“I had never felt so lost and in a black hole before, I felt like there was no way out” It was a Sunday in February. I had just passed my driving test the previous month but while on my lunch break from my Sunday job something told me to drive home immediately. I was […]
**NEW** We All Have A Day One | Sammie Bennett
“Accepting Anxiety and Depression in my life and the Actions I took to find my “why” It’s true, I deal with anxiety and depression. It’s also true that I am an athlete, sales professional, and an active woman in the community. It’s common to seem “normal” and still have mental health issues because, for many, […]
**NEW** Inside the Ring (Fighting Back) | Sean Kawaguchi
“I have chosen to believe that the only option is to fight back” In light of joining UNCrushed’s Board of Directors, I have decided to share the entirety of my story for the first time. A story that I began writing 3 years ago but only wrapped up this week. Here’s the thing – I’m […]
**NEW** Discovering Your Inner Superpower | Kris Holmes
“I want more people to choose sales, at least for a bit – think of it as an enlistment to uncover your superpower” What good is a superpower if you can’t attribute its inception? My journey of finding my superpower started in being honest with myself. The self I was and not the self I […]
**NEW** April Showers Bring May Flowers | Olivia Shoffner
“If we don’t take the time, however, to process any kind of grief that may have impacted us over the past year, we are missing our chance to heal” When I agreed to write a piece about grief– I second guessed myself and thought– really? You’re volunteering to carve out time to actually sit down […]
**NEW** Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep | Noelle Blanco
“After my sister passed in her sleep, I never slept again quite so easily” “She isn’t breathing, she isn’t breathing, call 9-1-1!” I was nine years old and woke up to frantic yelling from my parents. I jumped down from my neon blue, metal bunk-bed and ran across the hallway. I saw my older sister’s […]
**NEW** The Greatest Competitive Advantage You’ll Ever Know: Mental Health | Amy Hrehovcik
“So little by little, year after year, I managed to freeze all my feelings away. That is until they all revolted” Sellers are three times more likely to struggle with mental health symptoms than the average American. 2 in 5 sellers struggled with mental health in 2019, and these numbers were from last year. What do you think […]
The Lack Of Awareness About Psychosis | Raphael Corrêa
“During the month preceding my involuntary hospitalization, I sought help in multiple places – hospital, church, police – only to be turned away every time” In this article I would like to talk a bit about some of the events that occurred before my psychosis culminated into a suicide attempt as discussed in my first […]
**NEW** Inevitable Grief Milestones | Michelle Vignault
“More than ever, I strongly believe that, as humans, we are not intended to live this life alone” Here we are in 2021, four years later, and I remain a widow. A remarkable number of milestones have been reached whether I was ready for them or not. Milestones of birthdays, lost teeth, sleepovers, and Halloween […]
Inevitable Grief Milestones | Michelle Vignault
“More than ever, I strongly believe that, as humans, we are not intended to live this life alone” Here we are in 2021, four years later, and I remain a widow. A remarkable number of milestones have been reached whether I was ready for them or not. Milestones of birthdays, lost teeth, sleepovers, and Halloween […]
This Thanksgiving, I’m Thankful for My Healing Journey After Sexual Assault | Vanessa Schön
“In feeling like I had lost absolutely everything, myself included, ultimately I found myself once more” I’ve never spoken publicly about this. But as a therapist today, and as a woman who knows far too many individuals who have lived through this, I want you to know you are not alone. In January 2018, I […]
**NEW** Going Back to the Basics in 2020 | Kristy Gibson
“I have found that going back to the basics is a way in which to survive anything, even COVID-19” What can I say about 2020? In order to avoid profanity, I will use the term my 11 year-old daughter uses for anything she finds utterly annoying and just plain horrible- “ughhh”. I don’t often condone […]
**NEW** The Hammer and the Dance | Olivia Shoffner
“I knew pretty early on that if I didn’t stay connected, in all of this chaos, to the things that were important to me, that I would not do well” It’s almost the middle of November and the leaves are finally turning different colors. We’ve had days that aren’t above 70 degrees and Halloween candy […]
When My Nightmares Come True on Halloween | Christina Sauer
“Living with PTSD and dissociation oftentimes makes me feel so separate and abnormal from everyone else because they don’t have the same intense reactions, thoughts and feelings that I do” I’ve always loved the fall season — the crisp fresh air, gorgeous colors of changing leaves, pumpkin patches, apple cider, decorating for Halloween, scary movies, […]
You Can’t Unscramble the Egg | Raphael Corrêa
“I have a hard time describing my experiences as mere hallucinations. Everything was just so incredibly real– essentially indistinguishable from reality” On Ash Wednesday, 2019, I walked out of my job because I was the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and it was my mission to save the Earth, not write Java code. This might […]
The Road To Recovery Is Often Bumpy | Niraj Kapur
“I was living the dream life in everyone else’s eyes, but inside I was a mess” Just imagine… You wake up in the morning. Birds are singing. You open your curtains and see miles of stunning picturesque views of green fields and tall trees. The country house I lived in with my beautiful wife is […]
The Voices In My Head | Ryan Zadrazil
“Over time, I’ve learned to accept myself for who I am, no matter what I look like” On my first day of kindergarten I knew something was off. I cried the whole night before school and didn’t sleep at all. Shortly after, I was put on medications. Unfortunately, they didn’t make much of a difference. […]
A CEO’s Struggle with Self-Injury | Ashley Allen
“Self-injury is a very personal subject and it is many things to many people” I have lived a life full of nearly every variety of trauma- verbal, physical and sexual abuse. I have survived multiple suicide attempts, hospitalizations, several accounts of rape, drug addiction and an angry ex who almost killed me according the the […]
Shattered by Suicide, Renewed by Resilience | Jason Holzer
“I strive to help others overcome the lasting effects of losing a loved one to suicide” Growing up in Taos, Missouri, I was raised in a small town with a loving family that gave me every chance to succeed. My parents were supportive and provided everything my 17 year-old self desired. That is until my […]
How Knowing My “Anxiety Locations” Helps Me Manage My Anxious Feelings | Jordan Brown
“Once you know the location where your anxiety spikes, then you can do something about it” “Anxiety Locations” I’ve gotten pretty comfortable talking and writing about my anxiety. It hasn’t always been this way. I used to be terrified to let anyone know how anxious I was. It’s probably because that’s how I was raised […]
You Are a Worthless Fat Girl | Hope Virgo
“The thing about recovery from Anorexia is that it isn’t a straight line” That was the voice that resonated throughout my head as I looked at myself in the mirror in the gym. Over the last few months that voice had got louder again, shouting… that relentless voice nagging at me. It was so loud […]
A New Perspective on Grief | Calista Anderson
“The misinformation on grief is overwhelming” If you had asked me five years ago when I experienced my first major loss, I would have said unequivocally that it was Saturday, September 4th, 2010, the day my mother died. On Friday evening, as I concluded my first week of college, she called me, and I ignored […]
How Could I Accept Complete Defeat? | Steve Schmidt
“I was ready and willing to do whatever it took to get to the other side of addiction” “I was ready and willing to do whatever it took to get to the other side of addiction.” Hi, my name is Steve, and I’m an alcoholic. I’m also a father of four amazing children, a husband […]
My Quest for the Ultimate Balance- Mind, Body and Spirit | Ali Mujeeb
“This truly set me on a path that I’m still on today” I had a mentor years ago share with me that my mindful practice, focus on seeing the positive, and learning a lesson with each situation was profound for my age (18 at the time). However, he informed me that it would eventually catch […]