"Being a drug dealer and thinking I would be dead in a matter of months from my infectious diseases caused me to become really sloppy. This led to a S.W.A.T. raid on my apartment which led to me becoming homeless. Everyone around me thought it was only the drugs that impacted me."
Struggled with:
Addiction
Depression
Hate
Homelessnesss
"We were going to “take it easy” and eat around 800 to 1200 calories a day to get started. That did not work for me. I wanted to be “the best” at this diet. I would start at 800 calories a day, then think “well, why not 500? Why not 400? Why not 300?” until I was eating nothing every day."
Struggled with:
Anxiety
Eating disorder
Helped by:
Therapy
"I was embarrassed by my feelings and didn't want anyone to know how much pain I was in, so I often put on a brave face. Even on my worst days, I tried to make it look like everything was okay when I felt anything but deep down."
Struggled with:
Anxiety
Depression
"I felt broken. I had suicidal ideation because I sometimes could not see a way out of it. A wise person told me my children would be much worse off if their mother killed herself. That stopped me in my tracks."
Struggled with:
Anxiety
Depression
Divorce
Miscarriage
Suicidal
Helped by:
Medication
Self-care
Therapy
"I responded to dangerous incidents with no fear. That’s not to say I was courageous, rather, I didn’t care if anything happened to me. I didn’t think anyone would miss me if I was killed on duty. I didn’t wish for it, but it was a possibility in my line of work and it didn’t scare me."
"The worst symptom was the sharp chest pain and my pounding heart. Fear took over, which only exacerbated the horrible sensations I felt. I never understood why my body thought the best way to react to a perceived danger was to cause sudden chest pain and simulate a heart attack."
"After a lengthy battle with cancer, my journey was made even more difficult by the added stress of acid reflux and esophageal achalasia. Three months went by in which I had to struggle through each day just to keep down any food that entered my system at all."
Struggled with:
Anxiety
Cancer
Depression