Browse Personal Stories

by Shigeko Ito
Growing up in Japan with a workaholic surgeon father and an often-absent socialite mother, I was raised by a revolving cast of caregivers who worked at my father's hospital. An unstable home environment and lack of a consistent caregiver created in me a melancholic, anxious child prone to insomnia.
by Geralyn Ritter
To me, a survivor of trauma was someone who had been in a gruesome war or was violently abused or someone who was trafficked. I was just in a really bad accident, no one intended to hurt me. I should be happy that I survived when others didn’t and yes I was in pain all the time and I felt lousy, but I was one of the lucky ones. How could I be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder? 
by Chris Bateman
Well, there was something wrong with me and it wasn't until years later that I realized that I had become emotionally numb.  In the following years I read several self-help books that gave me hope and something to believe in but it took a very long time for my emotions to wake up. 
by Daniel Vanegas
The physical aspect of my recovery, though difficult at many times, didn't come close to the mental battle I was unaware and unprepared to face. I sought out therapy. It took an adjustment period for my mind and body to find a sense of balance as I began to dig deep into the psychosis of what had happened to me. By vocalizing and working with a community I am in a much better place and want others to know they’re not alone either.
by T.J. Bradley
Over the past 5 years, I have worked very hard not only to heal from the past trauma that I experienced but to become the man on the outside that I have always been inside. It's not been an easy journey at all, and it is not a choice, but it is worth it.
by Kealee Hohmann

I am Kealee Hohmann. A confident, courageous and ambitious woman who works in the construction industry. However, physical appearance does not tell someone exactly who you are or what you have been through. I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in May of 2020.

by Yasmina Rebani-Lee

You are sitting on a chair listening to a conversation between two people. One of them is your mentor—a psychologist with a specialty in clinical psychology—and the other is a voluntary participant in a clinical research study.

by Melissa Osburg

I have always suffered with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, but really hit rock bottom about 5 years ago after my hysterectomy.  About 18 years ago after the birth of my first child I suffered some complications. To this day, I can replay every moment - this is when the doctors diagnosed me with PTSD.

by Jenni Schaefer

JenniSchaeferPTSD is an invisible monster. It disguises reality. When I was sucked into what I learned to call the trauma vortex, I often couldn’t distinguish between what was real and what wasn’t. I thought I was going crazy.

by Rita Zoey Chin

Rita Zoey ChinThere was a time when basic things—like driving, climbing a flight of stairs, taking a shower, or going through the checkout line at the grocery store—landed me somewhere between mortal unease and full-throttle terror. It all began with a single panic attack that seemed to strike out of the blue. Mistaking it for a heart attack, I called an ambulance, but I quickly learned that there is no ambulance for an alarm of the mind.

by P.K. Philips

It is a continuous challenge living with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and I've suffered from it for most of my life. I can look back now and gently laugh at all the people who thought I had the perfect life. I was young, beautiful, and talented, but unbeknownst to them, I was terrorized by an undiagnosed debilitating mental illness.

by K. Waheed

I am a middle-aged woman, married with two children. I was diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at age 25. I am grateful to say that I have had tremendous support, terrific professional help, a strong will to recover, and a resolve to do whatever work necessary to overcome all of my trauma. Other miraculous help has been my spiritual beliefs and practices.

by Veronica Feeney

My struggles with emotional and mental problems began at age 12, when I experienced my first nervous breakdown. At age 20 I was diagnosed with major depression. By the time I was 30 that diagnosis had changed to chronic major depression with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Later, ADHD and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) were added to my diagnoses. At age 40, and after three suicide attempts within two years, my therapist began to suspect that I suffered from bipolar disorder.