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Chiara’s Story

“…remember that you are not alone.”

Share your stigma experience.

As a student leader, I feel as if I will look weak and unreliable if I show my mental sufferings. For example, when I was in high school, I really felt overwhelmed by the excessive amount of work that I was doing, and I felt that my work was not being noticed or recognized at a meeting. I felt as if everything that I was doing was wrong, and I wanted to cry, so I went to the bathroom so that people would not see me cry.

How did you overcome this experience?

One of the ways that I am able to overcome this experience was talking to adults about my issue. In high school, I was really close to two of my teachers, one was an advisor and one was my class teacher, and I would always tell them whenever I am struggling with an issue, and they were always able to walk me through my experience.

Help others by sharing a brief, positive message.

I would just like to say that if you ever think you’re alone or you feel as if you can’t talk to people about your issues, remember that you are not alone.

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