Allison's Story (1 minutes, 10 seconds)

When I was a sophomore at Auburn University, I started experiencing unbelievable feelings of depression. I felt alone. I felt withdrawn. I felt that I could not explain this to anyone. After attempting suicide, my parents reached out for me, and got the help that I could not at the time get for myself. And after being released from the hospital and diagnosed as Manic Depressive or Bi-Polar Disorder, I started to try to find out more about my illness. Educating myself was the most empowering tool for me in terms of speeding my recovery along. I later reached out to recovery groups after going through therapy and it really has empowered me to help others. In the consumer movement, I feel that is the biggest tool that I have to give back to others through my experience is helping others to not feel alone. I think that- that is very, very, very important.