Britton  I put a lot of pressure on myself growing up. I grew up in a small conservative town, with a tight knit religious community. My family is a large, loving group of people who also share conservative Christian views. I went to a small private Christian...

Natasha Originally from Georgia, I took an interest in the arts at an early age. After serving time in the military, I was officially diagnosed with BPD, PTSD, and bipolar disorder. At this time I began experiencing more severe symptoms such as: episodes of anger...

Nicole When I was 17 years old, I tried to end my life. After my parents discovered a suicide note under my pillow, I started to receive the treatment that I so desperately needed; I was on medication and I was seeing a therapist on a regular basis, but this still...

Mariya 11 years ago, when I was 12, I sat down with my dad and told him that I wanted to commit suicide. I knew something was wrong but I didn’t know enough words to properly describe it. I knew that I was feeling something that the other kids my age weren’t. But that...

Tiffany It was July of 2010 when the dreaded diagnosis came. I had always had my suspicions and so had others, but denial was the place I lived in for a long time. That July was different. On a whim, I decided I was packing up my things and my children and leaving my...

COLLEEN IF YOU OR ANYONE YOU KNOW IS STRUGGLING WITH SUICIDAL THOUGHTS PLEASE REFER TO THE CRISIS HOTLINE OR TEXTLINE: CALL 1-800-273-8255 OR TEXT “ALLY” TO 741741 AND A CRISIS COUNSELOR WILL BE THERE TO HELP! On Monday February 12, 2018 I attempted to take my life...

ZACH I am a first-year medical student at the University of Kansas. My status, however, is almost up for expiration. In a mere 8 weeks I will have completed my first-year of classes. From the outside looking in, it would seem as if I am on the downward slope. I...

COURTNEY I remember the first time I realized I had a problem. It was the first time I realized I wasn’t normal. It was the first time I thought about having a mental illness. I was not even 18, but I knew that something about me was not quite right. I didn’t feel...

For me, my own approach to handling my cognitive distortions has changed from the clinical CBT approach to a more self-accepting approach. As a person who has experienced PTSD, panic, dissociation, and insomnia, the clinical approach can be, itself, depressing and...