We are seeking human stories centering institutionalization and/or psychiatric hospitalization. As a publication, we seek to prioritize the voices of those who have been hospitalized in psychiatric wards, inpatient drug rehabs, and eating disorder facilities; who have survived the troubled teen industry (wilderness therapy, therapeutic boarding schools, residential treatment centers, conversion therapy, etc.); who have endured the foster care system; who have experienced incarceration; or who identify with other sites of institution.

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We want your stories. We recognize that mainstream media often fails to deliver accurate portrayals of institutionalization, hospitalization and related experiences, and we want to return the power of portrayal straight to those whose voices have been silenced and neglected. We want to know your truth. Your high moments, your low moments, the experiences that nearly broke you and those that kept you alive. The people inside who changed your life, for better or worse. The culture of institutions (grippy socks, booty juice, the routine and reality). The boring days, the emotional ones. Details, big and small. The ways that institutionalization—whether for days or years—changed the fabric of your world. We want to hear about life after discharge—how did your experiences in your ward/facility/program shape the course of your life? Whatever story you have to tell, we want to offer you the platform to bring your experiences to the world, to hold them up beyond stigma and shame. We want you to feel heard.

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We are looking for work that examines the mental healthcare system from the inside out, bringing a human lens to the critical issues within psychiatric, rehab, and TTI facilities/programs. Whether you have gone to an institute once/for a short frequency or many times/long-term, we are seeking a variety of tales about treatment and mistreatment in the forms of nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and artwork. We want to give you the space to tell the world your stories (or, as is known in the troubled teen industry community, to “break code silence”) in ways that feel safe and validating.