Emman Atienza bravely opens up about her mental health struggles
In an Instagram post, Emman Atienza shared a slideshow of photos from her childhood where she can be seen carefree and happy followed by a series of screenshots from her notes app explaining the story behind these photos.
In her caption, she said, “I've been hiding a huge chunk of my life from a lot of people and I feel like I'm ready to share my full truth. Mental health is a huge part of my life. Having to hide it seems unethical and as if I'm ashamed. And I'm not ashamed whatsoever.”
Kuya Kim Atienza's daughter revealed in her post that she was a victim of abuse at a young age. Her post reads, “I had a really great day yesterday. Although I can never get the old Emman, pre abuse (from a childhood yaya/nanny), trauma and SA, I can still feel a similar happiness I did back then.”
“When I was younger, I was smart, sociable, and athletic. As things get when you grow older, I experienced many hardships. Those combined experiences caused my mental health to deteriorate. My friendships became unstable, I lost focus, and I lost motivation and passion. With no source of support or professional help, I was helpless,” she further shares.
Source: @emmanatienza
Because of this, last 2019 Emman attempted to seek help by undergoing therapy and psychiatry as well as taking medication. Unfortunately, she was wrongly diagnosed with depression, and the medication she took only made things worst.
She shares, “This meant the medication would cause large fluctuations in my moods and was not beneficial to my emotional stability whatsoever. This caused multiple attempts following.”
But because Emman strived to become and feel better, she further sought help and was able to finally get the proper medication and professional help she needed. She's currently diagnosed with Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder along with Bipolar Disorder and ADHD.
“Presently, I am finally properly medicated and a painful chapter of my life has closed. Though I am not healed from past experiences or from mental illness, I finally feel as if the past is behind me. I can focus in school, I have stable friendships, I have found new passions (modeling, photography, content creation) and a new purpose to life,” Emman shares.
Source: @emmanatienza
Emman emphasized how grateful she is to the people that supported and cared for her when she felt that she was at the bottom of a pit. She is also proud of herself for being able to share her struggles with the world.
She states, “For the longest time, I felt as if this was something that I needed to hide or something to be ashamed of. It feels so freeing to be able to share this to everyone and not have this weight on my shoulders.”
In Emman's last carousel photo, she took a stand on mental health, encouraged others to break barriers and stereotypes surrounding the topic, and emphasized the need to be kinder as she said, “I feel as if my story emphasizes the importance of seeking help and also shows there is more behind a person then simply what they present to the world.”
“Mental health shouldn't be stigmatized. We need to get rid of the words 'crazy' or 'deranged' from being associated to mental illness. I am a person. The same as the next. We all face struggles and we all feel negative emotions. That shouldn't label our self worth or identify whatsoever,” Emman advocates.
As part of her healing journey, Emman, along with her friends, will relaunch Mentality Manila (Instagram @mentality.manila) on May 30, an organization she founded focusing on spreading awareness, taking action, and fighting the stigma related to mental health.
Source: @emmanatienza
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