Finding Silence Through Sound

by Annie Greaney

Even before I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety, I found peace in music. Through this organized and sometimes unexplainable noise I am able to find silence. Even though I have started therapy, nothing has yet to compare to listening and expressing myself through music, especially when I find myself becoming un-grounded. Continue reading

What Anxiety Feels Like

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

How Are You, Really?

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.

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Making the Call

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

mindFULL

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.

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