Shipwrecked

December 13, 2017 by Editor-in-Chief in Arts & Culture, Mental Health, Identity

By Samantha English

Content warning: mention of anxiety, depression, and emotional abuse

I fell in love with the Brontë sisters when I was sixteen. I read Wuthering Heights in a slow-churning tempest of terror and intrigue, Cathy’s ghost lingering over my shoulder as I drew complex family trees of the Earnshaw and Linton families at my kitchen table. I carried my black-penned copy of Emily’s singular work to you, Wellesley, where it sat watching me, witchlike, waiting to be joined by its sister novels. It didn’t take long. By my second semester, I was in the Nineteenth Century Novel class, combing obsessively through Jane Eyre. I wasn’t just hooked. I was haunted.

Aguas Negras

November 01, 2017 by Editor-in-Chief in Identity, Mental Health

By Alicia Margarita Olivo

Content warning: description of violence, implication of depression, mention of hurricane, flood

Being at Wellesley makes me feel like I’m wading through flood waters (I remember when Tropical Storm Allison hit home and my dad took my hand and helped me walk through the water to see the cars stuck on the street; I thought they were sharks in the deep), or that I’m carrying a weight on my chest. Now that I’m 1,806 miles away from home (if I were to walk home—sometimes I imagine society collapsing and everything going to complete shit [more than it already has] and, stuck without the availability to drive, I would walk those 1,806 miles back home) and family, bringing up any topic that might be considered Heavy seems rude.

Let's Talk About Therapy

May 17, 2017 by Editor-in-Chief in Mental Health

By Sophia Temkin '17

Content warning: implication of depression; mention of attempted suicide, sexual assault, and anxiety

The first time I went to therapy, I was in second grade. The last time I went to therapy was about a week ago. I think I’ve spent more years in weekly therapy than not.

Another Umbrella Email

May 03, 2017 by Editor-in-Chief in Mental Health

By Anonymous

Content warning: explicit descriptions of depression, death, suicidal thoughts, drowning; mentions of ableist terms describing mental health conditions

The hood on my raincoat comes to a point where all the water streams down. It’s streaming down into my coat. I am drenched, but my umbrella is in my bag.

I didn’t use it because at least when I’m drenched and miserable, I’m feeling something.

The Road Less Traveled: or, the Ugly Side of Study Abroad

April 14, 2017 by Editor-in-Chief in Mental Health, Campus Life

By Anonymous

Content warning: implication of depression and anxiety

No matter how prepared I may have been, how many web pages I read or maps I studied, how much I knew I wanted to do this, study abroad is not all worry-free days and adventure. It’s not just weekend getaways and clever Instagram captions. It’s a lot harder than that.