Pursuing Mental Health with Jonny McCoy
04/27/22 • 40 min
In October 2009, I witnessed a suicide while being unlawfully detained in a jail cell in Columbia, S.C. Although my case garnered national attention and I won the lawsuit against my wrongdoers, my mental health plummeted. As a practicing attorney, I constantly feared that my peers and the State Bar Association would discover that I had become heavily dependent on Xanax, which was prescribed for my unrelenting PTSD, anxiety, and depression. Nightmares, panic attacks, and despair nearly ended my life — and afraid of the stigma, I attempted suicide before I ever told anyone that I needed help.
I spent 35 days in a PTSD recovery center and experienced six months of horrific benzodiazepine withdrawals, before realizing that I would not go far on my journey to recovery without a support system of people who understood me. I emerged from treatment on a mission: To help others who are silently suffering. In 2018, I started a PTSD and anxiety support group in my hometown.
My time in the treatment facility taught me that connecting with others who are suffering is when the real healing begins. I learned that when you connect with someone who truly understands, you feel safe. Within this safe space, I was able to be honest, accepting, humble, open, and vulnerable — the things I needed to be to start my healing journey.
I created WhiteFlag for others to find that connection, too. I want you to find the right people who can hear what you’re not able to say. No matter what day or time, someone will always be there. A person — unpaid and untrained — that you would meet in any support group. Welcome to the WhiteFlag movement.
WhiteFlag App for Apple devices
WhiteFlag App for Android devices
WhiteFlag App on the web
More From Melissa and Pursuing Uncomfortable:
ResourcesfiLLLed Life NewsletterYouTubeLeave a reviewPursuing Uncomfortable Book
In October 2009, I witnessed a suicide while being unlawfully detained in a jail cell in Columbia, S.C. Although my case garnered national attention and I won the lawsuit against my wrongdoers, my mental health plummeted. As a practicing attorney, I constantly feared that my peers and the State Bar Association would discover that I had become heavily dependent on Xanax, which was prescribed for my unrelenting PTSD, anxiety, and depression. Nightmares, panic attacks, and despair nearly ended my life — and afraid of the stigma, I attempted suicide before I ever told anyone that I needed help.
I spent 35 days in a PTSD recovery center and experienced six months of horrific benzodiazepine withdrawals, before realizing that I would not go far on my journey to recovery without a support system of people who understood me. I emerged from treatment on a mission: To help others who are silently suffering. In 2018, I started a PTSD and anxiety support group in my hometown.
My time in the treatment facility taught me that connecting with others who are suffering is when the real healing begins. I learned that when you connect with someone who truly understands, you feel safe. Within this safe space, I was able to be honest, accepting, humble, open, and vulnerable — the things I needed to be to start my healing journey.
I created WhiteFlag for others to find that connection, too. I want you to find the right people who can hear what you’re not able to say. No matter what day or time, someone will always be there. A person — unpaid and untrained — that you would meet in any support group. Welcome to the WhiteFlag movement.
WhiteFlag App for Apple devices
WhiteFlag App for Android devices
WhiteFlag App on the web
More From Melissa and Pursuing Uncomfortable:
ResourcesfiLLLed Life NewsletterYouTubeLeave a reviewPursuing Uncomfortable Book
Previous Episode
Pursuing Calm When You Feel Anxiety with Jenna Overbaugh
Jenna has been a therapist specializing in OCD and anxiety + related conditions since 2008. She's always been an anxious child and adult but knew from an early age that challenging herself was better than giving in to fear. She works specifically on teaching people Exposure and Response Prevention, the gold standard treatment for OCD and anxiety, and she's passionate about helping everyone learn the value of doing hard things for their mental health.
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Next Episode
Bonus Episode: Jonny McCoy's Story (Accompanies Episode 24)
This is the episode that contains Jonny's story. It accompanies episode 24. This story documents abuse suffered over the first decades of his life from those who should have been protecting him.
More From Melissa and Pursuing Uncomfortable:
ResourcesfiLLLed Life NewsletterYouTubeLeave a reviewPursuing Uncomfortable Book
Pursuing Uncomfortable with Melissa Ebken - Pursuing Mental Health with Jonny McCoy
Transcript
🎶 Podcast Intro: Welcome to the pursuing uncomfortable podcast, where we give you the encouragement you need to lean into the uncomfortable stuff life puts in front of you, so you can love your life. If you are ready to overcome all the yuck that keeps you up at night, you're in the right place. I am your host, Melissa Ebken let's get going. 🎶
🎶 Episode Intro: It is my pleasure to introduce you today to Johnny McCoy on this episode of the pursuing uncomfortable po
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