Nice to See

[Olinick]

For many of us here, we grew up in a time when you couldn't tell people about your anxiety and/or depression. At least in my case I couldn't tell anyone. Not that I even knew what was wrong with me growing up, just that something was wrong. When I was 16 I had my first panic attack. Back then they would last all night long. Yet, I kept it all hidden. I would be up all night in a constant state of panic and then get dressed and go to school in the morning. When the first attack happened I had no idea what was going on. Despite, I never said a word to anyone. Several months later I was looking through one of my mother's women's magazines and happened to come across an article on panic attacks. At least then I had a name for what happened and I wouldn't die from it. Lately I have been watching a show on the Disney channel called Andi Mack. One of the characters on the show is a teenage boy who is starting to have panic attacks. What a wonderful show for kids today to watch. They handle the whole issue in an accepting manner, that it is okay that this happens to him and they will help him through the attacks. Different characters are offering support in different ways but they are all saying it is okay and we will help you. How wonderful to see that and not feel like I did, always hiding it.

[Hidden]

Yes the lack of knowledge made it more scary,IMO , like you say we new something wasn’t right but New nothing about it, I went years not knowing , not seen the programme but sounds good and very helpful. 🌺

[Tedddy]

I love that there is so much talk about anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues now. The more we talk about it openly, the sooner we can break the stigmas attached to it. Do you feel more freedom now that it's "acceptable" to speak more openly about it now?

[Olinick in reply to Tedddy]

I still find there is a stigma so it depends on who I am talking to. But there is definitely a change happening and I think the more openly we talk about it, the more it portrayed positively in the media the better things will get for us. I do have several friends who also suffer from some type of mental illness and we talk very openly about it. I also have another friend who suffers from depression but she is not as open to discussion. She is older than me and I think she is still stuck on the stigmas.