Hiding in plain sight: living with social anxiety, part one

I've been watching Call the Midwife lately on the Netflix and, as I was making my way through the first season's Christmas special, this quote from dear Chummy (my favorite character) jumped out at me. Although the subject matter was slightly different in the episode, I thought that this was a perfect description of my own struggles with social anxiety: dreading being noticed and fearing you aren't visible at all. This paradoxical feeling—the desire to be seen and not be seen at the same time—is the core of my social anxiety. Most days I live with this feeling wrapped so tightly around my chest, it feels like a boa constrictor hugging me from the inside.

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Mental illness comic round-up

There have been some awesome comics about mental illness that have popped up in my news feeds lately, so I thought I'd share them with you all. I share them because sometimes having visuals like these brings a new level of meaning or depth to a story (especially when dealing with a subject that is seemingly intangible). These comics have done that for me. Click on the images to see the comics in their entirety.

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Mental illness in the news

I didn't feel much like writing this week...life has been busy, and the slowly darkening days have exhausted my brain quite a bit. But, instead of not posting anything, I wanted to share this video from John Oliver tangentially-related to the shooting at Umqua Community College. I'm sure many of you have already seen it but, for those who haven't, it's a concise and informative look at the mental health care system in our country. Of course, since it's from HBO, there is some adult content mentioned, so consider yourself warned and whatnot. It also contains humor.

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People who need people

People are the most important source of help when living with a mental illness. I do not say this lightly. Whether it's friends, family, or a therapist (hopefully all three), they are necessary for survival. However, there's something kind of paradoxical about this. When you're depressed or anxious, it's extremely hard to reach out to other people, and yet you need them so badly. There are so many days where I long for telepathic abilities, so that I don't have to pick up the phone and text someone that I'm having a bad day and need help

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