The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!
Social Pragmatic Disorder
by Suzie Lockhart
How can I be depressed…?
Gifted, young, in love;
life filled with possibility.
The doctor assures me
fatigue and weight gain
can be treated, medicated.
Pop a Zoloft or a Prozac
and all will be well.
No. Lack of attention,
Disorganization,
fits the profile for ADD
—add Xanax for anxiety.
Migraines plague my waking hours,
exhaustion a constant companion,
years disappear, until
dragging myself out of bed
I can barely muster…
Life losing its luster.
Therapy will help…
But it doesn’t.
It never does, not really.
Pain radiates everywhere
Yet nowhere to be found,
tests all negative,
diagnosis: fibromyalgia.
Pop more pills,
those lovely opioids
offering relief every day,
then…they take those away!
Making every day a constant struggle
swimming under water, in that
sea of depression and anxiety and pain.
I try to hide my true self;
The dark side haunting me.
A therapist tells me how to
remove myself from the despair—
I try and come up for air.
It works…for a while,
before those disquieting thoughts
return; I thought life would be better
but I still want to hide—
live life on the inside.
There’s a world in my head,
words are my only comfort zone;
I want to go home
but home is no longer there,
I don’t care.
An empty shell beside me…
I can’t find who I want to be.
I think I am an Aspie!
Yes! that seems to fit;
Asperger’s presents different in females,
refer to the list
Because there I see me…
But now another he
diagnosis
Social Pragmatic Disorder.
Perhaps I should pop more than just a pill…this time?
Fiction © Copyright Suzie Lockhart
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com
More from Suzie Lockhart:
Killing It Softly 2
The Best by Women in Horror
The first ‘Killing It Softly’ was just the tip of the iceberg…
Beneath the icy depths of this next installment, you’ll be plunged into a world where 38 female horror writers give you a glimpse of their inner-demons, unleashing the hell-fire they suppress in the ‘real’ world. It will disturb you to discover what really lurks inside their minds, because many of these stories delve into pain that can only be experienced by women—leaving you unhinged as you curl up with them during their darkest hour.
Post-partum depression, hording, anorexia, and mental health will be brought to light when viewed through the shadowy perspective of cognitive deception.
Sci-fi, romance, steam-punk, and fantasy intertwine with horror to deliver unsettling, chilling stories; traditional tales of witches, zombies, werewolves, and vampires will be told in twisted new ways that will shock, unnerve, and even repulse you…and within these pages, sometimes new monsters will arise from the ashes.
You may even discover that women can not only write good horror…but in some cases, can do it better.
Be sure to check out the other fantastic events and people participating in
Women in Horror Month 9
for more great WiHM8 events and posts!
Poignant and powerful.