Hopelab & Well Being Trust 85
Appendix
"I've had POTS [Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome]
since I was 16, it made me pass out 1 to 5 times a day. I looked
online to see how other people dealt with it. I found one lady
who's POTS is so bad she's been pronounced dead 37 times
because her [heart] stops when she has a dizzy spell."
– 21-year-old female
"I watched videos of people talking about their family member's
eating disorders, because my roommate had one and I didn't
know how to support her."
– 21-year-old White female
"I had been having a really rough week. My depression had been
really bad and I was feeling really stressed and anxious about
school. I posted on Instagram about my struggles with my
classes and how I was feeling, and I was met with lots of encour-
aging words. Someone even direct messaged me and told me
they were going through a similar situation. It really helped
me pick myself up."
– 16-year-old White female
"I had recently received information about my health regarding
a personal condition. I was scared, and I researched online
to find others with this condition."
– 21-year-old Latina female
"I told others how I experienced depression. How it developed,
what it did to me and how it affected those around me. I also
told of what helped me cope and get through it in the end.
The other people either congratulated me or asked me for advice
on the topic."
– 22-year-old White male
"I had a family member who has skin cancer and I was wondering
about treatments and effects of skin cancer. I ended up finding
lots of info that proved to be helpful and ease my worries."
– 14-year-old White male
"I actually responded on a Reddit thread to add to a conversation
debating whether people trivializing mental illnesses by com-
paring them to habits/quirks and feelings it's possible to feel
without actually being mentally ill is damaging. (Example: being
anxious about a big test vs. actually having anxiety and dealing
with it on a daily basis because of your brain)."
– 20-year-old Latina female
"Watched videos of abuse survivors to feel less alone. It helped
validate my experience and what I went through. Made me
not feel as alone and motivated me to really improve my own
situation."
– 20-year-old Latina female
