TEE'S MENTAL HEALTH STORY.

Hey everyone!

I apologize on my delay of this post! Finals have been taking up all my time and I was finally able to take a break to participate in this amazing blog. With finals week here, we may not realize how these exams can bring out symptoms of mental disorder. 

Mental health can be a touchy subject to talk about but many people are unaware of how common these disorders can be. Especially in the African American community. We tend to look past certain signs that are key to diagnosis.  

Not only can they be looked past but they can be covered up as well.

From my own personal experience, I've always been a generally happy person. I tend to keep a smile on my face 24/7 and an optimistic perspective as well.  I rarely have bad days and I try my best to make other people happy. (If these pics don't say enough LOL)

Tee
YouTuber/Nerdy Naturals Contributor

YouTube: Tee Baby
Twitter: @ImmaLilTEECup
Instagram: @teesolit
Snapchat: teetheratchet

But when these bad days do stroll along,  they tend to be the worst.  Accumulated stress and pressure causes me to crack and break down from time to time. I suffer from anxiety due to events that happened throughout my childhood.  Anxiety is the continuous feeling of being nervous or even scared of what may happen in the future. Whether it be an upcoming test, a relationship you may have with someone, or the way you perform at work. I know some of the examples I used were pretty general, but  they are daily situations that someone with anxiety can  possibly deal with. 

I personally have a hard time sharing my feelings.  I cover up anything that may be going on with me with my upbeat personality.  Even some of my friends do not know that I suffer from anxiety.  For a long time, I did not know that I suffered from it.  I thought it was normal to over stress myself about the little things until I felt like it was the time to talk to someone about it. Once I was able to see a professional, they told me that I did suffer from anxiety. They told me that it is very common for people my age to have it, and many of us do not even get diagnosed.  Knowing this made all the pieces in my life connect.  The way I reacted to certain situations, how I go about building friendships, and the way I get my work done made sense now.  Being diagnosed  made it easier for me to try to solve the problem  and go about life differently.  I go about doing things one task at a time.  I organize my priorities and work to prevent myself from becoming  stressed out with finding things or completing  what I need to do. 

This not only taught me about myself but others. Before, I thought that you were able to read a person by the way they interact with you or their personality. I used to judge people by the way they made themselves seem. Many people are able to smile but at the end of the day be clinically depressed. Other people are able to keep their things organized but yet still have ADHD. You would never be able to know what someone has without allowing them to open up to you.  Being able to build a common understanding among your peers lets them relate to you in ways you never thought. Opening up may be the hardest part but once you've passed that people are able to accept  you for who you are. Regardless of your past or mental disorder, it molded you into the perfect person you are today.  A diamond is not made without being under pressure and as humans we all have flaws. But they define us, make us stronger, and give us motivation to constantly improve.

We have to be able to talk about our own issues in order to get help. If you feel out of place or going through a difficult situation please let someone know. This can lead to diagnosis and and an efficient path to treatment.  You can learn to go about doing things differently and getting the help you need. 

I hope my experience with mental health has informed you. Thank you for reading!!!!! 

Tee is a Freshman Communications major and Journalism minor from Jersey City, NJ. You can contact her on any of the social media sites above (in the caption below her picture). You can also email nerdynaturals@gmail.com if you have any questions or are interested in contributing.