My Story
The personal accounts found here are true stories of real people and their
experiences with mental illnesses. These people have confronted prejudice
and discrimination, but with help and hope are in recovery or know someone
who has experienced recovery. They have chosen to share their stories to
inspire others and help people understand that mental illnesses are real,
common, and treatable—and that recovery is possible.
A severe lack of awareness and understanding often creates misperceptions about
persons with mental illnesses. These stories aim to correct those misperceptions
by putting a face on mental health and showing that it is a part of all
of our lives.
To share your experiences with mental illnesses:
Adam Holbrook's Story
In early 1974, I was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Since that
time, I have authored two books, Dear Mom and Shining On, which
are chronicles of my life as a homeless person with mental illness. Read
more >>
Angela Vickers's Story
After my first and only known manic episode, in 1988, my husband's attorney
told him he must file for divorce to protect our young children. Read
more >>
Bill Schneider's Story
I grew up in a normal family, and I was a bright kid—I.Q. of 140, a straight
"A" student. But while I was in college, my concentration began to disappear.
I began to hear voices telling me that I was nobody, that I was never going
to make it in life. Read more >>
Carmen Lee's Story
I know firsthand about recovery after spending 20 years, collectively,
in institutions as a result of severe depression and suicidal behavior. Read
more >>
Celinda Jungheim's Story
When I was committed to Camarillo State Mental Hospital in California
for yet another suicide attempt, after rotating in and out of both private
and State hospitals ... I certainly felt hopeless and thought there was
no life for me. Read more >> (en español)
Dave Shaver's Story
When I think about my life today, I think about Johnny Nash's song "I
can see clearly now, the rain has gone," because ten years ago, my life
was stormy. Read more >>
Dawn's Story
I was in my fifth year of recovery from substance abuse when I found out
there was something else going on with me. Looking back, I can see that
it was depression that I hoped to hide from in using drugs and alcohol. Read more >>
Deanne's Story
I am in recovery from mental illness, and I believe that giving back to
my community has helped me tremendously in the recovery process. Read
more >>
Elvira E. Sears's Story
I thought my life was just beginning. I'd finished college a few years
earlier, and was working on a research project. Then, symptoms started
appearing, and my life came to a standstill. Read
more >>
Frank Scassellati's Story
I have had a mental illness since childhood, in the early 1960s; but I
received no treatment for it due to a lack of mental health services for
children and adolescents in my area. Read
more >>
George Kotwitz's Story
I am 67 years old, and I have been married for 43 years to the most wonderful
woman in the world. I have created a living hell for her during my illness
but she has stuck by my side. We have three daughters and four grandsons. Read
more >>
Jacquelin's Story
In the spring of 1998, my world came crashing down. I lost my home, my
job, my car, my mind, and almost my life. Read
more >>
Jan Anastasato's Story
In high school, drawing the shades and listening to Rachmaninoff's "Isle
of the Dead? on occasion could have been the beginning of depression or
just teen angst. Read more >>
Jen Wand's Story
To look at my life now, you'd never guess what was in my past. I graduated
from Boston University with a grade point average of 3.8, lived in Japan
for a year, and am now working with a public relations firm in the Nation's
capital. But the truth is, I nearly didn't graduate from high school. Read more >>
Jeffrey Ryan's Story
I was raised in Long Island, NY. I was a relatively active kid, and I
had difficulty sitting still in school-I was bored and did much better
with hands-on learning. When I was in my early teens, I started to hear
a voice giving me commands. Read
more >> (en español)
John Jay McDonald's Story
I'm one of those lucky people who are very much recovered in a conventional
sense. I've been rock-solid stable on the same medications for nine years,
with no mental health problems whatsoever. There hasn't been a whisper
of a voice, not a hint of paranoia or anxiety; and my socio-phobia, well,
that has just disappeared. Read
more >>
Lynn's Story
In my teen years, I had some anger issues, but never identified them as
mental health problems. The turning point for me was toward the end of
an unhealthy relationship, when a door was locked in my face and I decided
to put a fist through it. Read more >>
Ralph Hoffman's Story
I owe my recovery to having been employed continuously from 1966 to 1986.
However, it was job stress that led to my first hospitalization. Read
more >>
Risdon Slate's Story
During two weeks in 1986, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, forced
to resign from my position as a U. S. Probation Officer (USPO), hospitalized,
and abandoned by my wife, who subsequently divorced me. Read
more >>
Robert's Story
While I was incarcerated, I was confronted with my bi-polar illness. Working
with a terrific psychiatrist, I began to unravel the distorted tapestry
of my past. Read more >>
Rosita's Story
My depression started during my marriage. One day, my husband took everything
and left. He took $9000 from our savings. I didn't have any financial support
or means to support myself. Then my depression became much worse. Read
more >> (en español)
Sandy Goble's Story
I am a 60-year old nurse with bipolar disorder forced into early retirement
by a group of educated professionals who should have known better. I want
to put a face on mental illness, but more importantly, fight the stigma. Read
more >>
Sr. Ann Catherine Veirstahler's Story
The story of my lifelong struggle with mental illness has been featured
in both newspapers and magazines. Read
more >>
Linda Paxton's Story
Circumstances beyond my control led to my mental break. We were living in a 600-square-foot house with our three kids. Read
more >>
Mitch's Story
At age 22, I had my first bout of depression. I didn't know what triggered it and I struggled through it on my own. After the third episode, I went to a psychiatrist and was put on medication. Read
more >>
Alice Tsai's Story
As a Chinese-American, I have always been a high achiever. However, when I graduated from college and had not gotten into medical school or gotten a full-time job, I felt like a failure. I returned to my parents' home to work at the neighborhood Walgreens. Read more >>
Victoria Molta's Story
I have lived with a severe mental illness, schizoaffective disorder, for over 20 years. It began in college with depression, psychosis and anxiety that were triggered by the stress of studies and an abusive boyfriend. I believe that the loneliness of living with a mental illness was the most difficult part of it. My family distanced themselves from me and, through subsequent moves to different states, I virtually cut myself off from my past - my family and the friends I grew up with. In the end, I had no place to live. Finally, in l986, I was flown to Connecticut in a drugged state after being released from a mental hospital to live with my mother. Read more >>
Diana Kern's Story
Twenty-four years ago, after the birth of my daughter when I was 26, I was diagnosed with a mental illness and hospitalized in Dallas. This was the beginning of 15 years of hospital stays, lasting from a week to more than a year. Treatment teams diagnosed me with everything from postpartum psychosis to schizophrenia. Read more >>
Randolph C. Hack's Story
I began having problems when I was in high school. My father was in the Army and we moved around a lot. I was the victim of cruel teasing and harassment, and I did not go to my junior or senior prom. My mother took me to see an Army psychiatrist in 1962 and he knew there was something wrong but, in those days, there was little they could do to help. Read more >>
Sam Harris's Story
At the age of 14, I started having serious hallucinations and blackouts. I'm half African American and half Native American, and I didn't try to get help because, in both communities, they called that "going to the white man." But I became an outcast, because my symptoms got so bad that none of my friends wanted to have anything to do with me. Read more >>
Karin Heck's Story
At the age of 21 I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. This was after many years of drinking myself into oblivion to manage the symptoms. After my diagnosis, my family disowned me. They felt that my coming out as having bipolar disorder tarnished the family name. Read more >>
Adrienne Young's Story
I am 27 years old and the mother of a beautiful five-year-old son. I am a daughter, a sister, and a board member of my neighborhood association. I am the executive director of a non-profit organization. I also have been diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder, personality disorder, severe reoccurring depression and anxiety. Read more >>