Lincoln's Story
Depression! Sounds cliché, doesn’t it? When you hear news about a certain event incessantly, you are bound to become desensitized to it. To no longer resonate with the weight it carries because if you do something often enough, it becomes routine, a part of you. In all forms of media, there are myriad campaigns, tidbits, discussions, and whatnot along the lines of mental illness. What it means, how we can protect our own,and how we can be there for those who are struggling. In the depth of my depression, this was both a promise and a curse. I will explain that in a bit, but first, let us tell this story properly. Imagine you are a bird, and you just learned that your wings can carry you to the clouds. Imagine the feeling of unending euphoria and boundless hope. You are on top of the world, and you feel like you can pierce through the sky. This is how I felt a lot of the time. My life was picturesque, everything was moving as it was projected to be.
Danielle's Mental Health Journey
PAY ATTENTION…
My Story
I do not clearly remember being present in my body before I was 9; the last time I was not in dissociation mode, I was likely too young to remember.
I only came to this realization in my early twenties, after I burned out from masking for so long, and decided to make changes in my life. To make said changes, however, I had to find out the root issues.
The first time I began to suspect something might be wrong, I was 18, in my final year of high school. I was studying the science trifecta PCB: Physics, Chemistry and Biology, and way further out of my depth than anyone, not even I, could have guessed or imagined. As the family “genius”, the only one in a legacy government school, with the ambition of becoming a doctor, I was under a lot of pressure to perform well but I was struggling to get even passably good grades. Most of the time, I was simply going through the motions.