Archive for Your Stories
Please note this story contains 2 instances of language some readers might find offensive. We do not believe in censoring these personal stories, so if you believe you might be offended, please do not read this piece.
‘Rick’
My Story
Every moment, I know its going to happen. The other shoe is going to drop and I will die. From my own hand, maybe, because it will be so awful. I will not be able to handle it.
Monkey On My Back:
A Story About Living with Bipolar
By Kristen Shupe
I am so afraid to stop the motion. I am so afraid to lie down. I am terrified of my mind running free for hours as I lie in the dark praying for sleep to come. I feel like I have live wires running all through my arms and legs. I experience a roller coaster of emotions. My stomach actually feels like I am riding on one. I can’t breathe. I can’t sleep. At times, I can’t eat. My head swims. I am underwater. I am drowning. I try to tread. All I want is escape.
The writer of this story has chosen to remain anonymous
I am writing about my 16-year-old son who struggles with cyclothymia and Asperger’s. He does very well as long as he is properly medicated, although he continues to have anxiety. His biggest issue is with medication compliance because he does not like the sexual side effects. He is not sexually active yet but I understand that, as a young man, he wants to know that his stuff works. Read More→
#OCD: The Birth of an Obsessive-Compulsive – A Personal Story
Posted by: Vrinda Pendred | Comments (0)The Birth of an Obsessive-Compulsive
By Nadja
NOTE: This story contains some depictions / references to violence / sex that some readers may find unsettling. However, we do not believe in censoring anyone’s life story, so we have included it in full. Please do not read if you are easily upset by such things.
Regardless of whether you believe in “Nature” or “Nurture”, I really didn’t have a chance. My poor, sweet Grandpa Ralph had OCD, except back then nobody knew what it was so they thought he was just doing weird things because he was drunk. The truth is, he was drunk because he couldn’t stop himself from doing weird things. I know this all too well. I spent my teens and early 20s drunk because alcohol is really good at drowning your obsessions and compulsions. Read More→
‘Confessions from My Early Thirties’
by Maria Tumnus
I was working in an office for three years and I couldn’t hide anymore. They left me alone for a while, as I came from a different culture (Romania), my English wasn’t that good at the beginning and I didn’t want to speak with grammatical mistakes. I thought they appreciated my discreet personality and respected my non-interference in other people’s businesses. But as my English improved, I started to understand more and more, and one of their favourite topics was… me. Read More→
The author of this personal testimony has chosen to remain anonymous
I am a 41-year-old woman who was always very quiet in school – so much so that no one would think I had ADD like my brother.
My life was one of being bullied and having emotionally challenged parents. I was not cuddled much and we never talked about emotions, to the point that, after a 9-month waiting list, a psychologist ended up saying I was emotionally neglected. Yeah, like I didnt know that myself. Read More→
Trying to Be a Tourettic Doctor
by
Robaire Beckwith
Knowing what growing up with Tourette Syndrome was like, and remembering the difficulties with understanding the problems experienced as a child and what caused them, led me to finding ways I could help children with TS and other ‘special’ needs caused by neuro-developmental disorders. There was almost no useful advice or support available and I don’t believe things have moved on much now that I am an adult. Read More→
ADHD is not the joke everyone thinks it is – A Personal Testimonial
Posted by: Vrinda Pendred | Comments (4)By Andre Norris
I just want people to know that even though it has an awful name, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is actually a devastating neurological illness. It’s deeper than it seems. Read More→
I have Tourette’s & I’m an actor because of it! – A Personal Testimonial
Posted by: Vrinda Pendred | Comments (1)I have Tourette Syndrome and I’m an actor because of it!
by Chris Tauers
Acting and theatre specifically have meaning for me. Initially, theatre for me was an escape from TS that held me captive. When I act it leaves me inexplicably, it just goes away, and yet I can use the knowledge and experience of it to convey meaning and that allows acting complete freedom to take off inside me. The disorder switches off when I act or even when I visit a theatre! My ‘disorder’ is defied and replaced by theatre and acting. Read More→
As part of our ongoing effort to raise awareness about neurological conditions, we are always looking for new personal stories about your lives with these diagnoses.
These stories can be completely anonymous, if you wish, or you can provide your real name or even a made-up pen name.
You don’t have to be a ‘writer’ as such – we don’t mind if you don’t have perfect English; we just want what you have to say.
We do not believe in judging others, and everyone involved in the website has been diagnosed with multiple related neurological conditions themselves.
All we want is your personal testimonials to be listed in the ‘Your Stories’ section of our website. We’ve already had so much positive feedback from the stories posted so far – they have helped others feel less alone with their symptoms, inspired people to think of themselves and their diagnoses a bit differently, and taught us all about the truth behind such conditions.
No story will be censored – these conditions often come with dark and disturbing elements, so if you feel you can’t tell your story without these, they will definitely be included on our website.
We believe the world needs to be made aware of the seriousness of such diagnoses – we want to remove the stigma in speaking out about them, but also help stop people making jokes about them.
Please do click the ‘Your Stories’ tab at the top of this page to look at what others have written.
To share your testimonial, just click the ‘Contact’ tab and write your story in the body of the message. If you’d like to remain anonymous, please list your email address as ‘anonymous@anon.com’ and give your name as ‘Anonymous’.
We hope to hear from you soon!
Vrinda, Sharon, Jennifer and Lynn
Conditional Publications
Don’t forget to get your copy of Check Mates: A Collection of Fiction, Poetry and Artwork about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, by People with OCD – on Amazon and Amazon Kindle
