Why I’m Done Being a “Good” Mentally Ill Person October 10, 2019 by Sam Dylan Finch Leave a Comment This article first appeared on The Establishment and is reprinted by permission. Content note: This article contains discussion of psychiatric hospitalization and briefly mentions suicidal ideation. I’m being buckled into a stretcher. Restraints are being placed around my ankles when a nurse walks by. “You don’t really have to use all the restraints,” she says to the … [Read more...]
Why I’m “Out” as a Person With Mental Illness June 20, 2019 by Sam Dylan Finch 3 Comments Far and away, the most frequently asked question I receive as a writer with bipolar and anxiety is, “How did you get to a place where you could be this open about your struggles?” It’s usually followed with a question like, “Aren’t you scared?” I used to be terrified. Like many folks with a mental illness, one of the first things we’re told is to keep it to ourselves. At … [Read more...]
I Was My Own Body Terrorist and My Transition Saved My Life March 6, 2019 by Sam Dylan Finch 1 Comment I was distracted. Because I was designated female at birth, I had a lot to worry about when it came to my body. Was I thin enough? Was I beautiful enough? Was I alluring, desirable, fuckable? Would anybody want me? I was a teenager immersed in beauty ideals, expectations, and ultimately, body terrorism. The sheer amount of time I spent ruminating on my weight, on my … [Read more...]
5 Ways to Lovingly Support Someone With C-PTSD January 22, 2019 by Sam Dylan Finch Leave a Comment This article was originally published by EverydayFeminism.com and is republished with permission. I was watching the Disney movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame when I suddenly went into shock. Right from the start, seeing Quasimodo be the recipient of so much gaslighting – being told that the world wasn’t safe, that he would never be accepted or loved, that Frollo had … [Read more...]
Getting Honest About My Disordered Eating November 6, 2018 by Sam Dylan Finch 4 Comments “Disordered eating.” I think of it as something that I’ve weathered, like a storm that has pummeled my life on more than one occasion, or a wound that I’ve attempted, with varying degrees of success, to stitch on my own. I’m not the right authority to tell you what exactly disordered eating means clinically, but I can tell you what it looks like. A high school locker … [Read more...]
