Mental Health, Anxiety and Being Your Own Health Advocate

Anxiety is one of the world’s most common mental health disorders, yet it’s not one that is commonly spoken of. On this episode of Hard Beautiful Journey, my dear friend Shawna Griscowsky joins us to tell her story of combating both debilitating anxiety and the medical care system.

Shawna and I met in high school; she was the new girl in school, so during lunch, I walked up to her and asked if we could sit together; this was the beginning of a forever friendship. Shawna’s health story began at the community pool, she felt an intense knot on her back and the symptoms gradually worsened over the next few minutes. Initially, Shawna thought this to be a heart attack, but the feeling went away… then came back, left again, and on her drive home, it came back with a vengeance. This time Shawna went to the E.R., where it was determined that she had an anxiety attack.

“God woke me in the night and wanted me to pray for you.”

Over the course of 6 months, Shawna met with multiple doctors and specialists; she was prescribed a slew of medications that only made her feel worse, including a puffer to help assist with breathing after a pneumonia diagnosis. At this point, Shawna was having trouble breathing and with no medical guidance, she finally had enough and became her own health advocate. She embraced the route of holistic healing, which ultimately led to her miraculous healing.

Timestamps:

[02:00] Introduction to Shawna Griscowsky

[03:57] Sitting together for lunch

[07:08] Recognizing the look

[08:37] Advocating for your own health and anxiety

[15:14] The feeling of you’re going to die

[17:19] Intrusive thoughts 

[20:40] Overdosed on prescription pills

[23:01] Getting addicted to Ativan

[24:54] Catching pneumonia

[27:01] Breathing clinic

[30:39] Facebook message, 

[32:51] Becoming your own health advocate 

[34:18] Presumption of adrenal fatigue

[41:24] Second miracle

[43:17] Re-baptizing yourself 

[44:47] Diagnosed with adrenal fatigue

[53:05] Expressing gratitude 

[57:53] Outro 

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Thanks for listening,

Tiff