I can’t remember the first time that I had a panic attack, I was too young. In my very first year of primary school, at the age of 5, I saw a child be sick during a lesson, another wet themselves in an assembly. These things bothered me tremendously and led to some obsessive behaviour, [...]
The following article is an anonymous submission for Stigma Fighters. The writer wanted her identity to remain confidential, but feels that the issues expressed here are universal. This is her story. Abuse: The Silent Killer You see it in the movies. You hear it on the streets. Most of us have a friend who is [...]
The Set Up For as long as long as I could remember, my mother was “on a diet”. On a Diet because she had a big butt and her thighs were fat, the “Engblom Thighs” she called them. And I knew what that meant at a very early age as my grandmother was a short, [...]
I’m a 22 year young woman living in Croatia, classical guitar player and teacher, passionate nature, music, art and life lover, giving my best to feel comfortable and happy in every aspect of my life so basically a huge hedonist. Oh yes, I was also diagnosed with GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder) and have panic attacks [...]
I was an overly-dramatic emotional child. We still laugh about the time we were taking a hike while camping and I begged my uncle to carry me. I was probably fourish at the time. When no one would, I threw my head back and moaned, “WHOA IS ME! NOBODY LOVES ME! MY LITTLE LEGGIES ARE [...]
At the beginning of this school year if someone asked me what was wrong or why I was unhappy, I could not have told them; I’ve always been this way. It was not until off a whim I signed up for a class on gender identity and sexual orientation that I realized how much my [...]
I am a 31 year old woman of color and mother of 3 living with mental illness. My official diagnosis is “rapid cycling bipolar disorder type 2 with OCD and anxiety.” I can trace the anxiety back to my childhood. My father was emotionally and verbally abusive and physically violent during my childhood and teen [...]
July 2011 I arrived at the ER in pain like a rabid badger in my guts. Hunched over, shuffling, I had a little paint bucket in my hands because I wretched continuously. I sat in the chair across from the receptionist, my bucket between my feet, and passed her my insurance card. She said, “I’ll [...]
I am an only child. My parents had no intention of ever changing that, and yet, I have heard my mom say, you need to have 3 kids, one to replace you and your hubby and one to populate the earth, my whole life. Why would I hear that from a woman set on having [...]
Shattering the Stigma By Amy White When you find yourself in the midst of a mental health crisis, whether your own or of someone you love, you can feel as though you are about as far from paradise as you’ve ever been. That is how I felt after I found myself in the middle of [...]