Hi everyone! Welcome back to my blog! This time I am talking about another important person in my life. This time it is my best friend Mariah. Mariah and I met at JWU on the field hockey team. We instantly became so close, and have been through so much with each other. Mariah also decided to leave the team. The main reason why Mariah left the team is that she has bipolar disorder.
According to Mayo Clinic, "bipolar is a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings that include emotional highs (mania or hypo mania) and lows (depression)."
Mariah began to get symptoms in her freshman year of high school. She would isolate herself from everyone, and she became very unmotivated in everything. Her grades started to drop, and she was struggling every day with just the simple things, like getting out of bed. Her doctors thought she had signs of depression. She was put on antidepressants. However, the medication did not help at all. Her mind was racing and she couldn’t get it to stop. She noticed something was wrong, and she was not acting like herself at all.
Her doctors noticed these changes and diagnosed her with bipolar disorder. The doctors prescribed her new medication. However, Mariah was scared to take a new medication. For a while, she refused to take it. However, one day in her sophomore year of high school, she woke up feeling good. She was motivated and ready for a change.
She began taking the medication and started feeling better. She still struggled with symptoms, but every day was getting better. High school was ending, and Mariah had to think about her future. She decided she wanted to go to Johnson and Wales University to major in psychology and play field hockey. She was ready for a change and a fresh start.
Mariah was excited to start her first-ever collegiate season. She came into preseason excited and with high hopes. After a few weeks of getting adjusted, Mariah began to struggle again. She was getting back into a bad place, and her symptoms began to worsen again. She was struggling with events in her past, especially a traumatic event that happened in high school. Her emotional pain became physical, and practices and games became a force. She started to lose her passion for field hockey. She decided to leave the team, and really put her focus on her mental health.
Even though Mariah has struggled, she is doing quite well in college so far. Her dream is to become a therapist and to help people, just like her therapist has helped her.
When I was talking to Mariah she left me with a very meaningful quote, “For the longest time, I thought bipolar was who I am. But eventually, I learned it was a part of me. I learned that bipolar does not define who I am.”
Mariah at media day for JWU field hockey.
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