SECRET STRUGGLES

Panic disorder: Jane

We all sit through presentations on anxiety, depression and ADHD during mandated mental health training, but most of us dismiss it, thinking it does not really apply to us. The truth is that many of our students are struggling with the labels and diagnoses we hear about but do not truly understand and it is important that we sympathize with and support these students.

Here are some stories of people in our school who are trying their best to cope with everything going on in their lives.

*All names used have been changed for privacy.

ODD, ADD, Depression: Charlie

When you hear your parents shout, ‘Clean your room!’ most would reply with a grumbling ‘Okay’ or a slight argument, but that is not the reality for Charlie*. He was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, depression and Oppositional Defiant Disorder—a mental disorder which causes the victim to be disobedient, uncooperative and even violent. Charlie began showing signs when he was only 5, suffering from uncontrollable anger and violent outbursts.

As Charlie grew older, his ODD symptoms led to severe depression. He got to the point where he was Baker Acted—detained for under 72 hours in a mental institution—on four different occasions. People can be Baker Acted by first responders if they are believed to not be able to make rational decisions, or if they become a danger to themselves or others.

Charlie had terrible experiences at the mental institutions, including people smashing glass, getting beat up five times by other patients and watching someone kick a door and shatter his foot.

Charlie’s ODD has also caused his relationship with his family and friends to suffer greatly. Due to his outbursts and other factors caused by his ODD, ADD and depression, his girlfriend broke up with him.

“I don’t feel like I belong. I get so angry it’s hard to keep jobs, I always feel like everyone is out to get me, like I’m not worth anything,” Charlie said.

It was a normal trip to New Jersey, an annual tradition for Jane*. Until the nausea hit. Until she threw up. Until the panic attacks. What was once a vacation quickly turned into a sleepless nightmare.

“I started screaming and crying because I could not get myself to eat without throwing up,” Jane said. “It makes me feel like it is pointless to be alive or do anything during my panic attacks.”

After that week in New Jersey, she came home and planned to go to the doctor when she started to panic while trying to get in the car. She stayed home from school for a week, only leaving her bedroom to go to the bathroom or get a drink and barely eating or sleeping.

“I missed so much school work that week and it was such a pain to get back on track,” Jane said. “It felt impossible to make anything up because when I tried, I would have a panic attack about how much work I had to do.”

After this experience, she was finally able to go to the doctor, after her parents convinced her, and they diagnosed her with panic disorder and put her on Zoloft. Although the medication helped her panic attacks for some time, it was not a long term solution.

For now, Jane copes by distancing herself from other people. Although not ideal, she shuts down whenever she feels her life is going downhill and has a very hard time opening back up.

“Even though I can shut down, I still find ways to cope with the pain,” Jane said. “I read books, take long showers, and go to the gym whenever I feel the need to get away.”

ADHD, Anxiety, Depression: Jacob

While playing his instrument in band class, Jacob* became lightheaded. He quickly set his instrument down before falling to the ground, shaking and unresponsive. The untrained eye might mistake this episode for a seizure, but effect of extreme anxiety. Jacob will have instances doing homework at the next backwards and starts twitching.

“Everything just stops for very poor grades,” Jacob said. Jacob was diagnosed with depression at 16. His anxiety experience extreme symptoms, episodes, muscle spasms and little for his anxiety to be triggered, with these problems on a daily His ADHD and anxiety also his relationships, making it hard friends.

“Once [anxiety and the not seem much, people want to were concerned anything said. Although Jacob doesn’t he has still found ways to improve reactions, such as counseling. significantly helped, he still struggles things pertaining to his ADHD missing social cues.

“My social life has been I don’t think there is any good back. Even though I am on the incredibly hard to get back,”

Combination ADHD:

Nicole* was writing an essay something on the wall. It distracted off of her train of thought. She percent on that essay, and got worse as time went on.

Nicole was diagnosed with