by Bonnie in Pennsylvania
I have lived a life that I would not want anyone to live. At the age of 13, I went on my first diet even though I was not overweight. This was when my life began spiraling out of control. It took about four years to get a diagnosis and that diagnosis was anorexia nervosa. I went from 110 pounds to 90 pounds to 69 pounds over an eight-year period.
by Angela in Alaska
My depression started while I was young. I was a child born from an alcoholic, so I had missing endorphins (I found this out after doing research on depression. When I was 13 years old, I was medicated for severe depression after my father, who had abandoned my family when I was four, died.
by Harry in Indiana
Hello everyone! I am Harry. I am 24. I have an awful headache. I have been suffering from mental illness since 10 and didn't seek treatment until 15. It began in the fall of 1993. I had a weekend that I describe as being sad. The world turned flat. I became obsessed with beings coming for me in the night.
by Joan in Wisconsin
Early in my childhood, I was sexually abused and threatened to stay quiet. I have often wondered if those events had not occurred would I have had a normal life, even though mental illness is prevalent in my maternal gene pool. As my young life progressed, secrets came out and people were hurt.
by Annaco in Colorado
My obsessive compulsive disorder started at age 11. I became school phobic. I would come home from school and lie in bed so my mind would not keep going over and over things. Then, going to bed wouldn't take the obsessions away, and I was into obsessions and rituals. I then started experiencing depression. I never laughed. I was always scared. At 19, I couldn't drive because I would think, "What if I drove off of the highway?"
by Fatima in California
I have had obsessive compulsive disorder for the past 13 years, since I was 18. It affected my schoolwork. When I was getting my B.A. degree, I had severe OCD. I was on the highest dosage possible for my medication and lived in an extremely dysfunctional family.
by Bonnie in Pennsylvania
I have lived a life that I would not want anyone to live. At the age of 13, I went on my first diet even though I was not overweight. This was when my life began spiraling out of control. It took about four years to get a diagnosis and that diagnosis was anorexia nervosa. I went from 110 pounds to 90 pounds to 69 pounds over an eight-year period.
by Jamie in North Carolina
I suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder. I've had two jobs. One at a fast food restaurant and the other at video rental store. I love the Beatles and Elvis. I am currently attending a club house. Before getting treatment for OCD, I used to draw over and over again.
by Virginia in Illinois
I am a therapist with 25 years experience working with persons with serious mental illness. I am also someone who's lived with serious mental illness all my life. My diagnoses: major depression, recurrent Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
