Dan’s Story

My name is Dan.  I am currently a junior in college.  I'm a  22 year old Florida resident.  Florida is a gorgeous place - beautiful beaches and weather..... but it's hard to enjoy the beauty of nature sometimes if you have mental health problems.  I visit a mental health counselor at my college on a regular basis, and no official diagnosis has yet been made, but I may suffer from some sort of anxiety disorder.  I have uncomfortable thoughts that won't seem to go away, and this sometimes makes me want to "control" my mind, and this in turn only makes me anxious.  My college counselor gave me an "unofficial diagnosis" of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

It's tough.  But I survived.  And I agree - sometimes it's the stigma attached to mental health that's more painful, not the disease itself! I thank Glenn Close from the bottom of my heart for what she is doing.  I hope that in the future more celebrities and ordinary folks alike will follow her footsteps.  I wish my mentally ill brothers and sisters good luck.