Reading: Transcript - Stories

Welcome back to mental health integration. This is part three of the short, and I am Brandon again. This time, we're going to talk about stories of people with mental health issues because it helps us understand what's going on. Normally, when we think about a mental health issue, we picture someone alone, sad, and hurting, or someone being comforted yet feeling distant from the person offering comfort. We imagine individuals sitting in beautiful spaces but unable to enjoy them due to severe depression or anxiety. We envision people suffering internally, tormented by their thoughts.

But we don't necessarily think of this. This is my elementary school photo, and I am up in the upper right-hand corner. See if I click myself here. Yeah. And that one, right there. With the striped shirt, it looks like a huge card because I absolutely was. What you need to know about this is I had no experience with mental health until I was 13 years old. My uncle, who had bipolar disorder type one, came to live with us after losing everything in a single day. My mom took care of him, getting him to appointments and helping him stabilize. But during that time, all the symptoms of bipolar disorder showed up in me.

I spent the next portion of my life trying to get well. My parents took me to a psychiatrist who helped me find medications. I saw him every week, trying different medications until we found ones that worked. I struggled in school, carrying a 1.3 GPA at one point. My days were monotonous, filled with classes, medication, and overwhelming emotions. I often had to leave school because of side effects from my medication, crying uncontrollably in bathroom stalls.

Once a week, I saw my psychiatrist, and every other week, I saw a therapist. They tried to help, but we didn't know if I was going to make it. My psychiatrist even prepared my parents for the possibility of suicide. However, after a few years, we found medications that worked well enough for me to function. It felt like a weight had been lifted, and life became hopeful again.

So, what's the value of sharing this? For me, it was a journey from seeing myself as broken to finding hope and purpose. It was a journey filled with uncertainty, but ultimately, it ended well. I look forward to sharing more about that in the sections ahead.