I waited a long time before asking for help

My name is Annie Beaudin and I am the Clinical Director at Relief.

Relief is a mental health non-profit organization that supports people living with anxiety, depression, bipolarity, and their loved ones, so they can keep moving forward.

But before being a clinical director, I am a person who lives with mental illness; I myself live with bipolarity.

Today, thanks to the help and support I have received, I have regained my balance, moved forward, and learned to live with bipolarity.

But it hasn't always been that way.

living with bipolarity

For a long time, I was also that person who refused to seek help or accept help.

However, the symptoms of bipolarity, when they appeared, caused me many upheavals, both on a personal and relational level.

The symptoms propelled me into states of both depression and hypomania.

I had difficulty understanding what was happening to me, even controlling my symptoms.

The symptoms had a significant impact on my behavior and actions. My environment and relationships were greatly impacted.

I experienced a lot of stigma and rejection.

There was a lot of misunderstanding in my environment.

I could also be very hard on myself.

I was very self-stigmatized. I didn't value myself very much at that time.

I even felt that my life was completely over, that I was at a dead end.

Even I thought it was hopeless for me, so much so that I felt like bipolarity had become a part of me. I identified myself with bipolarity.

Even though I had the support of a psychiatrist and a psychologist at the time, it wasn't enough.

I had so much difficulty regaining control over my symptoms that, at that time, I told myself that I was completely lost, annihilated by the symptoms.

That's when I said to myself that I needed help.

I needed help to get through, understand what was happening to me, and meet other people who were going through similar things to me, and that's when I knocked on the door of Relief.

I knocked for support, a gesture that was so symbolic for me, but above all salutary.

Salutary because it completely transformed my recovery journey.

Without Relief, without their precious support, it is certain that I would not be here today to share my story.

I wouldn't be here.

I sought help to learn to live with bipolarity.

Today, I am proud to say that I am helping others like me to live with it.

The hope of regaining a personal life, an active professional life, I can testify it is possible.

Asking for support, getting it, is the first step to feel better.

Don't wait any longer, ask for help today.

Last blog