Interview Seventeen: Delayed Realization
"But, if there is one thing I've learned from this process, it's that there are people out there who care. Every single person who called campus police on me genuinely cared. Every single person who I worked with in treatment cared. Every single person who came to visit me after I lost my enrollment, they especially cared. To some degree, I regret having not shown enough gratitude to every individual who has helped me along the way. I only hope that this piece may show them that I say thank you."
Interview Sixteen: There's Beauty in the Breakdown
"I got so, so good at pretending. I remember my psychiatrist saying to me, 'You say this Prozac isn't working, but I can't see how you can still be depressed when you're just sitting there smiling at me.' I couldn't believe she said that to me. It's like, 'Yes, because that's what I chose to let you see. What you think about me, is what I'm allowing you to think about me. You don't know me at all.'"
Interview Fourteen: Unlearning Shame and Self-Blame
"Having a community of people who experience mental illness is so important for those who experience it. Because without it, a lot of times I felt like I was going through something that was completely abnormal. Why was I thinking this way? Why was I feeling this way? Why couldn't I just shape up and go back to being a normal person? It's like, well… it's a little more complicated than that."
Interview Twelve: My Illness is My Responsibility
"I don't want to be thought of as a victim, as this sufferer. I want to be thought of someone with agency. Should I define myself only in reference to my struggles? What does that signal to other people? I'm trying to grow and become stable enough to have functional relationships, so is talking about my mental illness signaling to others that I am dysfunctional, impacting my ability to have those relationships?"
Interview Eight: Psychedelic Psychosis
"I took a remote control with me for whatever reason… I was pressing buttons on it, and that was helping me. I was having all of these olfactory hallucinations. I was smelling bad breath, rosemary and ginger, mangoes… I ended up getting 302'd to the psych ward. I remember my first day in there, I was licking electricity sockets, because I couldn't move unless I had electricity in me. I would literally sit still if I couldn't reach the outlet in enough time."
Interview Five: Running in the Wrong Direction (With Update)
"One memory that stands out… This just sounds so ridiculous now, but it makes so much sense! I was at a gas station in the car with my brother, and my mom was pumping gas. And I was afraid that I inhaled too many fumes, and I was going to die. Like, a fourth grader, imagine! Saying this stuff! I remember staying at home that night… that entire night freaking out, not leaving my dad's side… so afraid I would die."
Interview One: I'm Through The Worst of My Depression and Anxiety
"…it's a taboo topic. I have to sugarcoat it and say, 'I have trouble talking to people,' rather than, 'I have social anxiety and depression.' Sometimes it's just awkward for people to have conversations with me because of that."