by Joe Ginese
“Wow, great job finishing the race! How are your legs?”
“Hey, you look tired. You feeling okay?”
“How are you today?”
Raise your hand if you have ever had someone ask you one of those three questions.
Now raise your hand if your first instinct when asked those questions is to default to how you are physically feeling.
by Deb Schmidt-Rogers
Have you ever had a conversation with a parent that left you shaking your head? I have had plenty, and for a long time the ones that really got me were the ones where parents would tell me, “I think they really need to stay at (insert your college name here) to be successful.” I, as the college administrator, had phoned them in the hopes that they would drop everything and get to campus as quickly as they could, because their student was disintegrating in front of my eyes. I don’t make these calls whimsically. But. They. Didn’t. But. They. Wouldn’t. I now know it was because they couldn’t. Continue reading
by Tiffany Dyer
I’ve struggled with mental health my whole life, as far back as middle school where a teacher actually recommended I see a doctor for depression. I saw a medical doctor who ran a blood test and said I didn’t have it. I had no idea what depression was. I can’t remember going to more than three or four therapy sessions at a time and haven’t ever been able to find a therapist who is upfront with me or that I trust. Continue reading
by Amma Marfo
Today was the first day this week I felt at ease in the office. Before this morning the pace of the coming month was revealing itself, and meetings stacked on top of meetings caught up with me. And in keeping with my goal of expressing vulnerability, I can admit that I had an anxiety attack on Tuesday afternoon. I know how to ride them out now and what I have to do to make sure I come out of it okay, but it happened. Continue reading
by Shane Cadden
I believe prioritizing and practicing an authentic ethic of care with students and staff makes me professionally successful because it makes me credible. I’ve always been the advocate for being your true self and the person who has appropriate but authentic dialogue around the question, “How are you, really?” I never thought that enhancing this authentic dialogue could have resulted from a crisis that happened to me. That is what happened one particular summer during the Housing and Residence Life training craze when I nearly died from a pulmonary embolism (PE), a blood clot in my lung.
by Jessica Fantini
Though my story isn’t pretty, I am more than willing to share it now. I believe with any story you have to start at the beginning; here is a short version of my background so the rest of the story makes a little more sense. I’m the youngest of two in a single parent household. My parents were never married and separated before I was born. I grew up on welfare, and we had Salvation Army Christmases. We were poor. Every time I asked my mother to buy me something, she told me to be patient and wait because maybe we’d be able to get it next time when it was on sale. Continue reading
by Adriane Reilly
Hi, my name is Adriane and I just completed my first therapy session last week. My journey to the big comfy couch with my therapist probably started the day I was born, but I’ve been calling out for help without knowing it since about October. As I settle into year two after grad school, I’m coming to terms with life as a young adult and newlywed and not doing so well. I’ve been battling stress, TMJ, tension headaches, control issues, generalized anxiety disorder, unhealthy comparison, self-doubt, and perfectionism. Continue reading
by Ryan Bye
Smile. Just smile. You repeat this over and over in your head until you cant remember which muscles you need to activate in order to actually smile. There’s a saying about how it takes more muscles to frown, right? So, why not smile? Well, for starters it can be hard for a number of reasons: frustration at work, disturbance in the personal realm, or it just might be a very busy day. Continue reading
by Mallory Bower
In the beginning, things were just a little off. If you weren’t close, you wouldn’t have noticed. My intuition was in overdrive and my gut was screaming, “this isn’t right!” But still, I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
First, there were the tall tales that I so badly wanted to believe. Elaborate stories, spun carefully with conviction and woven with lies.
Then there were bouts of hyper, all-in mania that made my head spin trying to follow along and make sense of it all. Hundreds of projects started, but never finished. Nuts and bolts; screws loose.
Next came the mood swings, broken glass, unbridled anger. Followed by self-loathing and isolation.
And then, quiet. The calm before the storm that would brew again without warning.
by Lisa Endersby
I don’t measure my weight on a scale much anymore. I measure my heaviness by my mood. For as long as I can remember, anxiety has been an old friend, a constant companion, and my nemesis. It’s fascinating and frightening to watch other people be seemingly ‘normal’ as they go about their lives, so quick to recover from what you know isn’t anywhere near the end of the world, and so steady in their good moods.