My illnesses do not define who I am

Hi, You can call me Larz. I'm 17 years old and I've been fighting my mental illnesses for 8 years now. I also have Autism & chronic nerve damage/sciatica back and leg pain as well as multiple learning disabilities.

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When I was 10 I started to get really bad anxiety & panic attacks. When I turned 11 and had just started secondary school, I was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa & depression.

All through my life from age 12-16 I was badly bullied & sexually abused online and in person. This didn't end until I was 16. All through my school life I only had one true friend. She was my best friend, more like my sister. She used to be there for me every single day as I was there for her, until heaven gained a beautiful angel after her courageous battle with cancer.

When I'm feeling sad and low and feel like giving up, I think of my friend. How even though she's not here with me, she'd want me to be happy. How she is looking down on me smiling and no matter what I know she would be proud of how far I've come in the last 10 months without her. I have a special place where I can go and talk to her and escape from the world for a while.

My Happy box includes - Art, memories of me and my best friend, my cats & my hamster which I can cuddle when I want to have a good cry instead of bottling it all up. My teddy bears, my locker of my grandparents and I can also go to the horse stables which I help at to escape from everything for a few hours.

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