Elizabeth is a 17-year-old with a secret, she is the owner of the anonymous 1M follower account on Instagram @diaryofabrokenworld where she publishes inspiring poems and stories regarding mental health and more inspiring stories from other teenagers...
The next morning my mom decided to ruin my day from the start by waking me up at 7:00 am.
"Good morning honey, we are going to the club. Be ready in 40 minutes" she said opening my curtains as I groaned.
"I don't want to go, I do not like sports and I have nothing to do there," I said half asleep.
"Elisabeth Rose, this is not a discussion. You are going" she said finally and then left my room as I closed my eyes again. I could understand their concern, but sometimes I did not have the energy to get up and choose any outfit that girls from the club would judge me by.
Suddenly my phone chimed a few times so I decided to open it and I was shocked. I had gained a few followers and my post had 5 comments
@ diaryofabrokenworld
Followers: 30 Following:13
Story #1
I live near Oaksmith, Maine and I have started this account because I struggle with anxiety daily, I go to therapy, I have a personality disorder, I am 16 and I have never kissed anyone. I feel alone and I am tired of it. I am sure there are some good people out there that also feel like no one cares about them and no one understands them. I am here, I care and I bet you are broken like me. You are not alone.
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21 Likes 5 comments
Anonn245- You are not alone :)
Liliabroce_j- I live near Oaksmith too! Hit me up, sometimes I feel alone two. Maybe we could hang out sometime.
AlonerSunflower- Oaksmith sucks. I am 16 too and I have struggled with depression since I was 12. I feel the same way you do, I hope life gets better this new school year.
And what struck me the most was that I felt heard, I felt close to all the people that had taken the time to answer my post and that they had also related to it. Honestly, it felt great but soon I was interrupted.
"We leave in ten" screamed my mother from downstairs.
"Stars," I said realizing I was still in my pajamas. I quickly jumped out of bed, washed my teeth, and got dressed in some baggy jeans and a grey hoodie. I looked in the mirror, my curly brown hair was crazy like always, and I had some unwanted pimples leaving rent-free on my chin. I sighed and walked downstairs. I ate some cereal and soon we hit the road to the country club. Only on the way there, I answered all the comments telling them I would love to share their stories too If they allowed me to.
The first story we shared after mine was about a girl that struggled with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. She told everyone how having a panic attack felt and that therapy had helped me feel a little bit better. Next people started sharing it with hashtags like #mentalhealthmatters and commented that they had experienced a panic attack or that they had never heard of Generalized Anxiety Disorder but they would look into it. Soon more stories came, with more likes and more followers. 30 followers tuned into 100 in two weeks.
People would Dm me their stories and I would post them in order of arrival. Usually, two or three would arrive per week and that is how I spent the rest of my summer in a pool chair on my phone, editing, and posting the first 15 stories of kids like me that felt like they had no place in the world.
Then the night of the 1st of January something I didn't think would ever happen happened. I got a special notification that read:
