Personal Statement Of Mental Illness

In bed at night, I heard my sister Madison wake quarter till midnight to rush to the bathroom. What I thought was a casual bathroom break was in reality her illness taking over our lives. I was at the fragile age of twelve when I finally realized what was happening. My sister Madison was starving herself to death and every night, like clock work, would go to the bathroom to gag herself until she threw up what little food she had left in her system. Sharing a room with her, I had a front row seat to the agonizing experience. Madison wrote in a diary and I, being a younger sister, would sneak into our room while she was not home and read it. Page after page were graphic entries about how much she hated her body and how badly she desired to

I wanted to help but I had no idea how to. I sat with my sister and tried my very best to say the right things and comfort her the best I could but some how it was never enough. I decided in the eighth grade that I want to do everything in my power to help her and everyone else who has to suffer through the torture of mental health issues. Unfortunately, after researching mental health night after night, I realized that my other sister Brittani had mental demons as well. Brittani is quite cantankerous and will act out in any and all arguments, big or small. In some cases the arguments with my parents would escalate into full blown explosions. Dinning utensils were thrown into walls and sometimes my sister Brittani would stoop to violence and hit my parents. In a few short hours Brittani would return from where ever she had run off to and would act like nothing had happened. My poor sister Brittani suffers from bipolar disorder and eventually gave into alcoholism to avoid it. Like with Madison, I try to be there for Brittani but never truly know what to