Angi
Angi
I want to change how we talk about mental health
It’s exciting to have a platform to talk openly about mental health.
There’s not a lot of space to say, ‘Here I am, I have a mental health condition. See me.’
Angi understands how important it is to be open about mental health and how misinformation and confusion can get in the way of effective diagnosis and treatment.
She was diagnosed with anxiety at age 14, but despite years of interactions with the mental health system, her obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) wasn’t diagnosed until she was 31.
With the diagnosis came a new round of more specialized treatment, and my goals have shifted. Now I want to understand my emotions and make space for them, pulling up a seat at the table for all my anxiety and fear and pain.
The goal is no longer to rid myself of the discomfort but rather to tend to it.
“Whatever specific language choices we make, the underlying message must be: You are always and already enough.”
Through her experience with the health care system and her work as a speech-language pathologist, Angi knows how the right words can be a tremendous help in both understanding oneself and in connecting with someone facing mental health challenges.
Language is so important, and the messages we send through our words can be incredibly powerful in both negative and positive ways.
I’m interested in the language that we use to talk about mental health and pain and loss, which are inextricably part of the human experience.
With this in mind, Angi wants her students to better understand their areas of challenge and tell their stories.
I work with students on the way they talk to and about themselves. I do a lot of work around helping kids understand their neurological wiring and how this may affect their sense of self.
I let them know that a diagnosis is a part of who you are, but it isn’t all of who you are.
Drawing on her personal experience and her professional training, Angi wants to change the way we all talk about mental health.
Whatever specific language choices we make, the underlying message must be: You are always and already enough.
