Finding the light
Tomorrow night was supposed to be my induction ceremony (thanks Covid), so I’m celebrating instead by telling my story. When I was a junior in college, I began having mental health symptoms which I tried to ignore; I was too busy. Days after my semester ended, I had a complete mental break which left me panicked, paranoid, and unable to leave my house or stay home alone out of fear. Within weeks, I went from writing a 25-page paper on The Enlightenment to my mind racing so fast that I could not drive, read, or write. It was devastating. Over the next 6 months, I was hospitalized 5 times, spending nearly 3 months total inpatient. The most painful day of my treatment was when I needed to withdraw from my senior year. During my intensive treatments and medication changes, I pushed myself to re-enroll. However, I became more symptomatic and overwhelmed. I wasn’t ready. I ended up taking a medical leave to focus solely on recovery. After several years of treatment, I felt more confident a