YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

Only hugged once in her life by her mother, 25 year-old Yohana is the daughter of conservative East African war refugees from Ethiopia & Eritrea. All her life she has buried her rage by wearing the "good girl" mask to try to placate her narcissistic mother and having to be someone else to survive as a kid growing up in Oakland where there were some fixed ideas of what makes someone an "authentic African-American". She shares about living with a learning disability, having physically disabled siblings(and a mother who is ashamed of them) and a passive father. She talks about her battles with body shame, emotional eating, anxiety and depression.

What a sweet kid - it was absolutely disconcerting to hear so much anger and rage over her mother's distance and shaming coming out in such an adorable, young-sounding voice. Having had so little help or direction from her family in learning to stand up for herself and practice self-care, I was really impressed with how much she's been able to accomplish in terms of understanding those things that have impacted her and learning how to cope with them in a healthy way. I'd love to hear a follow up from her in a year or so to hear what new things she's learned.