IN AWE OF SUZY
Suzy’s story is complex, filled with highs and lows, and immensely powerful. We are in AWE of her ability to overcome hardship after hardship in order to rebuild her life and reclaim her potential for success. She has so much to be proud of, and we are humbled to have her wearing our Warrior Medallion to honor her inner fighter.
IN HER WORDS
"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Stigma is a polite way of saying shame and discrimination."
"I am more than a diagnosis."
#breakthestigma
ABOUT SUZY
3x Olympian || 3x American Records || 2000’s Fastest Woman in the World || NY Times Bestselling Author of Fast Girl - Running From Madness || Model for Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated, Nike, Reebok, & Oakley || Mental Health || Running || Yoga Teaching
MY STORY
Olympic finals. 50 meters left. And I fell. On purpose.
Growing up I lived with an eating disorder, attempted suicide, and had severe anxiety when I raced. The only way to keep up my facade as a perfect Midwestern girl was to win.
And for a while, I won a lot. I won more NCAA championships than anyone ever had. I won seven US Championships, set American Records, and made three Olympic teams.
But the facade shattered in Sydney, when I fell in a race I was favored to win because I realized I wouldn’t medal. It was a race I wanted to honor my brother’s suicide from the previous year.
What I didn’t yet know was that my anxiety and suicidal thoughts were all linked to my undiagnosed bipolar disorder. Running was a drug that kept that illness at bay. When I retired, my doctors prescribed me a new drug: Zoloft.
On anti-depressants, I wanted to LIVE. 20th Anniversary dinner date? No thank you. I flew to Vegas and became one of the top ten escorts in the world. I was no longer depressed, I was manic.
My story leaked and my husband found out. But he didn’t leave. He found the best doctors to treat my bipolar disorder. I now share my story to shed the stigma on mental illness. It’s easy to measure success in medals. But my little family, we made it through hell and back. There’s no way to measure that.
SUZY ON BEING AN NYT BEST SELLING AUTHOR
To share a story all over the world is awesome and yet terrifying at the same time. Exposing your vulnerability isn't always pleasant, but I've found it's been worth it. Making a difference, here and there. Educating a bit. Opening a few minds. Making others feel slightly less alone. That's why we talk. Why we share our stories that aren't always neat and tidy. To make that stigma vanish, bit by bit.
#endthestigma #letstalk #recovery #mentalillnessawareness #mentalhealth #mentalhealthrecovery #notgoingaway #wellness #bestseller #books #goodreads #runner #bipolardisorder #depression #anxiety #postpartum #fastgirl
SUZY ON MOTIVATION QUOTES
I love motivational quotes as much as anybody, but here's the thing. When you are in the middle of suicidal depression, they have the potential of being totally unrelatable and out of touch. In fact, they can be irritating as hell. Messages of "just try harder" or "we are in control of our own happiness" don't exactly ring true when you are in the darkness, your brain is not cooperating & hope is next to impossible to find.
So for those of you not living with mental illness, kick ass like there is no tomorrow. For those of you who are managing, keep moving forward in your recovery the best you can at this moment. But for those in the throes of mental illness, just simply know that it can get better, no matter how hopeless things are at the time. There is always a reason to keep going, no matter how impossible that might sound right now. You are not alone and your ability to take what the unwell mind can throw at you makes you one serious badass in my eyes, as it should in the eyes of everyone. #mentalhealth
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