I share my story in hope that people will get help way before I did. I want PTSD to be on their radar because it wasn’t anywhere near mine. I had never fought in a war; I had never survived a horrific accident. I was ignorant to the fact that any of us can develop PTSD.
I wrote “When the Fat Girl Gets Skinny” because I was frustrated. I was frustrated because I was starving myself and all anybody could say to me was how amazing I looked now. How inspiring my rapid weight loss was to them.
I know that life isn’t black and white like that. And if depression is the black and utter joy is the white, then maybe it’s in the in-between where the colors are, where I can find sorrow and joy often coexisting right in the same moment.
With the following 28 keystrokes, I am going to write one of the most difficult sentences I have ever written for a public audience: I struggle with self-injury.
Allow this to be my letter to you, an open invitation for you to use that voice to ask for the help you need and deserve. This is my shout into the void telling you that you are enough. Not too little, not too much. You are so fantastically, spectacularly enough.
This letter is a reminder to the girl who wrote my suicide note. It is a reminder to myself: I am worth it, even when I don’t believe it. I am worth it.
I assumed that happiness and acceptance of myself and my body could only be achieved if I “fixed” myself to the standards I was seeing.
I discovered makeup and my anxiety in the same year.
I’m writing about this because the stigma surrounding mental illness, especially in Christian communities, keeps people locked in prisons of shame, refusing to admit that they need help.
Considering therapy for the first time can be a daunting prospect—filled with emotions ranging from fear and anxiety to anticipation and eagerness.
Trying to love yourself in a world that tells you you aren’t worth loving as you are is a constant battle.
The Electric Forest team will be giving away 2 tickets to the second weekend of Electric Forest for people who join in the conversation.
Previous Page Next Page
