talking loudly about chronic illness
Ben Benjamin (Paul Rudd) sits for his first interview as a newly-minted caregiver and exchanges a few niceties with Elsa, the mother of his patient-to-be. Before they have a chance …
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Humans love to believe that it’s going to get better. Her lungs had been the first thing to go. She couldn’t venture up a flight of stairs without a five-minute …
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Look both ways before crossing the street, always chew before you swallow, don’t talk to strangers. These are the first basic lessons I learned from my parents. As I grew …
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During dinner recently, my ten-year-old son Ryan told me his fifth-grade class was learning about communicable diseases. It was a hard word to say, and he struggled to pronounce it …
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Artist’s Statement: My work comes from my lived experience with bipolar disorder, psychiatric hospitalization, migraines, and PTSD. Poetry and art have been important therapeutic tools throughout my healing journey. I …
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Artistic statement: “Judy Suite” is a sequence of graphic requiems recounting my mother’s struggle with Alzheimer’s. Chris Gavaler is an associate professor of English at W&L University, where he serves …
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Putting Out What You Might Put Away A crib and changing table are quietlydismantled but all the socks are paired confetti,and the hats and the layettes grown dustyin the drawers, …
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On the radiation table, there is a moment when I can see the top part of my body outlined by green light. This is not the first time this year …
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When I was 14, I shaved one of my eyebrows off. In an impatient attempt to become beautiful, my hand slipped. After blinking a few times in the three-way mirror, …
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Artist statement: I have fibromyalgia, migraines, depression, anxiety, and PTSD. “Invisible” illnesses. As a transgender person with a psychiatric history, this often leads to doctors suggesting the pain is all …
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