Growing Up With Mental Illness.

My journey began when I was 5 years old. I was in therapy, and diagnosed with ADHD. They put me on Ritalin, and it did not help me. When I was 7 years old, I started to experience some depression. My home life was very scary and I began taking it out on myself. I started scratching my arms until they bled. I was sent to a children hospital for psychiatric illness. I was in the state system while my parents fought over custody of me. My dad won custody of me, and I moved to a small town with him and my grandparents. I was still messed up from living with my mom, and I wasn't able to settle in. My depression worsened and I was acting out a lot in school. I was sent to another psychiatric hospital for depression and cutting.

High school was not much different. My depression became much more severe. I was cutting, burning my skin, and also overdosing. I was doing drugs, and drinking. I would skip school, and when I did go to school, I was very disrespectful to my teachers and other students. I was hospitalized throughout my high school years. I was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, Severe Depression, Schizo-affective Disorder, and Oppositional Defiance Disorder. I was bullied when I was in high school, and eventually bullied out of my school. I was put in a special school for troubled teens. I was able to graduate high school, and go to college. I still battled my disorders, but, took my medication, and utilized the tools I learned from the counseling center at my college. I also had a therapist near my hometown.

I am currently in remission from Borderline Personality Disorder, Severe Depression, Schizo-affective Disorder, and Oppositional Defiance Disorder. However, in 2009, I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, and I am still battling my rapid-cycling episodes. I am taking medication, and am looking into counseling opportunities. To have been able to overcome those other disorders, is a huge accomplishment for me. I did not think I would have been able to make it past age 18. I thought I would have been dead by then. I am in my 30s now, and am doing better than I ever have been.

I am still on a long road to recovery, but, I am very optimistic that I can continue living a normal life, and I am hoping to make a difference in other people's lives. My parents battle mental illness, so it did give me a significantly higher risk of developing mental illness.
If I can overcome all of that, so can you. Never doubt the strength you have in you.

(photo courtesy of:  http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs30/i/2008/065/0/f/Poster__Mental_Illness_2_by_neurotripsy.png)

+Mental_Illness
+Borderline_Personality_Disorder
+Oppositional_Defiance_Disorder
+Schizo-Affective
+Severe_Depression
+Cutting
+Recovery
+Bipolar_Disorder
+ADHD