When I was 15, I became completely debilitated by depression and anxiety. I found myself unable to attend school without having panic attacks and to put it plainly, I didn’t want to live anymore. My anxiety was especially unusual because prior to this I was a straight A student.

Academically, I didn’t have an issue, and there seemed to be no rational reason for me to be feeling so overwhelmed. It was assumed that my severe anxiety was the cause of my depression. I tried seeing multiple therapists who would search in the wrong places for causations of my anxiety. Over the course of three years, I had even tried 16 different psychiatric medications which never improved my mental state. 

Before Dearborn, I had gone to a public school and another therapeutic school, but they both found it unacceptable that I could not attend school regularly. When I had panic attacks at school, they made me feel like it was behavior that was within my control to stop. Just to put that into perspective, at two different schools I was on the floor of a guidance counselor’s office, crying and hyperventilating begging to go home while they sternly told me to just go back to class. 

Dearborn was the only school to actually understand and empathize with how bad things were for me. They understood why there were some days I was too overwhelmed to go to school. When I had panic attacks, they were actually able to help me through them and never made me feel guilty for having them. 

Not only was Dearborn actually able to support me, but they also recognized that my symptoms matched up with PANDAS. I had never heard of it before, but my principal, Sheilah, and my counselor, Helen, urged my mom to get me tested. At the time Dearborn did not have the consult model, so they referred us to Dr. Melissa McCormack who was able to confirm that I did have PANDAS. Immediately, I was put on antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory. Within just three months I saw major improvements. My depression completely lifted and the anxiety became much easier to manage. 

Unfortunately, this was around the time that COVID hit, so I am unable to know exactly how soon I would have been able to attend school without issues. I can, however, tell you that I am currently graduating from Massasoit Community College this spring with an associate’s degree in biology, and I am transferring to UMass Boston in the fall on a pre-med track. My anxiety is completely manageable now, and I am able to attend with no issues.

I thought just graduating from high school was a reach for me, but now I’m also able to achieve the career I’ve always wanted even though it requires years of school. Without Dearborn helping me to find my proper diagnosis, this would have never been possible. I will be forever grateful to Dearborn Academy for saving my life.