“Healing just doesn’t come without suffering. When I failed for the first time academically, it hurt. I cried… a lot. And was down for a while until I felt I needed to know myself better. I started meditating and thinking about who I am. What’s my purpose? What am I doing with my life?”
Struggled with:
Anxiety
Childhood trauma
Helped by:
Meditation
Religion
Self-improvement
“The depression has drained a part of my life that I will never get back. I can’t seem to not see the dark side of things even when I’m fully happy – I feel like it won’t last. I hid it – until the depression manifested itself into an eating disorder. I got very thin, then people started to worry. My parents pushed me into doing therapy as they were very worried about my health.”
Struggled with:
Anxiety
Depression
Eating disorder
Postpartum depression
Helped by:
Meditation
Self-Care
Therapy
“My dad passed away in 2015 and binge eating became a bigger crutch and problems began to arise. I found myself unable to stop eating until my stomach was so full it hurt and my body ached. I’d lie down and wish the over-full feeling would stop.”
Struggled with:
Eating disorder
Helped by:
Journaling
Meditation
Self-improvement
“I remember collapsing in the stairwell and I thought I was having a heart attack. The staff that was in the building at the time recognized this as a panic attack and thankfully did not make the situation worse. Nobody there referred me to a counselor or therapist though.”
Struggled with:
Anxiety
Panic attacks
Helped by:
Exercise
Meditation
“I’ve always been good at putting on a brave face, especially at work-related events, so most people had no idea I was struggling. But inside, the anxiety would build up, and I often felt so overwhelmed that I had to leave early or run out after only a short time. Eventually, my anxiety reached a point where I’d either cancel last minute or break down in tears before even getting to the event.”
Struggled with:
Anxiety
Panic attacks
Helped by:
Journaling
Meditation
Mindfulness
“My anxiety was out of control. My system “was constantly overloaded. There were days when I couldn’t function. It’s hard to admit, but some days, I didn’t enjoy being a mom…and I hated that! I wanted nothing more than to be the parent they needed. Unfortunately, I had no idea what that looked like. And they couldn’t tell me.”
Helped by:
Meditation
Self-improvement
Therapy
“After exploring ways to end my life, I resolved to slash my wrist. I retrieved a steak knife from the kitchen and pressed it against my skin. Yet, an unexpected sensation washed over me—a profound sense of peace, love, and joy.”
Struggled with:
Depression
Suicidal
Helped by:
Meditation
Mindfulness
Self-improvement
“I never mentioned the accident to anyone until I met my future husband at 22. He was sympathetic and supportive, and helped me understand the enormity of what I had been through.I still have not talked to my siblings about it.”
Struggled with:
Abuse
Depression
Eating disorder
Suicidal
“My relationship with myself was pretty broken and I had no self-belief, I had low self-esteem and I resented my family. It was through yoga that I found the truest feeling of comfort, self-compassion, and courage to move forward, grow as a person, and fall back in love with myself and life again.”
Struggled with:
Depression
Insomnia
Stress
Suicidal
Helped by:
Exercise
Meditation
Mindfulness
Self-Care
“I’m sure that other people around me knew that I was struggling, but I only shared this with a couple of people. People in my immediate physical ecosphere didn’t offer up any kind of empathy either. In fact, the exact opposite. Which I think made the condition even worse.”
Struggled with:
Chronic pain
CPTSD
Helped by:
Journaling
Meditation
Self-Care