by Joy Esiemokhai
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, in a single year, an estimated 57.7 million adults in the United States suffer from a diagnosable mental illness. Many of these people suffer more than one mental health issue. The struggles they face and their fight to recover are stories that should be listened to and learned from. This was the purpose of the 2014 “In Our Own Voice” event, which was organized by the University of West Georgia’s Counseling and Career Development Center. The event, which took place at the campus center ballroom, was organized in collaboration with the Georgia Chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Health. The audience listened intently as two NAMI representatives and recovering mental illness sufferers told stories of their battles with their respective disorders from pre-diagnosis to recovery.
Corey Jones, a mental illness recovery blogger who used to suffer from borderline personality disorder and an eating disorder, took to the podium first. She chronicled the early history of her mental issues, which began with suicidal thoughts and restricted eating in high school and continued through college. “I had no clear identity,” she says. “I followed friends’ interests and was afraid to voice an opposing opinion. I was afraid of being abandoned and would manipulate people with hopes that they’d take care of me.” According to Corey, her dark days were full of bouts with anxiety, dissociation, depression and “simply not wanting to exist.”
Ashley Smith, the second speaker of the night and a recovery blogger like Corey, spoke to the riveted audience about her struggles with and recovery from paranoid schizophrenia and postpartum depression. Diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of 20, her dark days saw her drop out of college in her junior year, get arrested and jailed in a span of three months. “I first heard a voice in my head tell me that I was a dishonor to my family,” she recalls. “I started seeing and hearing things and I felt like everyone was saying negative things about me. I wasn’t as open and trusting as I used to be.”
The two speakers described their long and constant journeys to recovery. They chronicled the various treatments and coping mechanisms that they have tried and those they have found to work, ranging from traditional medication and therapy to holistic and other creative therapies. They reminded the audience that treatments vary from person to person much like mental illnesses vary. Corey has recovered so much that neither of her diagnoses applies to her anymore, and Ashley has appeared on several networks and television shows as she continues to fight for recovery – not only for herself, but also for her young son.
Several members of the audience, which included several professional counseling students, asked the ladies questions regarding the treatments they sought and the professionals they sought them from. Corey and Ashley offered advice for mental health professionals, such as being challenging but not forceful and listening to the needs of the patient.
NAMI is the nation’s largest non-profit grassroots outreach mental health education, advocacy and support organization for mental health sufferers and their families and friends. It grew out of a need to find and provide treatment, support and services for those affected by mental illness, either directly or indirectly.
UWG’s Counseling and Career Development Center provides free confidential counseling and support services to all currently-enrolled UWG students. For more information, contact the CCD at 678-839-6428, visit their website or their office in 123 Row Hall.
