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Suicide And Depression
[Guest Post by Karen Neumair] – I like to run. Notice I didn’t call myself a runner, because that would imply that I am actually good at it. Me and my 13-minute mile–look out, world! Most people assume that I started running to lose weight, and I tend to let most people think that. Because the real reason is a lot less glamorous, a lot darker. I started running to beat depression. And not just your average, run-of-the-mill depressive episode that many of us experience from time to time, but the more sinister, dark-night-of-the-soul depression, the kind where you don’t remember to eat, you don’t have the strength to get…
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I Love My Body – Anorexia
[Guest Post by Emily Wierenga] – I don’t know when a child typically becomes aware of her body–or even what anorexia means. For me, it was when a neighbor came over and commented on what a big girl I was. I was seven, and her tone was disapproving. So I went to the mirror and stared at the face of a girl with a mushroom cut and thrift-store clothes, and I tried to figure out what was wrong with me. Then I put my fingers around my wrist, and they just barely reached and that would become the way I measured my value. For the next six years, I’m not…
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I Survived My 20s – Grief
[Guest Post by James Prescott] – This is the story of my grief. It was 7.30am on Saturday, April 29, 2000. I was 23 years old. My mobile phone rang. For some reason I had left it on overnight, which I never normally do. I picked up the phone. It was my Dad. I said hello, and he simply replied: “Your Mother’s passed away.” I was in shock. Mum had suffered with asthma for many years so it wasn’t a total surprise. But when someone you love encounters death that often and survives, you begin to think they’re invincible. I had begun to joke my Mum, aged 52 at the…
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I Survived My 20's – Death
Looking back, I can’t believe I survived my 20s. I should have died. In a lot of ways, I never thought I would have a life, fall in love, or find purpose through all of my sufferings. Because of my skin. Because of my anxiety. Eczema stripped my face, feet, and hands of all their skin. It took collectively ten years for all of it to heal. From the ages of 15-25, I was mostly homeschooled, housebound, and desperately lonely. The truth is–we always believe the glamorous life is on the other side. I thought if I could be anyone other than who I was–I would be happy. And yet…
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What's Your Story – Ashley
[Guest Post by Ashley] I always had a close relationship with God, and felt I could always lean on Him. In high school, I got a job at a leather store in the mall. I was a trainer on the football team and fell head over heels for popular guy on the team. I had my whole life planned out. I wanted to be a stay at home mom and be an active part of a church. I knew I wanted to save myself for marriage, but I started to drift from God. He wasn’t into going to church or praying. I ended up dating him and we had a…
