You Know You Can Quit?
Welcome to the Solidarity podcast,
where we share stories to connect with one another, find comfort in life’s challenges & to celebrate the solidarity that is..
being a woman.
Today I am so excited to share our first story that is not mine. A sweet follower and friend of mine, Julia, reached out and wanted to share about her mental health journey. Some of these episodes where I’m sharing other people’s stories I will be recording and sometimes they will be, but today you’re stuck with me. So settle in & I hope you find some solidarity in Julia’s story.
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It was the 1st week back to school after Christmas break my junior year of college. I got ready like a normal day and walked to my class and when I got to class the professor told us we have to read in a circle out loud.
I all of a sudden felt sick to my stomach and felt like I was going to pass out. I went to the bathroom and all in all I left the class and never went back. I was so afraid that these feelings would come back. I dug myself into this pit where I thought I was so sick and I couldn’t eat anything.
For a whole month I laid on the couch dehydrated and starved and they ran every test they could at the doctor and told me
“Well you need sinus surgery but your stomach is completely fine.”
So I booked this sinus surgery and all of a sudden I was not sick to my stomach. A few months passed and I started getting migraines and I had all the tests ran and still no reason why I was feeling this way and I switched my diet and felt pretty good but I was having this massive anxiety with driving.
Which confused me I used to LOVE driving! I was now scared of passing out and getting someone hurt.
These feelings of anxiety kept growing it led me to not be able to go into stores, restaurants, or anywhere where a lot of things were going on. I felt like I couldn’t leave my house or I would have these anxious feelings that made me sick to my stomach.
In this time I student taught through a pandemic and graduated college. I thought “okay I just need to get my dream job and these anxious feelings would stop”. Little did I know getting that dream job would put me in a ball of anxiety where I was so unhappy and could not function in a classroom with students. I counted down the minutes until they were not in the room with me.
It was one night when I was about to go out to dinner with my boyfriend where I had my first panic attack. I was on the floor of the bathroom screaming for my mom and feeling like I was going to die.
That night I had a previous teacher of mine tell me;
“You know you can quit your job?”.
I never thought that was ever an option and my face lit up and she could tell it lifted my spirits. So the next day I went into my principals office sobbing uncontrollably saying I needed to quit for my mental health.
She reassured me that this did not make me a bad person and she only cared about me getting better. That day forward I started talking to a social worker and my PCP to get me on medication to control the chemicals that were not working properly in my body.
After what seemed like years I actually had my first day out with my boyfriend where I felt happy! I could go out into the world and not feel anxious and sick to my stomach. I do not want to say some pill made me feel better but getting a new job in a field I never thought I would ever work in and continued therapy has helped me combat these anxious feelings!
They do come back time and again but I now have the skills to breath through them and I know I can come out of this with out throwing my body into a tail spin.
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I just want to say a big thank you to Julia for being vulnerable and for being willing to share your story. We appreciate you so much. I know there are other women who will find solidarity in your experience.
I know that personally I can relate to some of the things that you talked about, especially experiencing panic attacks. Those feelings are so big and so overwhelming and if you experience those you are incredible, and brave and amazing for making it through. There is absolutely nothing wrong with getting on medication. There is nothing wrong with therapy. Thank you so much for being willing to open up and share with those around you.
If you enjoyed today’s episode please share with a friend who needs to hear this. Help me get the word out on social media and if you’re feeling it, subscribe and leave a review to help get it out to others on the algorithm who need to be shown some solidarity! Thanks again for listening and be sure to check back next Wednesday for a new episode!
As always, I’m so glad you’re here. You’re wanted, needed and loved. I see you, I hear you and you my love, by the grace of God, you are enough.
If you enjoyed today’s episode please share with a friend, help me get the word out on social media and if you’re feeling it, subscribe and leave a review to help get it out to others on the algorithm who need to be shown some solidarity! Thanks again for listening and be sure to check back next Wednesday for a new episode! I’m super excited because I will be sharing someone else’s story next week.
As always, I’m so glad you’re here.
You’re wanted, needed and loved.
I see you, I hear you and you my love, by the grace of God, you’re enough.