Lisa Marie Basile

The sum of a city isn’t always made up of its parts.

Is there a certain quality to letter writing or diary keeping that inspires the confessional? I believe so.

My happiness is what undid me, ironically. I worried so much about being OK with the happiness that I fell apart.

Anxiety disorders — PTSD, OCD, and Panic Disorder, to name a few — are the most common mental illnesses in the United States, with about 18% of the population struggling with one. No one wants to be put on blast for their weaknesses or wiring issues. I just wish there was a way to better understand the silent majority — the people who suffer every day.

It’s Monday, 6 a.m. and Sarah, 30, wakes up — as she does five days a week (but really, it’s seven, because the body is a fickle thing).

When you hear about a person with a chronic illness working or not working or considering quitting a job, these decisions were not made lightly.

Like a lot of people with chronic illness or autoimmune/autoinflammatory disorders, I went through a dead-end labyrinth to get my diagnosis.