Mental Health Awareness Month | Alyssa Rollins

For Mental Health Awareness Month, we are featuring the stories of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals employees. Meet Alyssa Rollins, Cause Partnerships Manager.

From a very young age, I remember recognizing that I was a very shy person. I never strayed from my parents’ side at family functions, never got in trouble for talking in class, and did everything I could to not draw attention to myself for fear of embarrassment. As I grew up, these seemingly normal traits became much more pronounced, but I always just assumed that was normal.

It wasn’t until my mid-20s that I realized there was more to it than just “shyness.” I spent the summer between my first and second years of graduate school doing an internship abroad in Ireland—an experience that I expected to be the best of my life based on friends’ experiencing studying abroad in college—but I spent much of that summer unable to leave my room except for work duties and a few fun outings, and even the most basic tasks felt draining to me.

After I got back to the states, I started utilizing the therapy services at my school and was diagnosed with both Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Social Anxiety Disorder.

It was so freeing to have a name and explanation for my silent suffering over the years, an acknowledgment that I didn’t always have to live that way, and tools/tips/tricks for how to keep my anxiety at bay.

The two things that have been most helpful to me in my journey are attending regular therapy sessions to continue honing my skills to manage my anxiety and being incredibly open about my experiences with friends, family, coworkers, social media networks, etc. to help reduce the stigma around getting help. It is incredibly important to me to create space in my circles to talk about mental wellness as easily as we do physical wellness!

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Through her role at Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, Alyssa helps raise funds for local children’s hospitals, which serve the mental health needs of children’s across the U.S. & Canada. You can help your local CMN Hospital address the mental health needs and more by making donation today. Donate here.