This is your safe space to open up about the incident that caused you trauma

I’ll go first.

Like many others, I grew up in a beautiful, loving family. I’m the middle child , I have an older brother and a younger one. We were all very close growing up. But as we got older, things began to change. My older brother, who is only three years older than me, started getting into drugs. Eventually, he moved out, saying he didn’t feel comfortable in our home, even though our family was far from toxic.

I kept reaching out to him, checking in, and trying to stay connected. At first, I didn’t notice anything alarming, but after a few days, something terrifying happened I found him waiting for me in my bedroom. He looked at me and said, “I need you to believe me.” I froze. Then he began telling me things that made it clear he was having a mental breakdown.

after that, I started researching schizophrenia and how to help someone going through it. It was incredibly hard for all of us. The weight of it pushed me into depression, and my family was deeply affected too. But I kept telling myself, “What if I end up like him?” That thought haunted me, but also motivated me to stay strong for myself and for my family. I was still in school, trying not to fall behind, knowing that if I did, I could lose everything

and just when it seemed like my brother was starting to recover, he fell back into drugs. It felt like everything we did to help him was for nothing. That entire experience left me feeling unsafe and full of anxiety. I lost my sense of trust, developed allergies to many things even mentally and emotionally and I feel like the fun, confident version of myself is gone. Now I live constantly bracing for something bad to happen again.