Labeling Abuse in a Borderline Relationship
Two people with borderline personality disorder begin a romantic relationship that quickly becomes toxic, out-of-control, desperate, and dangerous.
Is This What Normal Feels Like? Finding the Right Treatment for Bipolar Disorder
Aneta Dabrowska felt the ups and downs of bipolar type II as a teenager, but no one around her knew how to react. When she entered adulthood, Aneta set on a journey to understand her illness on her own terms.
Sincerely, Madness: A Marine Confronts Rape and Self-Harm to find Strength and Hope
Being a Marine is supposed to put you through Hell and test your will, but not by subjecting you to rape by two different superior officers. Years later, Joyce Villeta is recovering and living through her trauma.
Sanguine: Attempting to Control Everything through Disordered Eating
by Kate Raphael
Kate’s eating disorder started with a desire to control her body and quickly spiraled into something else, learning to reconnect to her body, Kate found her way to healing.
Postnatal Depression, Regular Old Depression, and How Mindfulness Saved Me
Shannon McBride has felt the fog of depression and anxiety nearly her whole life, until an accidental run-in with a pamphlet at the post-office changed her life.
Recovering from Depression; a Taboo Illness in Indian Society
Depression in India, for women in particular, is still a taboo topic, with women being blamed and shamed for what they experience, as Aakanksha Shukla writes.
How I Overcame My Social Anxiety by Becoming a Journalist
Victor’s social anxiety felt debilitating and out of control, until he found and embraced journalism, a new tool for managing these difficult emotions.
During the Pandemic, a Retired Psychiatrist Finds a New Challenge; His Own Mental Health
Bereft of meaningful activities during the pandemic, a recently retired psychiatrist explores his mental health decline and the difference between acedia and depression.