It was one of those days. A day where my anxiety reigned and shrouded me with it’s dark veil. This thing called anxiety had barreled into my life over the past year, and I was still waiting for rescue. I barely made it...
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It’s Ok to Not Be Ok
I feel wide and vulnerable these past days. Like I’m standing on the edge of a precipice staring down at dots of things below. In the past, I fled from days like this. Honestly, I still want to flee. I’m tempted to start googling “anxiety & depression...
Dealing With A Mask (Guest Post by Maisen)
Today I am sharing an essay written by a very brave teenage girl. She has been dealt difficult situations in her young life that would bring down the strongest of adults, yet she is brave enough to share her story with us here (with her permission and the...
The Intervention Part I (My Sister’s Perspective)
Today's post is about my Intervention. It was last March, and the ferocious anxiety had returned - exactly one year from the time it started. I was simply surviving, once again, and obsessed with finding a magic cure. The more I researched and the more I tried, the...
Day 23: A Piece of the Puzzle
When dealing with anxiety and depression, it's critical to have a doctor you trust. I was connected to my first psychiatrist through the outpatient therapy program I attended. He was a staff doctor. And after completing the program, I continued to see him because it...
Day 16: The Best Place to Scream
There was a point last spring when my therapist told me to quit reading books and sites about anxiety because I was overwhelming myself trying to find the magic cure. As research extraordinaire, I just knew I could find the one thing that would return me to...
Day 15: I Stood Up
Tonight I read yesterday's post as the opening devotion for our church's praise team and band rehearsal. It's one thing to release these words into the digital world, and another entirely to stand up in person and share them aloud. I feel more vulnerable. More real....
Masquerade
If I had to chose the most important lesson I learned in group therapy, it would be the day of the masks. There was a small group of us that morning - only 5 compared to the typical 8-10+. The therapist gave us a choice. We could do a more personal activity because of...
Day 12: One of Them
The intake therapist raised her eyebrows in emphasis as she issued words of caution to me that first day, "Many of these people are struggling with very serious issues," she said. "You will need to be very open and honest in that room." Reading between the...
Day 11: The Diagnosis
Outpatient Clinic, the sign read. I took a deep breath, opened the door, and resigned myself to the experience ahead. A day earlier, I had walked into a hospital and asked for help. It was now time for that help to begin. Acute outpatient program is the precise...