An SJU student shares her story on mental health and how it has shaped her.
An SJU students shares and describes her experiences with mental health issues and how that has affected her college experience. More videos like this one on the topic of Mental Health can be found by going to http://mentalhealth.starttalkingsju.com.
This video was created in collaboration with the person depicted and/or represented in a story read by another. All persons reviewed and signed consent forms granting permission to share this story online.
Transcription
“I’m a junior here at Saint Joe’s. I’m 20-years-old, will soon be 21. I am just ending my term as Philanthropy Chairman for my sorority. I’m also one of the co-event leads for Relay for Life here on campus. And I teach fitness classes here, too.”
“So I’ve been dealing with mental illness, unknowingly, probably since I was about like 12 [years old], 11. Um and then when I got to high school, things got a lot worse. I was diagnosed, at the same time, with anxiety, depression, and anorexia. So that was a lot to take in as a 17, 18-year-old.”
“Being involved in things kind of became my way of hiding it. The more involved I was, the more people thought that I was fine. And the happier I appeared on the outside, it was a lot easier to hide the inner demons that I was kind of fighting with.”
“I feel like with mental health, and with things like depression and anxiety, there’s such like a stigma with it, and there’s almost like a perfect mold of a person that has these kind of – like this disease, and I definitely don’t fit that.”
“Keep an eye out on your friends that might seem like everything is okay, because sometimes everything’s not okay, and they’re not gonna wanna tell you because they’re afraid of how you’re gonna react.”
“Let your friends that are going through this know that you’re there, and that you know that they can’t change anything, but just being supportive and listening is the thing that has really changed my relationships.”
“Don’t be afraid to seek help. I think that that was the most intimidating thing.”
“Not being afraid to go get the help that you need, because it’s nothing to be afraid of.”
“Because if it helps you and if it saves you, do it.”