“There was a miscommunication about bringing my son lunch at school, and as a result, he was upset. I felt awful. The incident was small, but it pushed me over the edge. And I EXPLODED.”
‘This wasn’t your ‘mom-loses-her-crap-sometimes’ situation. I felt like a pressure cooker.’: Mom battles depression, ‘I’m a better mother when I’m my best self’
‘My mom said, ‘I wanted to hold you and tell you it was going to be okay… but I wasn’t sure if it would.’: Woman with Major Depressive Disorder urges ‘you matter’
“I fought back tears all day. I’d have breakdowns in the back of the classroom. I didn’t talk to my sisters for 6 months while living under the same roof. I’d never felt so alone.”
‘You’re not good enough! You’re alone! No one loves you or cares about you!’: Woman struggling with depression, anxiety says ‘I’m worth it’
“I was alone in my apartment, overwhelmed by this pain in my chest. I grabbed a knife and sat in the dark. Tears ran down my face. The only noise was coming from my head and it was screaming at me.”
‘In the darkened kitchen, I ate pints of ice cream, boxes of candy, and whole packages of cookies.’: Woman battling mental illness says ‘I overshare so our kids know they can ask for help’
“I’d crawl into bed, face swollen and knuckles bloody. By December of Freshman year of college, I weighed 90 pounds and fit into size 12 kids jeans. I started taking laxatives to purge – some nights 30-40 at a time.”
‘Our struggles are NOT isolated. You DESERVE to be supported.’: Yogi gives coping tips for mental health awareness month
“DON’T shy away from being held up by others. It’s a DAILY battle.”
‘This is what you DESERVE.’ Even my previous therapists made snide comments.’: Woman in recovery for eating disorder says ‘recovery is BEAUTIFUL’
“’You don’t deserve this pain. Not only that, you don’t deserve anything which has been done to you to cause this pain.’ I believed her.”
‘I cried and begged God, ‘Take this away from me, or take my life. I don’t want it.’ I knew my mom would never accept me.’: Queer woman urges ‘sexuality and religion can coincide’
“I was a caged bird in my small town with my religious mother, and now I was free, discovering my full potential. I realized Christianity and sexuality do not need to fight each other. They can live peacefully.”
‘He wouldn’t give me my son. He slammed me into the wall so hard I blacked out.’: Woman shares heartbreaking story of abuse, ‘You don’t realize it’s not right until it’s too late’
“I was pregnant and with my kids’ dad at the time, so I didn’t give him the time of day. He told me he had herpes. Just like that. After a year, and he is just now telling me.”
‘All I could think was, ‘How can I have PTSD? Isn’t that just for veterans?’ One traumatic event had changed my life forever.’: Community rallies to raise 15k+ for trauma survivor in need of service dog
“I started passing out in stairwells and parking lots at just 15 years old. We thought it was a ‘fluke.’ My potassium was low, no big deal. After years with no answers and countless misdiagnoses, a neuropsychiatrist finally said, ‘Felicia, have you ever experienced trauma?’ My husband encouraged me to come clean.”
‘I think she has some fractures.’ Nobody knew what was wrong with me. The pain was EVERYWHERE.’: Chronic illness warrior fights to ‘stay positive’
“All my problems, physical and mental, changed me. I get more medical visits than visits from my friends. But I still need to see the positives in life.”
