17: Aftermath of a Panic Attack

Disrupting Stigma with Brooke Lacey

You just don't know. Unless of course, you do know. Having a panic attack is the scariest thing ever - you think you're having a heart attack, or worse, you know you're not having a heart attack but your body just doesn't want to cooperate and won't let you breathe - you know it's a panic attack but you can't get it to stop. Listen to the aftermath of one of mine. Brooke is a 43-year-old adult living successfully with PTSD, Bipolar I, Panic Disorder, and Adjustment Disorder. While she doesn’t have a gruesome story of beatings, sexual abuse, or being deployed to a war zone, Brooke's story is not unique. She grew up feeling unloved and unaccepted by the one person she needed love and acceptance from the most — her mother. From an early age, she was raised with extreme religious beliefs, which caused permanent trauma that became a heavy burden in her own adulthood and motherhood. Today, Brooke is a business owner, single mother, friend to many, and stranger to no one. And she feels lucky to be alive — abundantly blessed to have found her way and to have found what has worked for her: medication, therapy, exercise, friendship, and motherhood. Brooke believes in making the distinction that she lives successfully with mental illness but does not suffer from it. In this podcast she shares her personal experiences via a candid, no-nonsense, approach, Brooke intends to bring healing to those who may be struggling and awareness to communities at large, so as to stamp out stigma surrounding mental illness once and for all. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/disruptingstigma/message