How it started and where I am now
I don’t remember exactly when it was when I realized I was different. I know it was in elementary school. I can’t pinpoint the exact time, though. I do remember feeling a lot of anxiety in school, although I did not know that was what it was. I would just have these intense nervous feelings, and I’d get all jittery. I was extremely awkward—another word I didn’t know the meaning of. I think I was born with mental illness. I’ve always felt different for as long as I can remember. I’ve always felt well, off. It’s hard to explain. It’s like there was a disconnect between me and other people. They either didn’t understand me, or I didn’t understand them. This carried on well into my adult life. I had some therapy in my teens through church, but I never found it very helpful. Then, as an adult, I had some clinically based therapy and found some of it helpful, but it was disjointed and inconsistent. I think if I had stayed with it and made it consistent, I would have been a lot better o...