What it's like living with mental illness...

Traumatic events often cause people to feel heightened arousal, alertness, and look for danger in the first days and weeks following the event. Often, these reactions alternate with numbness and detachment. There's also a feeling that it might happen again, as well as fear, sadness, guilt, anger, and grief. Generally, these reactions and feelings will pass over a few weeks, but if they persist, it may mean the person has developed PTSD.

For me, living with PTSD and social anxiety has meant living in a constant state of fear. I may seem happy on the outside, but deep down my thoughts are really sad and negative. It's easy to beat myself up for not letting it go. It's like, "What's wrong with me? Why can't I move on?"

Sometimes I feel like there's no hope.

Just getting out of bed and getting ready feels like a challenge. I get frustrated with myself for not being able to do things others do so easily.

I feel all alone and disconnected from the people I love.

I try to avoid situations that might trigger me, which has affected my quality of life and relationships. The simplest experiences that involve repetitive noises or accidental touches set me off.

I've been on and off medications and in and out of therapy since 2016 with no real long-term success at recovering. I wonder if I'll always need to be on medication.

PTSD and other stress-related conditions don't just affect veterans--70 percent of Americans experience a major traumatic event in their lifetime. Although cognitive-behavioural therapy is marketed as the gold standard for PTSD treatment, it doesn't seem to reduce symptoms to the extent needed for long-term recovery.

“New approaches are desperately needed for the millions of people, both civilians and veterans, who suffer from PTSD,” said Dennis S. Charney, MD, the Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and President for Academic Affairs for the Mount Sinai Health System.

Which is why we are launching a campaign to help people dealing with PTSD and other stress-related conditions.

🗣 We call our campaign the "Thanks Giving-Away" Giveaway and our goal is to raise awareness and funds for alternative therapies for PTSD.

When you make a purchase at www.elevatedoats.com or www.wilcosupplyco.com during the month of November, Elevated Oats and/or Wilco Supply will donate a portion of the proceeds to Mount Sinai's Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma Research.