Jim Stitzel
Jack-of-All-Trades, Master of WordsExcerpts from Life
The Experience of Derealization
There's this strange artifact that occurs with anxiety. It also occurs with people who have been through trauma, suffer from PTSD, stress, or depression or anxiety. It's a condition called derealization, and it takes two forms. One is when you feel like an observer...
Anxiety, Panic Disorder, Bipolar, and the Interplay Between the Three
It's September 2017, and it's Homecoming Weekend at my alma mater Cedarville University. It's the first time I've been able to attend since graduating in 2002, and it just so happens to be my graduating class's 15-year reunion. By happy coincidence it's also the...
Walking for Suicide Awareness and the Journey Through Mental Health
Yesterday, I joined with a handful of friends, along with thousands of other people I've never met before, to devote a day to raising awareness about suicide. Every year, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention hosts the Out of the Darkness walk at the White...
Fiction
Hallucinations
Angel wings play across my ceiling while I lie in bed trying to fall asleep. Shadowy, feathery figures that flit and float across the surface, as if moved by an unseen breeze. They sway, back and forth, and I am mesmerized. They speak to me, low whispers of angelic...
Pied Piping
"No dogs or cats allowed." The sign on the door to the library was pretty straightforward. Peter read it once quietly, then once more out loud, as if that would make a difference. "I don't think they want us to come in," Paula said, next to him. Peter just shrugged....
The Wormhole
Mac positions the shuttle about 300 meters away from the mouth of the wormhole. Then, he and the other two crew members start to get busy taking measurements and monitoring the phenomenon. "Captain McMaren, here," Lindsey says over the comms. "We don't have a live...