Challenging the Stigma of Counselors with Mental Illness

My small Clinical Mental Health Counseling Practicum class gets out twelve minutes early. I strain to catch the eye of my classmate and friend on the other side of the room, a tall Indian woman with her hair in a sagging bob and sympathetic eyes locked on another classmate. I turn impatiently towards our classmate, who favors red lipstick and dramatic retellings of her life events. Sighing, I give up and turn around, shifting my backpack’s weight on my back and folding a paper plate in my hands, evidence of enjoying a slice of the twelve pizzas someone had dumped in our counseling center that afternoon. I step into the narrow hallway and run into two classmates grabbing pizza. I spin around, looking for a trash can. People keep brushing against me. I keep stepping nervously, refolding the plate in my hands. The room begins to spin. As the walls buckle, my chest constricts and I struggle to breathe. A classmate next to me says, “There’s a trash can behind the microwave.” She gestures. I lurch over to the microwave. Conversations and shadows echo around me. I become light-headed as everything begins to fade to black. Just before I faint, I rush out of the center and into the main hallway, gasping for air. Speed walking past my professors’ offices, I collapse on a table around the corner. I sit there, stunned. I just had a panic attack while at the counseling center, where I am currently learning how to become a counselor. I just came dangerously close to people find...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Anxiety and Panic Bipolar Dissociative Mental Health and Wellness Peer Support Personal Professional Stigma Success & Achievement Treatment Counseling Generalized Anxiety Disorder Hospitalization Mania Mental Illness Panic At Source Type: blogs