Nine years ago, almost down to the minute, I received a call from my dad about Ray Hardin passing away. He’d been fighting lung cancer, and we knew the end was near. That didn’t keep the shock of his death from hitting me in the face. The previous Monday, I’d had my wisdom teeth removed. …
Vulnerability
A few months ago, one of the minsters at my church asked me to make a video for the online service that week. (We are still meeting virtually thanks to COVID.) He asked me to talk about my mental health journey. I’d been itching to tell my story, so I gladly accepted. I wrote a …
How a CPA changed my life
I arrived at Baylor for my freshman year of college on a Thursday. Just a week later, I had to unenroll over the phone on my way back to Dallas (my dad came and got me). I’d gone 85 hours without sleep and experienced that wonderful hell known as mania. Always the overachiever, I also …
Never say never
I’ve been slightly MIA for the past few months. I’m sorry about that. I just bought a house, and I’ve been busy with house stuffs. However, I cannot blame my lack of blog posts solely on my house. I’ve had plenty of time to write, I just haven’t been in the mood. Even when I’ve …
Dr. Q
Almost eight years ago, I went 80 or so hours without sleep and had a psychotic break. I was diagnosed as bipolar and started going to an outpatient hospital (that’s the extremely truncated version—this post isn’t about that). I was assigned a psychiatrist. The guy was an asshole. I was technically an adult, but I …
Acceptance
I’m not sure what to write about this morning, so I am using a prompt from Beckie’s Mental Mess, a blog written by an amazing advocate for mental illnesses. She is also very supportive of other bloggers who want to share their stories about mental illness. When you first found out that you had a …
Where’s my limit?
I am an ultra-competitive person. I don’t know anyone more competitive than me, though I’m sure there are some people who are comparably competitive. I started playing soccer when I was five, and I remember crying after we lost games. I didn’t understand how my teammates could be so excited about stupid snacks after we …
I am a survivor
I have lived through numerous traumatic experiences over the years. As I’ve alluded to before, I’m not ready to share the details of what I’ve been through, but I have an inkling I will disclose some pretty heavy stories sooner rather than later. Suffice it to say, I could consider myself a victim because of …
I love my meds!
When I was first diagnosed as bipolar, I was not happy about having to take medicine. I didn’t exactly refuse to take it, but I did bitch and moan about it for a while. My sister is also bipolar, and she’d been on some medicine for several years that worked really well for her. My …
Between Two Poles 