Member-only story
How Talkspace Gave Me My Life Back
I’m trying to imagine what life was like before I started therapy. As I look back on life before treatment, I shudder, because of all I endured without any coping skills. I had suffered a traumatic brain injury, losing a parent at a very young age, two failed engagements, many life-threatening health issues, abuse, watching a sibling endure a wheelchair-bounding spinal cord injury, and battling two different eating disorders all before turning 28. Talk about damaged. Talk about broken. I felt like I was the poster child for a hot mess. I was a walking advertisement for the broken, damaged girl that nobody would ever want or could love.
Two years ago this month, I chose to begin the journey toward a new normal. I’ll never forget the day I made this life-altering change.
I was sitting on the subway train trying to stay calm as another panic attack crept in and started to consume me. New to New York City from a small town in Michigan, I was trying to navigate a new job, new neighborhood, a new life, and navigate the MTA all with trying to manage my anxiety disorder, PTSD, and many stress-induced health issues. I was not a stranger to anxiety; I had suffered from it for years before my big move, but these daily panic attacks on the train were a monster all on their own.
