Photos by contributor Patrycja Marciniak, a 24-year-old graphic designer, artist, and photographer from Poland who has struggled with depression, anxiety, and dermatillomania, the urge to scratch and pick at one’s skin.

About these photos: “I filled a jar with venlafaxine – a medication I take for depression – to express the hopelessness I sometimes feel. My illness feels like a prison, and medicine doesn’t feel like an escape, only a temporary break, a necessity. I’m looking forward to the times when I no longer desperately need meds to feel happy, but can find the happiness on my own. I hope that someday I will spread my wings and fly away from my prison.”

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