In seven short weeks I will be graduating with my Master’s degree in nursing and will be able to sit for my boards to be a board certified Nurse Practitioner. Many people ask me what my...
I am Vera Ramos. I need to speak out.
Our love and dedication, knowledge and determination as parents will make the difference in the lives of the mentally ill. I have 2 sons...
After struggling for 10-20 years with a mental illness that unfortunately I could not get her adequate and appropriate treatment for, my 26 year old daughter took her life...
You are not ALONE...I have been living with Borderline Personality Disorder and PTSD. I've had a total of five (5) burglaries and have been severely injured and NEVER taken serious...
I am the only child of a couple who suffered the trauma of experiencing WWII in Italy, the battlefield of all participating countries. My father took his anger out on me.
I was diagnosed with bipolar at aprox age 19. Having a mental illness was very embarressing but eventaully i havent had a drink of alchohol in aprox 23 years. I stopped drinking...
I am not alone because, I have found a family of people who care and understand me for who I am and don't look down on me or turn their back on me in my time of trouble.
I have Borderline Personality Disorder, Avoidant Personality Disorder, Major Depression, Anxiety and Panic Disorder. I have them but I am not them. I am 56 years young...
I've been diagnosed as bipolar II, 17 years ago. Have been on several meds and nothing has stopped my mixed episodes. Lately, I've been admitting that I have had...
I am not alone because someone spoke up. It wasn’t a friend who brought my disorder to the attention of someone who could take action to help. It wasn’t a family member, and it wasn’t ...
Growing up, I always thought something was inherently wrong with me. I was first diagnosed with major depression in 1998. I started therapy and taking medication. I became full ...
I am a survivor of child molestation and rape. I struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts for many years. At the age of 19 I had my first suicidal attempt. I had been battling ...
I was diagnosed at 13 with depression, and at 14 it became clear that I was Bipolar. Things went downhill very quickly, I couldn't attend high school ...
I am not alone because I have a circle of people around me who support me. I have Bipolar Disorder and Depersonalization Disorder. Both are difficult ...
Sometimes the best you can give others during the holidays, or any other time of the year, is the gift of your experiences in life. So, I thought it appropriate...
I am not alone, because in my middle thirties I finally discovered it's ok to ask for help and that despite what my mind is telling me, people actually do care...
It is one thing to toss a ball in the air and catch it. It is entirely different to juggle three. With regard to handling life's issues, I fall into the latter category...
I am a 52 year old grandmother with Bipolar I. I have struggled with this mental illness since I was 6 years old. Not until 2006 did I seek medical help for my illness.
As a person growing up with a bipolar/schizophrenic mother who first tried to commit suicide when I was five, you think that I would have been ready...
It is a heart wrenching helpless feeling. Your soul is sucked out with each negative event. You find yourself holding your breath and fear keeps you from...
I am beginning to understand this is a medical condition. Not entirely my fault I suppose, even though I feel like it is. Like I am weak. I remember darkness even when I was a child.
I have always considered telling my story about mental illness but was never really sure how or where I would have the opportunity. Then I discovered NAMI.
I am beginning to understand this is a medical condition. Not entirely my fault I suppose, even though I feel like it is. Like I am weak. I remember darkness even when I was a child.
I started experiencing severe depression at the age of 13. I would just cry for no reason, couldn't concentrate or do simple tasks like vacuuming. I would miss weeks of school at a time.
The reason I share my story is because when a parent has a serious mental illness, especially schizophrenia, no one brings you a cake, no one says sorry about your dad, no one says anything ...
It started when I was about 16... All I knew is that I wanted to get out of high school, because it was embarrassing as a teenager to go through something like that around the other kids.
My name is Stephanie. I'm a mother of a 13 year old son, who has bipolar disorder. For the last 4 1/2 years, we have been coping with his disease. It started when he was 6 years of age.
I did not know I was sick, my marriage was on the rocks and I had lost my sister. I felt angry, rejected, abandoned, helpless and worthless. I was spending too much time alone ...
Those two weeks were the very beginning of a journey that forever changed my life; the journey of living with and overcoming a mental illness! This is a lifelong journey ...
I am not alone in my depression. I have battled depression my whole life. I always remember feeling and being different from my peers. I also have dyslexia, which also made it harder ...
It was April 3, 1991. I woke up and found my world collapsing. Paranoid schizophrenia, had struck my then 18-year-old son. Just six short years later, tragedy struck again.
The first time I tried to take my life my mother rushed to my side. After four years of more attempts than I can remember she stood by me as I lay on a gurney in the ER, strapped down after ...
I think that my illness originated back in my early teens. Combined with a severe case of acne and being moderately overweight, life as a teen was a nightmare. Despite being very intelligent ...
I am a college student who grew up in a household with someone who had mental illness. My father was a very emotionally and mentally abusive man. He has schizophrenia. When I was ...
As a teenager and young adult, I experienced depression, problems with self-injury (cutting) and nightmares, but I never realized that everyone didn’t have other “people in their head” ...
Some people tend to act as if depression is a preference, like a choice someone makes when she doesn't pull herself up out of the sadness that life has to offer. But, trust me, depression is not ...
I am 32. I was diagnosed with bipolar I at the age of 24. Until that point I had been diagnosed as clinically depressed. My mania took me far and wide. Credit card bills, trips to other states ...
I struggled with insanity most of my life, dealing with overwhelming fears and depression and trying to avoid the panic and the screaming fits that often consumed me.
My mental illness started with depression when I was 13, leading to my first suicide attempt at 15, an addiction to self-injury, and anorexia nervosa throughout my teenage years.
I was 19 years old when I first began to experience symptoms of bipolar. I knew something was wrong with me at the time but didn't want to believe it. When I would cycle out of a ...
Welcome to the deepest and darkest, yet most genuine part of who I am. How many times have I faked a smile? Too many to count. This mood that I can't shake off is my most intimate ...
I remember crying a lot as a child in grade school, and then junior high and high school, but never sought treatment. I was diagnosed after my second child was born. I was 25 years old ...
My brother is an amazing brother and person. In 1987 my brother had a breakdown. What also is amazing is that before I learned of his breakdown a coworker at the SIU Student ...
I have struggled with mental illness for a long time. A victim of extreme bullying, I fell into a crippling depression at age 10, and I started self-harming to cope with the ...
My childhood was practically perfect, but that ease and happiness did not last. My journey with mental illness began with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) before I was 16.
Few things are as terrifying as living in a world of fear and paranoia where the walls talk to you and people can read your mind, see through your eyes, sense you.
My name is Julie. Depression runs on both sides of my family. My family is very “old school” and they whisper the word depression like it was something to be ashamed of.
I have always struggled with balance. I had an especially difficult time in high school with severe mood swings. I got pregnant at the age of seventeen, and left home ...
Hearing my psychiatrist diagnose me with bipolar II at age 40, after 15 years of being misdiagnosed with major recurrent depression, was not the horrible moment I'd long dreaded. It was ...
As a child of a mother with mental illness that was undiagnosed for years I thought everything was normal but now looking back as an adult child I remember mom not being around much...
Before I began hearing voices (auditory hallucinations that people with schizophrenia often experience), I heard music. It was classical and soft; very calming to my 5-year-old self.
Depression is a bitch of a disease. I'm sure this could be said about any number of illnesses, but depression has proven to be the thorn in my side. I fully embrace ...
I am someone who grew up in a middle to upper-middle class family. Two parents, too many brothers. Veterans aren't the only ones who can have PTSD. I just want to ...
My name is Candace I am 27 years old, and battle with schizoaffective disorder and depression every day. My life changed when I was 9, but my adoptive mother believes ...
I am not alone because of my relationship with a higher power, my family, my colleagues and the comfort of literature, music and nature. I was diagnosed 15 years ago ...
I’m not sure how familiar you are with mental ‘illness.’ Although I majored in Psychology in my undergrad, have an MSc in Social Psychology and am now over two years ...
Hi, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2007, but i had experienced mood swings since i was a teen, the doctors diagnosed me with many mental illnesses like anxiety ...
My name is Diana I am a Consumer of Mental Health & thank you for listening to me. I will be talking about how Mental Health & Substance abuse programs have ...
I’d like to take a moment and tell you about my son, “Peter.” He has had one diagnosis or another since he was 5 years old. The latest diagnosis is Bipolar II. “Peter” had ...
It has been a long and bumpy road since the very start. We joked in the hospital that William was the only baby crying ALL THE TIME. We joked in preschool that he ...
Growing up I was bubbly and outgoing. I grew up in a wonderful family. In high school I got good grades and was active in sports. I went on to college, joined a sorority ...
Faith, love, hope words I heard all of life but really did not feel the true meaning of such simple words until my son was born nearly 18 years ago. They are motto every day ...
My name is Marci. I am currently diagnosed with Schizoaffective Disorder bipolar type and Borderline Personality Disorder. I just turned 30 last month. My mental ...
When you become a member of NAMI, you become part of America's largest grassroots organization dedicated to improving the lives of persons living with serious mental illness. And now you can join online.
Not Alone
