Reading Slump

You know what really sucks? Well, there's a lot of things, and we seem to be experience all of them right now. But the thing that has been really annoying for me lately is this: being an author in a reading slump. I love to read. Well, I did. And then we came to Washington.…

Who are you?

Today we're going to talk about something a little different. I thought about including this under the Mental Health Monday heading, but it's not exactly a mental health issue, though they sometimes go hand in hand. Face blindness or Prosopagnosia is an inability to recognize people by their faces. You might think it sounds ridiculous, but…

The Great Skate Experiment: Mental Health

This is a grandiose title for what amounts to me putting on skates a few times a week to crab walk across our patio and try not to fall, but go big or go home, right? And I'm already home, so I need something else to do. I wouldn't call what I do on the…

Mental Health Monday: Pea Soup

Knotmagick is still on hiatus, and posts will be sporadic until probably mid-September at least. But if you miss the blog, why not check out some older MHMon posts? Autumn in Ohio tends to involve a lot of pea-soup like fog, especially in the early morning. Growing up, we had more school delays for fog…

#MHMon: The Struggles of Getting a Diagnosis

The Struggles of Getting a Diagnosis By Emily Deibler When I was in high school, I would have given anything to be diagnosed and treated. The general consensus was that I was an emotional teenage girl, and that I "thought everything was the end of the world." I suppose I can't exactly blame everyone for…

#MHMon Guest Post: Jeni Chappelle

Hello Burnout My Old Friend   In December, a lot of people I know are feeling burnt out. As magical as the winter holidays can be, spending more money, eating too much unhealthy food, and having extra responsibilities can add to our stress. Family troubles tend to bubble up this time of year too, whether that’s…

#MHMon Guestpost by Dianna Gunn

How Fiction has Helped Me Heal   When I first spoke to Sophia about writing an article for Mental Health Mondays, I was overwhelmed with the number of possibilities. I've lived with depression and PTSD for over half of my life, and I've also struggled with anxiety for a significant portion of that time. I…

#MHMon: Masks Off

"Masking" is the process by which people with mental health issues or disabilities hide their symptoms in order to blend in with society. This can include something like a person with depression forcing a smile, a hearing impaired person pretending to understand parts of a conversation when they can't read someone's lips or the person…

#MHMon: My CSP Care Kit

Content warning: the following discusses Compulsive Skin Picking. While the details are minimal, if you are squeamish you might want to move along. This post also includes mentions of self harm. CSP is an easy acronym for something that has several really long names. Sometimes called dermatillomania, excoriation disorder, or simply Compulsive Skin Picking, CSP…

Ramble: Mental Health Discussions with Family

I had a long talk with my mom over the weekend about mental health. Up to that point, I hadn't told her I was taking medication for my anxiety and depression. I spoke before about how hard it was for me to get help. There was the stigma mental health discussions carried, the fear of…