Jodi
Jodi
Finding her voice
Jodi recalls the time when she first experienced auditory hallucinations—and how she hid from the fact she might have a mental health condition.
It began when I started working as a teacher. I worked in homes to help young mothers learn how to care for and educate their children.
As I was working, I saw abuse and neglect of the children, and it was the first trigger to my auditory hallucinations.
I hid this fact for many months. I tried to make the voices, the noise in my head, go away. They didn’t go away, and by hiding, I was more vulnerable and quickly had a breakdown and ended up in the hospital.
Jodi was diagnosed with anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and bipolar disorder in her late teens, and she attempted suicide at age 17.
Still, it was her time in the hospital following her experiences as a young teacher when she began to work with a psychiatrist and get the help she needed.
The mental health system has never given up on me. Countless case managers, psychiatrists, therapists, and day program staff have believed in my ability to heal.
People have been listening and helping me over these last 30 years.
Perseverance and the power of sharing her story has helped her find a path to recovery.
I think the greatest help has been finding my voice to share my trauma, to empower myself to share my struggles.
I have tried group therapy, day programs, hospitalizations, ECT, and countless medications, and I’ve found that the more that I share with others, the more that I tell my story, tell about my voices that originate from my trauma, the more I am empowering myself.
I am able to stand taller, be more confident, and perhaps help others no longer hide.
By speaking out, Jodi wants “to encourage those who are fearful to take one day at a time.” She recommends that people share their “hard reality” with caregivers and family.
Begin with one moment, one emotion that makes you feel a certain way.
Let the others in your life relate to you. Believe in yourself and your ability to communicate your own unique story.
For years, Jodi has been sharing her story on her website. Here, she offers a poem she wrote about possibility and hope:
We are all children,
Running,
running through the fields of life.
Some on worn paths,
Some in tall grass,
Still others rolling in wildflowers.
But we are all here,
Together,
Running through the fields.
And some,
The ones who see beyond the fields,
They catch themselves with laughter,
And make chains with dandelions
To wear upon their heads,
Casting off shoes
To run barefoot
In the wide variety
Of possibilities.
