Zo毛 Newson hopes that talking about her experiences can make a difference for other young people facing mental illness.
鈥淚 know my story is not unique,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here are tons of kids and youth out there suffering with mental-health issues.鈥�
The 17-year-old, who is about to graduate from Victoria High School, has twice spent time at Ledger House, which provides psychiatric services for children and youth. Support for its programs comes from the Children鈥檚 Health Foundation of Vancouver Island.
Despite her health concerns, Zo毛 has managed to keep up with her classmates and will graduate on time. In September, she will be off to the University of Victoria after being accepted into the elementary-education program.
Her stays at Ledger House, at the Queen Alexandra Centre for Children, came during her Grade 9 and 10 years.
鈥淚 haven鈥檛 been back since then but it was definitely an issue in the beginning stages of high school,鈥� Zo毛 said.
鈥淚 have generalized anxiety disorder, bipolar type 2 and [obsessive-compulsive disorder].鈥�
Having bipolar disorder has caused instability with her moods. She said that means it can be hard to know whether a mood 鈥渋s going to take me down into a major depressive episode or if I鈥檓 going to come up into a hypomanic episode, where I鈥檓 almost above the normal level of happiness.鈥�
鈥淪o I鈥檓 kind of all over the place.鈥�
She is going along steadily right now and said her life has improved more than聽she thought it could.
Zo毛 said she wants to assure other youth like her that they are far from alone, and also wants to provide them with her insight into how the system works.
She said it took some time for her condition to be identified and stressed the value of early intervention.
鈥淎t the beginning stages, when I started first having issues, I was told by doctors and counsellors that I wasn鈥檛 severe enough to receive any help,鈥� she said.
鈥淚t was probably less than a month later when I ended up going into a full-blown crisis and ended up at Victoria General Hospital.鈥�
Getting sent to Ledger House was an important step, she said. Her first stay there in Grade 9 was an emergency evaluation and lasted five days, while the second stay lasted just over two weeks.
鈥淟edger House was really beneficial for me,鈥� Zo毛 said. 鈥淭hey have so many specialists there that you鈥檙e able to work with one-on-one, so they can really help you identify techniques and coping mechanisms that work for you specifically.鈥�
For her, methods of breathing and meditation have been a huge help, in combination with medication.
鈥淚 think I learned through Ledger that it was more about learning how to cope with my disorders than it was fixing them, because I still have episodes and still have anxiety but I鈥檓 better-equipped to manage them and I can identify my moods better.
鈥淚 know how to control them better than I did before.鈥�
She said her problems started in Grade聽8. They included irritability issues, something her parents at first thought was 鈥渢eenage angst,鈥� Zo毛 said.
On top of that, her father was dealing with cancer during her childhood, which was very hard on her.
鈥淭here was a lot of anxiety present throughout that but I seemed to handle it fine at the time,鈥� she said.
鈥淎nd then when I got into high school anxiety really started affecting me, and the mood issues presented themselves as out-of-control instead of in the realm of normal teenage behaviour.鈥�
Zo毛 said she began getting anxious about going to school and was losing interest in seeing friends. With things like that to deal with, staying on pace for graduation was 鈥渄efinitely a struggle,鈥� she said.
鈥淕rade 10 was my roughest year,鈥� Zo毛 said. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 at school a lot but I鈥檝e managed to attend more and more.
鈥淚 still missed quite a lot compared to the average student but I managed to maintain my grades.鈥�
She also used an assignment for her social-justice class to collect games, books and DVDs for youth staying at Ledger House.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e in there you don鈥檛 have your cellphone and there鈥檚 no way to communicate with the outside world, because it is a mental hospital so you鈥檙e there to try and get better,鈥� she explained. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot of movies and board games and puzzles, so I collected up some new and gently used donations of that sort.鈥�
Zo毛 said her friends have stuck with her during her health battles.
鈥淚鈥檝e had friends that have been with me throughout all of it and I鈥檓 still amazingly close with all of them.鈥�
She said she is happy she decided to let others know about what she has gone through.
鈥淚 never really thought about telling my story before because I definitely still do feel stigmatized, people not really understanding what it is and how to deal with it,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think now that I鈥檝e started speaking out I鈥檓 starting to get more comfortable with it.鈥�
