Story of Rachel
This is the story of one Rachel. Yes, Rachel has a last name but she requested that, for now, I only use her first name for this story. Rachel played soccer until college and only started triathlon her sophomore year but complete through her senior year of undergrad (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) and continued for three out of the four semesters of her master’s (in Exercise Science). Rachel struggled with depression and anxiety throughout her college years.
“I was officially diagnosed with depression anxiety,” Rachel said. “My senior year of college in February 2016.”
Though she was officially diagnosed with depression her senior year, Rachel realized she had been struggling with depression and anxiety for years.
“Looking back, I probably should have been diagnosed in middle school,” Rachel said. “But they don't talk to you about depression or anxiety in health classes. I don’t think I understood the degree to which like there's a range of depression and anxiety type symptoms until I was in college.”
Like many other, Rachel was stuck. Not knowing what was happening because mental issues are rarely talked about.
“I Probably self-diagnose myself a little bit, never really did anything about it,” Rachel said. “Then I think it was my first semester of senior year, and I started noticing that things are getting worse. And I was having a lot more issues with anxiety, and ended up having a couple of panic attacks by semester.”
Rachel didn’t realize that she had mental issues, but discovered it through the interactions with the people around her.
“I understand what my patients were going through a little bit better,” Rachel said. “Going to nursing school, you rotate through a lot of different clinical areas going through my psych rotation was when I first started thinking, ‘Oh, no, we're talking about depression and anxiety? Well, crap sounds just like me’.”
After a time, Rachel sought out the help she needed and deserved, which helped immensely.
“I went to a counselor that I actually really, really liked. I think that's probably the one thing I would suggest to anybody who has mental health issues,” Rachel said. “If you are starting to struggle with things, you just need to my talk to someone that's not a parent or a friend or somebody who doesn't know, your whole life story, somebody. Who can just talk to you about specific things and give you guidance.”
Depression and anxiety aren’t the only things that Rachel has faced. Mental issues can pound your physical health.
“I have struggled with eating disorders. The summer I found triathlon and triathlon helped me pull myself out of it,” Rachel said. “You know, to fully sustain efforts, I need to make sure my body is legitimately healthy. And then as far as anxiety, and depression goes, because I was nursing school and everything, I needed some sort of outlet in some sort of stress reliever, so triathlon kind of ended up being that thing,”
Through her own struggles, Rachel has been able to affect the people around her with her experiences and career.
“No matter what, you're never truly alone,” Rachel said. “It definitely feels like that when you’re in the depths of depression. Like nobody understands. That's not true. Even if people haven't been there themselves, they're willing to talk about it. I know, just from working in the ER, and have seen kids come in with depression and anxiety and kids post suicide attempts. It breaks my heart that kids are dealing with stuff that they shouldn't have to know. Nobody's ever talked to them.”
Rachel went through years and years of mental struggles before getting help. Because no one talked to her about mental issues, because she didn’t know how to speak up for herself. Mental issues are not something to be swept up under the carpet and pretend they’re not here. They have an impact on everyone. No matter if you face internal struggles or not. This is not something to be ignored, so speak up and find the help you deserve.
Yours truly,
Comments