It is 30 Nov 2020. My whole day went well and i slept on time but suddenly so many thoughts started coming to my mind while sleeping that i just woke up and started crying for no reason . It’s not the first time, it happens suddenly without any alarm . I am still up trying to sleep . I hope it goes
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#mental illness #mental health #anxiety #submissionI am 32, a United States Marine Corps veteran, an auditor and I am living with bipolar disorder II, which causes symptoms of anxiety and depression episodes.
I never truly understood what it meant to have a mental illness until I realized that I was constantly worrying and feeling down. My depression episodes manifested as days of extreme lows where I struggled to get out of bed and perform day-to-day tasks and activities. I spoke to some friends who were dealing with similar symptoms, and they encouraged me to seek professional help. My bipolar diagnosis was identified when I was in a serious car accident while experiencing a manic episode.
Discovering a mental illness while recovering from a major accident was not easy. Here is what helped me accept my diagnosis and recover from my physical and mental injuries:
Today, I am different because I am living with my diagnosis and my diagnosis is not controlling me. I see my therapist and psychologist on a regular basis. I am mindful of my mood on a daily basis and aware of the warning signs of manic and depressive episodes. I ultimately have taken charge of my life and my health.
There is a need for mental illness to be recognized as a real and serious condition in community specifically the African American community. People need to be educated on the various mental illness diagnoses and symptoms and see a therapist at least 2-4 times a year to maintain their mental health. Education and therapy ensure they are not putting themselves or others in danger. Many people are unaware of their mental illness and choose to suffer in silence. We need to end this process of thinking and encourage people to seek support.
Mental illness screenings should be done 2-4 times a year for preventative reasons, just like an annual physical examinations and biannual dental cleanings. Mental illness screenings should be no different.
My hope is that people who live with mental illness and the people who love them will eventually see all health as equally important.
October is mental health awareness month and anyone who has been touched by mental illness has an important story that needs to be shared. There are people that need to understand that these issues are okay to talk about and feel all the feels.
I feel compelled to share this story about my anxiety and depression because mental illness took the voice of a friend of mine and countless others when it doesn’t have to. It’s a journey, but there is hope.
“I have a chemical imbalance in my brain. I did not ask for it, nor did a diabetic ask for their illness. Yet, you stigmatize me for mine and call me crazy yet you give compassion for the other.”
That chemical imbalance for me, according to a psychiatrist, is generalized anxiety disorder and depression. Before the diagnosis, let’s go back to December 9, 2016 at around 3:30 in the morning when I was literally catapulted from my bed and my journey began… I jumped up as if someone was stabbing me in the heart. I thought for sure, this is it, I’m dying. Not realizing that I was walking around and pacing in order to decide what I should do next. Needless to say I wasn’t dying… I decided after calling my primary care doctor that I should go to the ER. They pulled me into the room right before the ER pretty quickly after getting there as they often do with unexplained chest pain. They took an EKG of my chest and sent me back to the waiting room. After they took me back to the ER they went through chest x-rays, physical exams, multiple doctors and nurses, and then they said you’re not having a heart attack. We only treat you for what you came in with so we’re sending you home and just follow up with your primary care doctor. What?! That’s it?! Do you people not realize I am actually going to die? Spoiler alert- I’m still here.
Hi, my name is Abi, and I’m a 16 year old from Michigan struggling with depression and anxiety. My experience with mental illness has not been an easy one, nor has it been short. I’ve struggled with my mental health my whole life, as crazy as it may sound. My anxiety has kept me from friends, kept me from reaching out towards new opportunities, it’s even isolated me from my family. It’s thr same way with my depression. People tell me I’m a good writer, but I only started writing to get all the thoughts out of my head in the hopes that would make them go away or at least make them better. (Spoiler alert, it didn’t work.) It irritates me to see people, adults and children alike, going around telling everyone mental illnesses are fake, or people with mental illnesses just want attention. Do not let anybody tell you that, no matter who it is. Your friends, your family, nonody. Your struggle is real, it is valid, and you are an amazingly strong person for fighting through it for this long. There are dozens of people just like you in this world, you are not alone. So please do not be afraid to reach out, ask for help, or simply ask for somebody to listen and try to understand. Thank you.
Long story short, I became familiar with mental illness around the age of 18. I was always aware of it, but never too much in depth until I experienced it myself. My family knew I had major anxiety before I did. I had to go through something traumatic for it to be seen. When I was 19, I was in a relationship with a man 8 years older than me, he turned out to be very abusive. That lead from one thing to another and I was hospitalized twice for self harm and attempt of suicide. After being hospitalized the first time, my doctors put me in Intensive Outpatient Therapy (IOP) for 6 weeks. They diagnosed me with anxiety, severe depression, and bipolar 1 disorder. For about a year I was trying all different kinds of medication and new therapists all while being with the same abusive man. I then was in the hospital again for trying to overdose, that was my final straw for both me and my family/friends. I lost so many important people in my life during this growing period, but that showed me who was in my circle vs. who was not. Fast forward almost 2 years later and I’ve grown so much. I am and have been on Effexor for almost a year, this medicine has saved my life. Not that medicine is for everyone, it is for me plus many other healthy coping skills. I am 21 years old attending university as a Psychology Major, I finally made it to the other side. Dealing with mental illness has taught me so much about self love, self awareness, toxicity, insecurities, and a lot more. If I could share my story with the world, I would, just so everyone knows they are not alone.
I was recently at a dinner with two friends, when we began discussing mental illness and mental health treatment.
All three of us have openly had periods of struggle with both depression and anxiety, but we all had very different takes on treatment, particularly in regards to antidepressants.
“I wouldn’t go on them,” said the first friend.
“I would go on them, but just until I feel better,” said the second.
My take was the opposite: I have been taking antidepressants on and off my entire life, and since deciding to take them consistently nearly three years ago, my life has turned around. I plan to be on them forever.
Conversations like this are not uncommon. When it comes to mental health issues, opinions are often polarized and strongly held.
I understand that antidepressants are not for everyone; many people are fortunate in not suffering from mental illness, and even many of those who do would prefer to have medication be their last resort.
For me, medication is a part of a more comprehensive treatment plan to avoid falling back into the throes of the major depression that I know always lingers beneath the surface of my delicately balanced equilibrium.
I remember what it feels like to be unwell.
The stigma of mental illness still continues to be an issue in our world. Its impact will often delay a person who struggles with mental health from addressing their concerns the moment they have them. Other times, it has prevented a person from reaching out for help at all.
I went through both phases. I have encountered uglier monsters than the ones dwelling within my anxiety. Ones so hideous they have made my anxiety monsters cower with fear.
The stigma monster.
It surrounds mental illness and will dive head first into the chaos for the simple pleasure of creating more. Shame kept me silent for a long time, until the walls that concealed my secret finally crumbled under the weight it carried. Rather than be crushed, I became determined to gather every broken piece of my walls and use them instead as the foundation I would rebuild myself on.
My battles are with anxiety disorder, panic disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I was diagnosed with anxiety in 2009, and it became the breeding ground for the other two. It has also been the disorder I have received the most judgment for and what I have experienced the most barriers with.
How?
Hello. We all can live a great, purposeful life managing Bipolar Condition or any mental health situations.
The social stigma of mental illness used to bother me to no end…and contribute to my problems! I’m over that now, but I prefer to call it Bipolar Condition vs. “Disorder”. I also prefer to discuss Mental Health vs. “Illness”.
My story in general:
According to the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI), “Everyone knows a little about mental health issues but knowing the facts about mental illness can help you educate others and reject stigmatizing stereotypes. They are not the result of personal weakness, lack of character or poor upbringing. Understanding mental health isn’t only about being able to identify symptoms and having a name for these conditions but dispelling many false ideas about mental health conditions as well.”
Although 1 in 5 Americans live with a mental health condition, my ex-husband treats me like I’m a psychopath all because I was diagnosed with a very manageable disorder. We have a son between us and after being evaluated by a psychologist that he chose, specific recommendations were made that made me feel like a criminal. The recommendations laid out included that I provide random drug and alcohol hair tests to my ex-husband, have a breathalyzer installed in my car, and attend AA for one year.
Let me first state that I’ve never received a DWI or drank alcohol while my son or daughter were in the car with me. The psychologist during several of our interviews had asked me about drinking alcohol and I explained that I did consider myself a heavy drinker during my divorce and for a short time after. I NEVER admitted to being an alcoholic, I was very upfront and honest with the psychologist on all his questions so I had no reason to lie about this.
Hi all, I stumbled across this website as I was doing some research on mental health awareness. I just wanted to take the opportunity to praise this site for giving support to those who have suffered and continue to suffer with a mental illness.
I see people have submitted short stories on their past/present regarding struggles with mental health and how they’ve battled with it. It is inspiring, because the problem with having a mental illness is that you feel that you’re in a never ending dark tunnel, with no light whatsoever. But thankfully there is a light, no matter how useless life seems.
I as a 20 year old girl, have in fact been stuck in that tunnel too. It’s not pretty, in fact it’s rather exhausting and quite frankly daunting. Maybe I am one of the lucky souls who has found the light, as I hope others do to. I am fully aware that with my condition, it can come back and bite me. Sadly I can’t control it, but with the love of great people, it seems easier now to grab the bull by the horns.
I thought that I had accepted my mental illness long ago. After all, I was taking medication and attending counseling after being hospitalized for months in a state psychiatric hospital. Here I was an “advocate” for mental health but refused to disclose to anyone that I was suffering. It wasn’t until I moved back to my hometown and got involved as a mental health advocate for NAMI that I realized what exactly accepting a mental health diagnosis meant.
Accepting meant that I was going to no longer stigmatize myself for being ill. A condition, is a condition, is a condition. I wouldn’t treat someone with diabetes any differently for being ill so why was I holding myself up to such a ridiculous standard? Accepting meant that I was not afraid to stand in front of a group of 20 strangers and disclose what I thought was my biggest secret in order to educate the community. For so long I wanted change to the system, change to mental health care. The only way that change is going to happen is if we all accept our conditions and reduce the stigmatization. Through acceptance and education comes change.
That change is exactly what I am seeing in myself and my community now. After going through facilitator training for the NAMI Connection Recovery Support Group program I started a support group for adults with mental illness in my community. I now sit on the advisory board for my mental health agency and my local NAMI affiliate as a mental health consumer. I am no longer afraid to say that I have a mental illness and advocate for those who have not yet reached that stage in their recovery or are unable to advocate for themselves. There is help and there is hope.