“I’d be on our couch, totally frozen, unable to think or move. ‘This is a step too far.’ If I was emotionally unhealthy, I wasn’t going to show up as the mom I wanted to be.”
‘I need to leave. I have to get out of here.’ I felt clammy, trapped. Anxiety was taking precious memories away from me.’: New mom shares journey with postpartum anxiety, ‘There IS a way out’
‘I believe I’m the woman you’re looking for.’ We’d reached out to EVERYONE in New York with her name.’: Adoptee finds biological family after 16 years
“A young woman opened the door and met me at the top of the staircase. I KNEW it was her. She hugged me, squeezing as if she never wanted to let go.”
‘Everyone thinks you’re free once you leave an abusive relationship. It’s not true.’: Woman shares self-love journey after abuse, ‘I’m stronger than I thought’
“You have to stay strong, every day.”
‘I don’t feel like myself.’ I attempted to be the perfect mom. I couldn’t let myself cage.’: Mom bravely shares journey with anxiety and panic disorder, ‘I don’t have to hide anymore’
“My stomach sank in fear. ‘What if something is really wrong?’ The room was spinning. My house became my safe space. What if I never felt like my true self again? I couldn’t stay home forever.”
‘My life was out of control. I drank as much as possible to escape. ‘Why is this happening to me?’ I only had half of my hair left, but I couldn’t give up.’: Woman with alopecia takes back her life, ‘I made myself a priority’
“I covered all of the mirrors in my apartment and closed all of the blinds. I didn’t want to see my family or friends. I didn’t want anyone to be near me. I was so ashamed and disgusted with myself. My hair was my security blanket, but it was almost gone.”
‘My extreme ‘healthy eating’ convinced me drinking milk was ‘treating myself.’ I’d go to bed happy with a 500-calorie deficit.’: Young woman battling orthorexia details journey to self-love
“I was constantly told, ‘You’re so dedicated.’ ‘I wish I had your willpower.’ I wore these compliments with pride thinking, ‘If only I could have more self-control, all of my problems will be fixed.'”
‘The doctor said, ‘It’s just teenage girl stuff.’ I was living with everyday pain as if it were normal, forced to accept feeling this way forever.’: Young woman shares journey to Ulcerative Colitis diagnosis, ‘My life is just beginning’
“I was 21, almost done with my senior year of college. These were supposed to be the best years of my life, yet every day I felt sick and exhausted and no doctor could tell me why. I was told it was ‘all in my head.’ I lost friends because no one could understand. Soon, I was withdrawing from my semester from a hospital bed.”
‘My 2-week-old infant in my arms, I discovered my husband was having an affair with a close friend. All I could mutter was, ‘I’m going to die,’ over and over again.’: Woman navigates marital infidelity, addiction, ‘I am living proof it gets better’
“I told my therapist, ‘We sit on opposite sofas in the living room, but I feel like we’re on opposite planets. There’s no intimacy, no passion.’ I chalked it up to being newlyweds while he battled multiple addictions behind closed doors. When I discovered the messages, I screenshotted them, planning to present them in divorce court.”
‘The doctor said, ‘If you buy a toaster and it’s smashed, you know it won’t work.’ We were SPEECHLESS. We had to find a new ‘normal.’: Daughter born with Microcephaly, ‘She’s made AMAZING progress’
“‘We witnessed a little girl in a purple wheelchair being shaken and yelled at.’ That little girl was Melissa. Sometimes life leads you in the right direction at the right time.”
8 Ways To Help Your Loved One Battling Addiction, Without Hurting Yourself
“Remember, you don’t have the power to get them sober. If you did, you would have cleaned them up a long time ago.”
