This Woman’s Before and After Photos Of Her Anxiety Attack Highlight An Important Issue

Amber Smith / Facebook

According to the National Alliance on Mental Health, 1 in 5 adults (or 43.8 million) experience mental health issues in a given year.

That means 20% of the U.S. population is directly impacted. Unfortunately, with a problem that impacts so many people, there’s an unfortunate stigma associated with mental health issues.

That stigma prompted Amber Smith to share a powerful photo and message on Facebook before and after her anxiety attack.  She wanted to show people that while her anxiety may not be apparent in her day-to-day life, the anxiety is very real.

The caption on the post reads:

Top picture: What I showcase to the world via social media. Dressed up, make up done, filters galore. The ‘normal’ side to me.

Bottom picture: Taken tonight shortly after suffering from a panic attack because of my anxiety. Also the ‘normal’ side to me that most people don’t see.

Here caption goes to read:

I’m so sick of the fact that it’s 2016 and there is still so much stigma around mental health. It disgusts me that so many people are so uneducated and judgemental over the topic. They say that 1 in 3 people will suffer with a mental illness at some point in their life. 1 in 3! Do you know how many people that equates to worldwide?! And yet I’ve been battling with anxiety and depression for years and years and there’s still people that make comments like ‘you’ll get over it’, ‘you don’t need tablets, just be happier’, ‘you’re too young to suffer with that’

#!*$ YOU. #!*$ all of you small minded people that think that because I physically look ‘fine’ that I’m not battling a monster inside my head every single day.

Someone actually said this to me one day ‘aren’t you too young to be suffering with anxiety and depression? What do you actually have to be depressed about at your age?’ Wow, just wow.

I’m a strong person, I’ve been through my fair share of crap in life (the same as anyone else) and I will be okay. I have the best family and friends around me and I am thankful everyday that they have the patience to help and support me.

To anyone who is going through the same, please do not suffer in silence. There is so much support around – Don’t be scared to ask for help.

This is why I can’t stress enough that it costs nothing to be nice to others. Don’t bully others, don’t put others down and the hardest one of them all (as we have all done it at some point) don’t judge another person. We’re all human regardless of age, race, religion, wealth, job. So build one another up instead of breaking each other down.

Peace & love guys ☮❤

Thanks to Amber for shining the light on a very important issue.  Her post has already had 38,000 shares and is definitely achieving its goal of having people talk openly about mental health.

Due to the popularity of her story, she added a very good message:

Please don’t be afraid to share this, there needs to be more awareness. The more awareness there is, the less people who will suffer in silence.

Disease & Illness, Health
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About the Author
Will Schuerman
Will loves discovering and sharing tips to help make life easier. In addition to his passion for hacks and tips, Will is a former granola business proprietor and a life long techie.

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