The Flapper and the First Post

Hello, and welcome to The Anxious Flapper. I’d be willing to bet you’re wondering what this blog is all about. Well, so am I. Sort of.

You see, I’ve had a long standing love affair with the 1920s. It started in my teens, and it only seems to grow with time. Many people ask, “Why the 1920s?” To that I say, “Why not the 1920s?” In all seriousness, there is just something about that roaring era that has always branded itself on my heart and I will forever admire it.

And similar to my adoration of the 1920s, mental illness has long been a part of my life. I cannot remember a time when I was not anxious. For as far back as I can remember, anxiety has always been a part of my life, and I was officially diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder at age twenty. Depression came along in my pre-teen years, and I started showing signs of OCD in my late teens. Fun times!

In addition to struggling with my mental health, I was also diagnosed with PCOS at the age of 20. What is PCOS, you ask? It stands for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. It is described as an enlargement of the ovaries causing cysts to grow on them. It throws hormones out of balance, which leads to fun side effects like a lady beard, hair loss, infertility, insulin resistance, and excessive weight gain. Party down, gals.

So since I am a writer and that means that my brain never really stops, I’ve decided to start this blog to document my journey with these fun diseases and hopefully give others a better picture of what it is actually like to live with these things, as well as provide a place where people who also suffer from these things can find someone to relate to. And the flapper part is just because it makes life fun.

Before I go, I do want to clarify that I am not a medical professional, nor am I a mental health professional. I am just a girl, struggling with mental illness and PCOS, standing in front of the internet, asking them to not judge her too harshly.

I hope you’ll join me for more talk of mental health and PCOS. Goodness only knows what words will dance across my keyboard, so it should be a fun time.

 

–Miranda Atchley