As members of the Appalachian Mind Health Initiative Committee, DBSA invites you to learn more about living with a mood disorder directly from peers. Below is a catalog of peers sharing their experience via video and written word.
Peer Stories
George Brooks
Around age 9, I noticed that I didn’t process thoughts and ideas the same way that my peers did. I was labeled as “overly-emotional”. I knew that mental illness was a “thing” even at that young age.
Olivia Eiler
I was very blessed growing up: my parents were happily married, I was never abused, and I never had to worry about where my next meal would come from or if I would have shoes to wear to school. I used to think there was no good reason for me to be diagnosed with depression and generalized anxiety in eighth grade, but I now realize that mental health conditions do not discriminate.
Bryan Rich
I deployed to Iraq in 2003 and served my country with pride. However, when I came home, I was different. I began to push people away, avoided situations that reminded me of being in Iraq, and began to isolate myself. I was always on guard. I had been injured in combat and was Honorably Discharged in 2004. I didn’t want this: I wanted to continue to excel and become the perfect soldier, which is what I had been trained for.
Sarah Bauer Hernandez
Having bipolar disorder has not made for an easy life. But within my pain and struggles there have been transformative gifts, that I honestly wouldn’t change it if I could. It has offered me the opportunity to create a meaningful life, the ability to feel compassion for others, and allowed me to discover the unshakable joy and gratitude that comes from having survived deep suffering.
Regina M.
On a fragrant, spring evening in 2006, my mood and behavior were marred by somber darkness and crippling psychosis. It was my first break in several years. Screaming into the phone at my psychiatrist, I couldn’t hold back gibberish and nonsensical speech. I don’t recall, but somehow I contacted an ambulance and I was on my way to a community hospital.
Peer videos
