• Bipolar,  Happiness,  Health,  Parenthood,  psychosis

    A friendship lost

    A few years ago, I lost one of my best friends. C* and I met in grad school and we were inseparable. When my ex cheated on me and I broke it off with him, she picked me up off the floor. When she and her boyfriend ended things, she was inconsolable. She moved in with me until she found her own place.  I made sure she ate and was there for her the same way she was for me during my heartbreak. C was by my side as a bridesmaid when I got married. She was the gracious host of my baby shower. Then my pregnancy, though closely monitored…

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  • Bipolar,  Happiness,  Race and Culture

    PSYCHO

    My nickname in high school was not cute. It’s not something I can laugh about even today, nearly 20 years later. It was a name that stung, what people called me when my back was turned. PSYCHO I would show up to school crying non-stop, having gone weeks without sleep. I was a top student in the class, yet I’d doodled on my final exams instead of answering any questions. I screamed at my best friend during class with a bunch of nonsense. It hurts because the nickname was accurate. I hadn’t slept in weeks. I was having a psychotic episode. I had not been diagnosed with anything. My family…

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