Personal Narrative: Coping With Anxiety

Just because things may seem impossible, they never truly are. You can overcome any obstacle as long as you put your mind and your heart to it.
Ever since I can remember I have struggled greatly with finding a way to cope with mental illnesses. At a young age I was diagnosed with severe anxiety. Anxiety is a genetic mental illness, which I got from my dad. By the age of 7 I was already attending therapy sessions. My father and I have always had a close bond and I like to think it’s because of how much we have in common. Although my dad had a great job and did everything he had to do to support his family, nothing changed the fact that my father is an alcoholic. Growing up I was very confused as to why my dad would come home from work happy as can be and go to
It was not difficult to realize what the problem was. When I was 11 years old, my parents filed for a divorce. Although it was quite a relief, it was also what triggered my depression. I was soon after diagnosed with severe depression which I genetically inherited from my dad. My depression would make me feel as if I couldn’t do anything right. I lost almost all motivation to do anything and felt hopeless. It was as if I had an anchor weighing me down each and every day. I had difficulty getting simple things done such as getting out of bed. My motivation just kept on decreasing; it felt as if it would never end.
My parents did everything they could to try and help me but nothing seemed to be working. Being younger I expected immediate results. I didn’t quite understand that recovering from depression was such a process. It took me some time to learn how to cope with my mental illnesses. By my sophomore year in high school I could proudly say I had fully recovered from my depression. I realized that no matter how many people tried to help me, nothing would work unless I myself wanted to be helped. Once I came to this conclusion my road to recovery had