“I was constantly having hot flashes. I ended up throwing up blood and fainted at work. ’Go to Urgent Care.’ They weren’t really sure what was causing my problems. I was constantly waiting in the doctor’s office to get bad news.”
‘Your heart is abnormal.’ I sent emails for a month with no reply. I already fainted at work and threw up blood.’: Woman with congenital heart defect shares struggles, ‘Keep fighting, warriors’
‘I cannot gain weight. Forget it. I’d rather suffer. Aren’t people who take meds crazy?’’: Woman accepts anxiety medication; ‘I was back to being the mom my daughter knew’
“I saw a psychologist who said my anxiety was way too intense and all-consuming. I would weigh myself twice a day and ask people a million times, ‘Do I look fat?’ After a few weeks, the medication started to kick in. Unfortunately, the weight started to come on.”
‘I’m doomed,’ he says. ‘I can’t do this anymore. I don’t know how I’m going to live like this. He’s hurting me.’: Woman sheds light on boyfriend’s struggles with OCD, mental illness
“I say, ‘You’re not a bad person.’ I hold my boyfriend in my arms, feeling his normally strong chest shake uncontrollably with giant, heart wrenching sobs. There’s nothing I can do, except hold him tighter.”
‘I am not sure how you do it.’ More than one child is rushed to the emergency room at once. If I’m being honest, I’m not sure either.’: Special needs mom births 3 children, fosters and adopts 8 more
“After having my own accident that caused a permanent disability, I had to advocate for myself and my kids. 8 of 11 of them are special needs. There are many days I want to pull my hair out, but I never look back and think, ‘Why me?’ I am forever grateful to be their mama.”
‘I had to wear adult diapers. ‘Do you realize how stupid you look?’ He was mimicking my tics in front of the class.’: Young woman with Tourette’s Syndrome finally finds help, ‘I got my quality of life back’
“I felt stupid because no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t stop. I would spend an hour straightening my shoes, trying to get them ‘just right.’ My dad had to sleep on the floor next to my bed and I had to wear adult diapers. I was left with my self-esteem in shatters. I believed I was a naughty kid.”
‘I cried, ‘Make it stop! I can’t take it any longer!’ I downed laxatives to ’empty out’ whatever I’d let inside my body.’: Woman battling anorexia survives laxative suicide attempt, ‘EVERY one of us need to reach the end, even if we can’t always see that’
“I went downstairs to get the laundry and crumpled down on the bottom step. That’s when I felt the shooting pain of the latest round of laxatives attempting to kick in. I dropped the basket and crawled on my hands and knees. I could feel my stomach contracting fiercely. I didn’t even have the strength to hold a phone to my ear.”
‘Why bother with contraception? You’ll never have children anyway.’ I wanted to give up.’: Young woman overcomes depression from PCOS, acne, ‘I keep blooming every day’
“I remember the distress I felt. ‘Why is my hard work not paying off?’ I just wanted to give up and hide from the world. I thought I wasn’t worthy of love. I mean, who could possibly love such an ugly face? At my lowest point, I met a boy. He made me realize I was so much more.”
‘I didn’t like the green doily curtain she hung up, so I moved out. I’d make my bed 2 minutes before crawling into it. I was always on edge.’: Woman with anxiety advocates for mental health, ‘There IS help’
“If my mother-in-law wanted to load the dishes for me, I didn’t want her to because I like to load mine a certain way. I consumed myself with ensuring trash was thrown away immediately and constantly just cleaning up after people. I was always on edge.”
‘At 12, the psychiatrist gave an ultimatum. ‘If you don’t gain 0.2 pounds by Monday, I’m sticking a tube down your throat and admitting you to the psych ward.’: Anorexia survivor says ‘recovery is a choice I make every day’
“I cheated my way out, really believing the worst was over. That lasted 12 hours. My mom took me to the supermarket to buy a birthday cake for my friend. I stood in the cake aisle and started to panic. I couldn’t do it. I was so consumed by it, even looking at the cake felt like something I’d have to punish myself for. I left the story empty-handed and in tears. I didn’t think I’d live to see my 15th birthday.”
‘All they see is ‘locked in his room’ and immediately jump to ‘savior’ mode.’They call CPS without knowing the damage it can do.’: Mom of bipolar, autistic son advocates for mental health, ‘Each victory makes us stronger’
“He has been up till 2:00 a.m. every night the past four nights. I can see the exhaustion in his eyes, but his brain is on rapid-fire mode. I feel like a horrible mom sitting on the floor in the hall outside his room, which is locked, listening to him.”
