Brianna Albers (she/her) is a crip-cyborg storyteller living in Minneapolis-St. Paul. She was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy type 2 in 1996 and lives with co-occurring physical and mental health conditions. By day she works as an advocate, bridging disability and mental health awareness to empower people to live their best lives; by night, she dabbles in imagination, and is currently writing “An Angel in the Garden,” an adult space fantasy with #OwnVoices disability representation. Find her online at briannahopealbers.com and on social media @briehalbers.
It’s 2014. I’m months-deep into a major depressive episode. Nothing is enjoyable, not even my all-time favorite video game. I feel listless in the worst of ways. Several of my friends are playing “Dragon Age: Inquisition” (DAI), the…
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This year has been unprecedentedly good in terms of media. From season four of “Stranger Things” to the delightfully campy “Our Flag Means Death,” I’ve had no shortage of things to binge. But the highlight has undoubtedly been the…
My life flashed before my eyes. Or, to be more specific, all the meals I’ve eaten in my life flashed before my eyes. I’d determined with complete certainty that I was lactose intolerant. My symptoms aligned perfectly — namely,…
With all due gravity, I informed the group chat about my latest hypothesis. “I think I might be lactose intolerant.” “NO,” said one friend. “NOOOOO,” said another. I explained that I’d been experiencing some strange symptoms around dinnertime. Initially,…
It was about a week and a half into the “Dad has COVID-19” saga. Mom and I were surviving in every sense of the term. We’re all introverts, and we all hate change. So you can imagine how…
Working with the biotech company Genentech never ceases to amaze me. Back in 2019, when Genentech representatives first reached out to me about an upcoming initiative, I had no idea what to expect. They wanted me to attend…
After two years of tweaking, my new wheelchair is home for good. I think. Most wheelchair users dread new devices. There’s the process of submitting the claim to insurance, which is frankly straight from hell. Then there’s the…
You know when something is wrong, but you can’t put your finger on what, exactly, that is? The past week has been an exercise in expecting the unexpected. I woke up Wednesday morning to a weeks-early period. “Fine,” I…
It all started with a little pink pill. I’m allergic to everything under the sun. Thanks to a complex, multistep treatment regimen, I more or less have my allergies under control. But there are days when not even…
Content warning: The following contains mentions of medical trauma and death. I knew something was wrong. But I didn’t always. When my friend and fellow columnist Sherry Toh messaged me one evening to say she was sick, I assumed…
I hoard poems like others hoard sports trophies. It’d be an exaggeration to say that I have a poem for every emotion under the sun. But I do have ones that stick with me, that ring through my head…
I rarely ever cry. That’s a lie. I cry an average amount. I’m especially sensitive in moments of stress or tension. I’ve been known to burst into tears at the first sign of confrontation, which, as I’m sure you…
By the time you read this, my dad will be back where he belongs. I am, of course, joking. My dad has a life outside of his caregiving duties, as he should. But there’s some truth to the claim…
