When did you first realize that you had some sort of mental disorder/illness?
I realized when I went away to college back in the late 80's. I was spending more and more time crying and being depressed. My entire demeanor changed from being a sunny high school girl to a morbid, morose college junior. I started seeing a college therapist for my depression and was told that I had PTSD from some childhood abuse issues. I was also told that I was classic ACA (adult child of an alcholic). PTSDACA... scramble them up and what do you have? Cat Pads. Which makes about as much sense as all the "help" I got in college.
I didn't realize I had a "mental illness" until I saw a commercial in the mid 90's that listed all of the symptoms I was experiencing and then said, "... you may be suffering from a mental illness." I just KNEW in that moment that I was... but I didn't get help for it until the late 90's. I always knew something was wrong... I used to think I was crazy. Nobody likes to admit that they have a mental illness because of all those stereotypes of people walking around hospital wards drooling and talking to themselves... but it was a relief to know that I had a treatable neurological condition and I was just a nutcase.
I realized when I went away to college back in the late 80's. I was spending more and more time crying and being depressed. My entire demeanor changed from being a sunny high school girl to a morbid, morose college junior. I started seeing a college therapist for my depression and was told that I had PTSD from some childhood abuse issues. I was also told that I was classic ACA (adult child of an alcholic). PTSDACA... scramble them up and what do you have? Cat Pads. Which makes about as much sense as all the "help" I got in college.
I didn't realize I had a "mental illness" until I saw a commercial in the mid 90's that listed all of the symptoms I was experiencing and then said, "... you may be suffering from a mental illness." I just KNEW in that moment that I was... but I didn't get help for it until the late 90's. I always knew something was wrong... I used to think I was crazy. Nobody likes to admit that they have a mental illness because of all those stereotypes of people walking around hospital wards drooling and talking to themselves... but it was a relief to know that I had a treatable neurological condition and I was just a nutcase.