On Getting Up Again
Part of being disabled is waking up one morning and wishing you could be done with it all. I’ve never admitted that before, least of all in a public forum, but I think it’s something we have to acknowledge at one point…
The Wolf Finally Frees Itself - a column by Brianna Albers
Brianna Albers (she/her) is a crip cyborg storyteller living in Minneapolis-St. Paul. In 2016, she founded Monstering, a magazine for disabled women and nonbinary people. She consults as a patient ambassador for SMA My Way and writes the column “The Wolf Finally Frees Itself” for SMA News Today. She is currently revising THE SAINT AND THE SPIDER, an adult space fantasy with #OwnVoices disability representation. Find her on social media @briehalbers.
2018: A Year for New Beginnings
I like setting goals and making lists of everything I want to accomplish over the next 12 months. But resolutions feel dangerous to me — mainly because I never actually achieve them. I finish my to-do list every day for a week, maybe two, but…
Another Year, Another Adventure
You may have noticed I was essentially AWOL throughout the month of December. I certainly wasn’t planning on disappearing, but you never can truly prepare for a two-day hospital stay right in the middle of finals. I still don’t know what I…
SMA and Days of ‘Bad Body Vibes’
I’ve always had a weird relationship with my body, and I’ve always struggled to put that relationship into words. I don’t struggle with self-image; my reflection isn’t distorted. Most times, I just wake with an impossible disgust. It’s not that I hate my body,…
Finding Gratitude in Unexpected Places
I’ve been having a lot of headaches lately and, naturally, my anxiety had me convinced I was going to die of a brain tumor. I knew, of course, how improbable it was. Every article I read — and I actually read quite a few —…
Raised by the Internet
A year or so ago, I came across a zine on Tumblr that was all about being “raised by the internet.” It was an interesting, enjoyable read, so naturally, I reblogged it, only to lose the original post in one of many archive cleanings. But…
What Comes Next: Graduate School and Beyond
I survived my interview! Funnily enough, we never even got to voice/video chat. My interviewer — the director of the entire mental health counseling program, apparently (cue me, having a mild anxiety attack) — asked me right away if we could conduct…
Struggles with My Voice Lead to Fear and Anxiety
I have always struggled with my voice. Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) causes muscle degeneration and weakness. In this case, it means that my voice is quiet. Soft. And not just my voice, either. People rarely notice when I sneeze, because it’s such…
3 Things to Help with Depression, Part 2
In continuation of last week’s column, here are three more things you can try that might help with depression. They’re all things that have made a difference in my life, so I hope they may be able to help you, too. Don’t…
4 Things to Help with Depression
It’s easy for me to hide behind a computer screen and tell you that it gets better. To believe that it gets better – yet still wake up every morning with an unbearable sense of … dread. Exhaustion. Never knowing what’s going to happen, and trying…
