Apr 253 minHow Hockey Helps My Mental Health (Go Growlers!)As a depressed teenager, hockey was one part of my life that (almost) always brought me joy. Even if I'd spent most of the day reading in...
Apr 154 minExposing your vulnerable selfThis week, my essay "Lies Mania Has Told Me" was published in OC87 Recovery Diaries (this is my second time they've published a piece of...
Mar 203 minDepression is always lurkingDepression and mania are two sides of the bipolar coin, always lurking below the surface. I didn't know that's what those moods that...
Feb 135 minWhy is it so hard to admit I'm not OK?I grew up in a family where it was normal--expected, even--when in pain to say I'm fine, there's no problem here, to just suck it up and...
Jan 56 minWhy I'm Terrified of HospitalsI was 13 the first time I spent any real time in a hospital. My mother drove me two and a half hours to the Keene State Hospital, which...
Nov 5, 20212 minWhat grounds you?Nala & Delphi are my tethers When I read submissions for A Tether to This World: Poems & Stories of Recovery, I didn't quite know what I...
Oct 10, 20215 minWhat Mental Health Means to MeIt's World Mental Health Day. I learned this when I logged onto my Peloton and a bright banner popped up announcing the day and that...
Sep 3, 20213 minBless the Personal RejectionsWell, friends, it's happened yet again: a rejection. From an arts grant I was crossing my fingers for. Statistically improbable, I know,...
Aug 28, 20216 minNo, I would not like to go off my medsA decade ago, I didn't want to go on pills for depression and anxiety, which were severe. I had this idea that medical intervention would...
Aug 9, 20215 minEnding TherapyToday was my last therapy session. It was via Zoom, which has been the case for a year and a half. It was sort of anticlimactic. We...
Aug 1, 20214 minWill my book destroy my relationship with my mother?Five years ago, I was really anxious about having a conversation with my mother. I'd been planning it for weeks, talking to professionals...
Jun 21, 20214 minOn Writing TraumaI spent last week revising my forthcoming essay collection at the Burlington, VT office of my publisher, Holbrook House. I was holed up...
Jun 5, 20215 minEmerging from a Pandemic: How to Take Care of Your Mental HealthIt has been a long fifteen months. Like, interminably long. For over a year now, we've hunkered down, stayed in, kept our distance. We...
May 19, 20213 minHow Words & Stories Will Save Us AllA real book with my name on it! Stories can save lives. That may seem overly dramatic, but I believe it with my whole self....
Apr 16, 20215 minWhy Are We Taught to Hide Our Emotions?I'm not afraid to speak my mind, except when it comes to my emotions, one of my students wrote recently (I'm paraphrasing here). It made...
Mar 28, 20214 minI'm Kind of Afraid to Go Back to NormalAll week I've been looking forward to my fully-vaccinated grandmother coming over for dinner. I love cooking for people and having them...
Mar 13, 20214 minEmotions Are ExhaustingWhen my bipolar disorder brings me down, makes me question and even hate myself, it manifests in my body. I feel drained, weak....
Mar 1, 20213 minCalling Out Other White PeopleI manage social media for the Children's Literacy Foundation. Mostly cute pics of kids with books, recommendations of books, articles...
Feb 14, 20213 minSaying No to the Right ThingsLike so many women, in particular, I feel compelled to say "yes" to everything. I've written about saying no before, but that doesn't...
Jan 30, 20213 minEating Disorders Never Really Go AwayFor a long time, I've said "I had an eating disorder as a young teen," but the truth is, my eating has always been disordered and, even...