Hi, my name is Sara. I was born in Northern California and moved to Southern California for school. I had a rocky childhood. My father was always abusive to me, my siblings, and my mother. I would try anything to get him to hit me and not them. In addition, I’m a survivor of incest. My father sexually abused me when I was a child, and it wasn’t later until I realized that it was from about age 5 until age 13. Because of all the abuse, I was diagnosed with obsessivecompulsive disorder, a type of anxiety disorder. Mine had to do with germs. I would wash my hands hundreds of times a day, until they would be raw and bloody. I didn’t like how much it was affecting my life, so I decided to stop. I still remember the extinction techniques I would use, how hard it was, and how I could literally feel the germs crawling over my skin. Once I had basically gotten rid of the compulsions (although not the obsessions I might add), the OCD turned into a generalized anxiety, that I still currently deal with. I have such chronic anxiety that it’s lead to depression. At  times, I would self-harm in order to try to relieve all the emotional pain that I felt inside. I had a lot of passive suicidal ideation at my darkest hours, a topic that is rarely talked about today even though is a common consequence of mental illness. My diagnosis of Major Depression is something that I will probably have my whole life, in addition to the anxiety. I have started to work on the sexual abuse, through therapy, and since developed a Posttraumatic Stress disorder which has affected many areas of my life. There are many ways that mental health stigma has affected my life. First of all, having a mother that has a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder and a father that has Antisocial Personality Disorder meant that my life was constantly filled with instability and mood swings. These are disorders that people have many stereotypes about. With my current diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder (in remission), Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, and ObsessiveCompulsive Disorder (in remission), there are a mess of stigma and stereotypes which surrounds who I am as a person, what I am capable of accomplishing, and my mental stability. I have dedicated my life to becoming a marriage and family therapist to try and help those in need and combat this very stigma that surrounds the concept of mental illness.

 

 

To book Sara as a guest speaker, email stampoutstigmaie@gmail.com.