For as long as I can remember I've realized that I was different from all of my friends, after all, how many 11 year olds arranged everything they owned alphabetically and would become hysterical if something was out of place? I never did anything about it or had anyone comment on my mental state until December of 2006, when I began to get severe anxiety attacks that would leave me crying in the fetal position on the ground thinking, and often wishing, I was going to die. As the months went by they became more frequent, sometimes as many as 5 severe attacks per day, set off by the most insignificant things like turning on a computer or walking down an empty hallway. The depression soon followed, it became a daily battle to get out of bed, to see my friends, many of whom I quickly lost. My "quirks" became worse, a spelling mistake would consume my thoughts leaving me unable to concentrate on school, asymmetry left me in hysterics, all my time was spent making obsessively detailed lists about the most normal things, for example it would take exactly 7 steps for me to open a door, and if anything in my set up routines was disturbed or put out of order it was as if the world was ending. My relationships with my parents deteriorated and they didn't really know why, and I quit all my extra curricular activities. The first person to tell me that I needed to seek help was in March of 2007 when my English teacher recognized that something was amiss. He, along with the few friends who had hung around, made me talk to a school guidance counselor. She was a huge help to me, prompting me to have my parents make me a doctor's appointment to talk about my problems. On April 4 2007, my 17th birthday, I was officially diagnosed with a generalized anxiety disorder, depression and OCD. To help me deal with symptoms of all 3 disorders I was put on Zoloft. My parents also insisted that I begin CBT or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. I have yet to begin my therapy or see any significant improvements from my symptoms because i have not been on my medication for long enough. Though just by coming forward and talking to a guidance counselor and a doctor, I have seen improvements in my relationships at home and at school. Coming to terms with my illnesses has been the best thing I have ever done in my life and hopefully this is just the beginning of a better, much happier life for my family and I.

-Allie, 17