schizophrenia
Schizophrenia 101; look beyond the pop culture portrayals and learn the reality behind this oft-stigmatized mental illness.
Broken Pieces
It's been almost three months. I tried to fall for you slowly, easily, so I could protect my heart. Those attempts failed. You are so kind, considerate, and empathetic. I felt that when you looked at me, you saw me all the way to my soul. The physical attraction was immediate and intense. Two lost and broken souls just trying to find their way home. The first time I looked into your sky-blue eyes, I saw sadness, I saw exhaustion, and the vast emptiness that comes from just giving up. However, in each other, we found hope. I could see that spark of hope in your eyes. That you wanted this to be real just as much as I did, something to hold onto, something true, something that could last a lifetime and not just until things got too hard. We moved in together pretty quickly due to life and circumstances. Honestly, we needed each other to hold on to at night. I know now that your life has been riddled with demons, pain, depression, anxiety, ptsd and so many triggers from your past. You have never been given the right mental tools to move through your pain and torment. So, you have just remained silent and swallowed your pain. No one should have to hold that much pain alone. It has been a task trying to help you, but also hold space for my own well-being, but I want you to know that you are worth it to me. You are not too broken and will never be too broken. I want to show you that I can hold space for both your mental health and my own. We both have so much going on in our minds, and we both try to hold each other up as best we can. When your demons come out to play, I try to slay them or at least make them shut the fuck up, and you do the same for me. We can hold each other, cry, scream at the world, go break shit together, or just sit in silence. I'm trying to learn what you need in your moments of mental health crisis, and I can tell you're trying to learn what I need as well. Have you ever heard of the term "hot mess"? That describes us perfectly. But we are perfectly imperfect. I am your Juliet, and you are my Romeo, as cheesy as that sounds. I swear we're going to be okay. I swear we're going to get healthy together. I've already done some work myself, but we are a team now, and we have to work together. I'm not leaving you. Where you go, I go, together forever. Mental health is a cruel mistress that holds no prisioners. You are such a beautiful soul that has come into my life, and you've helped me in so many ways. You help add structure in my life, you help with my daughter, you're my friend I can talk through my day and emotions with, my partner I can figure out life with, my lover, when I can't breathe because of a panic attack, you hold me and talk me through it. I wouldn't go back to being alone. I want you, all of you, even the broken pieces, because you take me and my broken pieces. Life is full of broken pieces, but what makes it better is to find that special someone who will hold both you and your broken pieces and still say I love you no matter what.
By Lindsey Altomabout 9 hours ago in Psyche
The Inner Critic: Understanding the Psychology of Self-Talk. AI-Generated.
There is a voice most people hear every day, though few pause to examine it closely. It comments on mistakes, evaluates performance, predicts outcomes, and quietly narrates social interactions. Sometimes it encourages. Often it criticizes. This internal dialogue, commonly referred to as the inner critic, belongs to the subcategory of cognitive and self-psychology that explores self-talk and self-evaluation. Far from being random mental noise, the inner critic plays a central role in shaping identity, confidence, and emotional well-being.
By Kyle Butlerabout 16 hours ago in Psyche
When Reflection Feels Like Accomplishment
There is a subtle experience many people recognize but struggle to name: the feeling of having done something meaningful without having actually changed anything. It often follows long periods of thinking, talking, organizing, or refining ideas. The mind feels clearer. Tension feels reduced. There is a sense of closure or completion. And yet, when examined closely, nothing in the external world has moved. No decision has been enacted. No behavior has shifted. No responsibility has been embodied. What changed was internal orientation, not external reality.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast6 days ago in Psyche
When Thoughts Become Judge
When Thought Becomes the Judge The tragedy of thought is not that it exists, but that it so easily turns against itself. What was meant to illuminate begins to interrogate. What was meant to guide begins to prosecute. Without clarity, the mind slips into a subtle courtroom, and there it sits—judge, jury, and accused—repeating the same familiar sentences as though they were revelations rather than rehearsals.
By Chase McQuade12 days ago in Psyche
The Fragile Nature of Memory: How the Mind Rewrites the Past
We often view memory as a recording device. Something happens, and the brain stores it. Later, we recall it unchanged, like opening a file. Psychology presents a different picture. Memory is not fixed; it is fluid, reconstructive, and surprisingly fragile. One interesting aspect of cognitive psychology is memory reconsolidation, which is the process that alters our memories every time we recall them. This instability is not a flaw; it shows how our minds adapt, protect themselves, and reshape our identity over time.
By Kyle Butler18 days ago in Psyche
When Thinking Feels Like Action
There is a particular satisfaction that comes from understanding something clearly after wrestling with it for a long time. The mind settles. Tension releases. Pieces line up. In that moment, it can feel as though real movement has occurred, as though something meaningful has been accomplished. That feeling is not imagined. Cognitive resolution is a real event. The danger appears when that internal resolution is quietly mistaken for external change, and thinking begins to substitute for action rather than prepare the way for it.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast18 days ago in Psyche
Homework Assignment - Right, Wrong, or Grey-zone?
So my autism therapist gave me some homework for a new form (to me at least) of therapy. It is an Internal Family Systems parts mapping exercise and I have no idea if I am doing it correctly or not, but I just wanted to write about my experience... *smile*
By The Schizophrenic Mom22 days ago in Psyche
A Headache, New Medication, and a Happy Outcome
As of Saturday, I had a headache. Again. Or maybe still? I had a new prescription that was finally approved that I was really hoping would help with my headache, but was a headache to be approved for in and of itself. The paperwork had been delayed by a week. The paperwork had been completed - and then rejected because one item wasn't "clearly" marked.
By The Schizophrenic Mom24 days ago in Psyche
