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A couple of years ago, I think I was 16 or 17, I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety
disorder, as well with several OCD tendencies as well as some Asperger tendencies.
I was having a really hard time at home right before I was diagnosed.
I was arguing with my mom a lot. I was unhappy, I was struggling.
If we take a look at the major adult psychiatric illnesses, there's good evidence that about
70% of them, the vast majority of them, have their onset in adolescence and early adulthood.
We're talking about common things like anxiety disorders or depression, less common but often
severe things like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
We also can talk about substance use disorders, anorexia nervosa and bulimia.
The reality is that these are young people in an age of risk.
Nobody, until recently, has wanted to talk about this issue.
Nobody has wanted to address the issue of suicide. Nobody has wanted to address the fact that one could be
mentally ill in the same way that one can have cancer or have a heart attack.
We have too many people thinking, "if I reach out for help, people are going to think ill of me"
or think, "well, what's wrong with you, can't you get it together, can't you solve your own problems?"
And it's not about that. If you had a broken leg, would you say,
"well, gee, I really should just kind of drag myself forward and hobble along; I don't really need help from a doctor".
Of course you wouldn't. We have to view mental illness in the same way.
If you have prolonged feelings of sadness, prolonged feelings of anxiety,
don't deal with it on your own. My two words of advice are - reach out.
You have friends who care about you, you have family who love you, you have professors,
staff members, residence dons, all of whom are here for you and want to help.
Nobody will think badly of you if you reach out and tell your friend, tell your residence don,
tell your professor, "I'm struggling, here; I'm having a problem, I'm not doing so well."
Recognizing that you need help is a huge step. It means that something is wrong and you know
yourself well enough to take that step. I think if people are struggling, the best thing
you can do is get help because it changes your life. Once I learned that I didn't have
to be staying up for 3 hours thinking about things, crying myself to sleep or feeling
lost or frustrated.
I am happy now. I'm happy with my life, I'm happy with who I am. And I worked really hard for that.