Personal Narrative: Anxiety And Mental Illness

Living with anxiety is a battle everyday. I wake up and I’m not sure if today will be good or bad. It can start out good, but the next thing I know, I’m having a panic attack. The world around me starts to cave in, and the noise I hear becomes static; it’s as if I’m being swallowed whole. Suffering from a panic attack is incredibly embarrassing. Nobody understands what I’m going through, they all think it’s in my head or that I’m being dramatic. What they don’t understand is that, it’s a real problem. Just like any other illness, anxiety is paralyzing; so are panic attacks. There are days I don’t want to get out of bed because I’m afraid that today is the day everything will end, so it’s just safer to stay in bed. My anxiety is unpredictable,

People all around the world are working hard to keep their lives healthy and happy. Many people diagnosed with bipolar disorder keep their illness a secret due to fears of being stigmatized. How can you support someone you know who has a mental illness without making them feel different or somehow marginalized in society?

It’s a struggle to get out of bed sometimes, I often just sit there struggling to comprehend the sequence of events which have taken place over the past year. I mean, I’m used to this now, its normal to me, but the fact that this has happened and that I am now ‘disabled’ as people would put it is hard to get my head around. And every time I look down I’m reminded of the pain and the struggle I faced, it’s a physical scar which links me to my grueling past, a physical and emotional journey.

    Upon  finding out that she had been suffering from bipolar disorder, Marya,  initially, had a  very simplistic view of the disease. She thought , that  like any other illness, if you take medicine for it, you’re cured. However, manic- bipolar disorder   always needs to be under control., and medicine  or electric shock therapy is the only way it can be controlled.

My bipolar started out as a crippling depression, causing me to lose enjoyment in life, begin to self-harm, and have thoughts of suicide. This was a dark time for me, and since I was young, I did not quite understand what was going on and had no

One of my closest friends during my undergraduate career has a mental illness called bipolar. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, bipolar is defined as a chronic mental illness that causes a range of different shifts in mood, energy, activity occurrence, and the ability to function and carry out the day to day tasks (National Institute of Mental Health, 2016). Bipolar disorder is also known as a manic depressive illness due to the shifts in mood. People with bipolar often experience lows and highs. Research substantiates that there is no clear cause for bipolar, but there are many factors that contribute to the likelihood of a person developing bipolar.

According to the Mental Health Commission of Western Australia, stigma can cause patients to feel shame, hopelessness, distress, and make them not seek help in fear of being labeled as “crazy.” Media depictions of mental illness and bipolar disorder can cause a vicious cycle. According to Atkins, stigma and prejudice against bipolar disorder can lead television and movie writers to focus on “scary, out-of-control people who do bad things” (Atkins PAGE NUMBER), which then further convinces the public that people with mental illness are dangerous. The seriousness of mental illness can also be downplayed because of stigma. By using the word “bipolar” to refer to everyday mood swings, the public may not think that bipolar disorder exists or that it is a serious ailment. According to Mikayla DeLeon, the word is used “jokingly” among her friends. In her experience, “it [is] an insult… [It’s] not really taken seriously”. These contrasting misconceptions can make people who are suffering with a mental disorder not want to seek help. They may also fear telling their loved ones because they fear being seen differently by their friends and coworkers, being labelled as “crazy,” and losing opportunities at work. Jessica Blaikie, a young woman that suffers from mental illness says that, because of the misconceptions surrounding mental illness, “I was so afraid to say anything

Living with a person who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, or even being a family member who has a genuine concern for this individual’s well-being is a strenuous process. Learning how to recognize and handle disruptive behavior, understanding the symptoms, supporting the individual through potential treatment or recovery periods and assessing the overall situation in the most effective manner is a long-term and constant commitment. Thus, family members, particularly those who take on the role of caregiver are often impacted as severely, if not more so than the person who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, at least on the surface. Bipolar disorder and

Bipolar disorder is a very intense disorder and many people struggle with dealing with it on a day to day basis. According to the A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia (2013), bipolar disorder is a brain disorder that can affect your behavior, emotions, and wellness. Bipolar disorder symptoms are more severe than a personal just experiencing a bad day. They consistently interfere with a person’s everyday life. They can vary in intensity, from damaging previously healthy relationships, to thinking about committing suicide. Not all cases of bipolar disorder are the same in that some cases are more severe than

Bipolar disorder can be severe and long-term or it can be mild with infrequent episodes. People who suffer from this illness may experience symptoms in very different ways and on average will have 8-10 manic or depressive episodes over a lifetime (Simon, 2013). As Kay put it, “manic-depression distorts moods and thoughts, incites dreadful behaviors, destroys the basis of rational thought, and too often erodes the desire and will to live” (Jamison, 1995). Kay experienced very severe symptoms of bipolar disorder, including extremes changes in energy, mood, activity, sleep, behavior, and a suicide attempt, which all can be defining characteristic of the disorder. These symptoms can causes alcohol or substance abuse, relationship problems, and/or difficulty to perform in school or work (Townsend, 2014). However, bipolar disorder can be treated and people with this illness can live a full, productive life. For Kay she was able to control her manic highs and depressive lows with medication and therapy so she could continue her education and career.

When a seventh grader at Frederick Area High School in Frederick, South Dakota, was asked to describe what bipolar disorder is, he said that it refers to people that “change personalities fast” (McGaugh). However, this is only a common misconception. Though the word “bipolar” is often used in conversations to describe a person that has mood swings, bipolar disorder actually refers to a serious mental illness. According to the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, about 2.6 percent of American adults suffer from a form of bipolar disorder, and about one in five people with bipolar disorder commits suicide. Despite the impact that bipolar disorder has on the lives of patients and families alike, it is treated casually by people across the United States. Even though many treat it flippantly, bipolar disorder is a serious mental ailment, and the public needs to have a greater understanding of it.

Everyone has a personality with character traits, but when these traits are rigid and self-defeating, they may interfere with functioning and even lead to psychiatric symptoms. A psychological disorder is describe as any disturbance of emotional equilibrium, as manifested in maladaptive behavior and impaired functioning, caused by genetic, physical, chemical, biological, psychological, or social and cultural factors. Schizophrenia is a disease that strikes people in their prime. It does not matter who you are, you can be diagnosis with schizophrenia. Many people all over the world are affected by bipolar disorders. There are two

I read it, and thought, that sounds a lot like me. Before reading this article, I always thought bipolar disorder was when people got happy, sad, or angry for no reason. This article showed me that this wasn’t always the case. “Bipolar disorder isn’t just an exaggeration of normal emotion it’s also an exaggeration of normal reactions to emotional situations” (Natasha Tracy). Sometimes people with bipolar disorder just overreact to things that would make someone slightly happy, angry, or sad. This is exactly what I felt like was happening to me. It also said most people with bipolar depression are not helped by antidepressants. In fact, there is a risk that antidepressants can make bipolar disorder worse. “Because [bipolar] disorder is so often misdiagnosed, patients are often wrongly treated with antidepressants alone, which can make the problem worse” (Salynn Boyles). I finally found out why my previous medications never worked. They were treating me for depression so they gave me antidepressants. If anti-depressants make it worse, then that’s why I never felt better. I continued to look up bipolar disorder and noticed I had almost all the symptoms of both bipolar depression and mania throughout my life. I finally had a bit of relief. Now I just had to confirm my

Sally has said to us (her family) after her latest breaking point she feels as though she wants to fix everybody and when she can’t she feels as if she failed them. As a single mother of 5 kids she never gave up and was always over-working herself. Up at 6:00 am to start her work day and back home late at night, sometimes Sally kept going without sleep. When I first met her I could tell she was a kind woman but she seemed very overwhelming and she always had a million and one things to do, never being able to sit still and watch 30 minutes of the news. Her kids would explain her as “just mom”, when the doctor talked to them and said that she was experiencing more than just basic stress and this behavior wasn’t “just mom” it made for hard time understanding what bipolar meant. Her manic episodes have consisted of her believing she was working with the FBI, attempting to take down a big cross in a church believing her father wanted her to, to believing the ones in the stocking caps were the “good ones”, that people were following her but there would be an FBI agent at every stop light to protect her, and much

Bipolar disorder is a much more serious disease than I had ever thought. Until recently, I just thought it was not being able to make up ones mind about which emotion to portray. Frequently, I used the term to describe people that I perceived as being temperamental or unstable. During my shift on the medical floor for work, I came in contact with my first true bipolar patient. When I first introduced myself to her, she was friendly and what I thought was a ‘normal’ patient. Small talk was made about where I am from, where I attend college, how long I have worked here, if I have a boyfriend, and