When I was a little kid, novelty was intimidating. On the first day of school, most other kids would run right up to the school bus with immense feelings of excitement, while I would be apprehensive for what that day would hold. Although I was usually fine after I warmed up to new situations, new people, or new places, the fear could be quite crippling at first.

I spent my entire adolescent life believing that this was just the way I was born. This was simply me, and there was no way to change it. I would get knots in my stomach before school, cancel plans if I was feeling overwhelmed, and get such bad test anxiety that it would interfere with my grades. All my friends and peers knew me as the emotional one, and I often made jokes about all my breakdowns. Then, I realized it wasn't normal to overthink, worry, or cry that much. It wasn't normal to start shaking and crying over essentially nothing.

I was almost twenty years old when I finally faced this fact. Mental illness is something that affects quite a few people in my life, and I knew it was a possibility that i was dealing with it too.

That's when I really began overthinking my overthinking (which, I decided, is definitely not normal).

So, I began listing a few possible solutions to deal with the way I was feeling: yoga or meditation, acupuncture, medication, therapy...

There were numerous options and I am so happy I picked the one that I did. Yes, some people are completely against taking medication for anxiety disorders, but you have to remember that it's your life. You get to decide how to treat your body, take charge of your mind, and make a change.

Before, life was full of missed days of school, cancelled plans, panic attacks over the smallest issues, worrying about what others think, and overthinking every situation until my brain was fried.

Now, life is full of more carefree days, more enthusiasm for change, and worrying mainly about the things I can control.

I'm still the same me, but I don't live in fear of what could be, what I could change, or what others may think. And while everyone's story is different, I'd like to think we'll all get to the same place one day: a world in which mental illness is smaller than the way it makes us feel.